Wernigerode castle & old city, Germany

Wernigerode is one of the prettiest towns in the Harz mountains, a joyful tangle of colourful half-timbered houses gathered beneath a romantic castle on the wooded hills of northern Saxony-Anhalt. Long ago nicknamed “the colourful town in the Harz,” it grew up as a medieval trading and mining town and came through the centuries with its historic centre wonderfully intact. Above it, on the Agnesberg hill, rises Wernigerode Castle, a medieval stronghold that was transformed in the 19th century into the neo-Romantic, turreted silhouette seen today. Between the storybook streets below and the fairy-tale castle above — and the steam trains that still climb from the town towards Germany’s highest northern peak — Wernigerode has become one of the most popular destinations in the whole Harz.

What to See

The obvious first stop is the market square, dominated by the magnificent Town Hall (Rathaus) of 1498, a masterpiece of German timber-framing with two slender pointed spires, an external staircase and rows of carved figures. Around it and through the surrounding lanes are the curiosities the town is famous for: the tiny Smallest House, barely three metres wide; the leaning Crooked House; the ornately carved Baroque Krummel House; and hundreds of other painted half-timbered façades. High above, Wernigerode Castle can be reached on foot, by road-train or by car, and its richly furnished rooms — now a museum of 19th-century courtly life — open onto sweeping views over the red roofs to the mountains beyond. The other great attraction is the Harz narrow-gauge steam railway, whose historic locomotives set off from Wernigerode and puff their way up to the summit of the Brocken (1,141 metres), the highest mountain in northern Germany and, in legend, the gathering place of witches on Walpurgis Night.

How to Get There and Practical Information

Wernigerode sits on the northern edge of the Harz in Saxony-Anhalt, roughly between Hanover and Magdeburg. It is reached by regional train — for example from Halberstadt or Magdeburg — and its station is also a terminus of the Harz narrow-gauge railway; from there it is a short walk or bus ride to the old town. The historic centre is compact and best explored on foot, though the streets up to the castle are steep, so many visitors take the little road-train or drive to the castle car park. Wandering the old town and its market square is free at any time, while the castle museum, the small house-museums and the steam railway are ticketed. Allow a full day to combine the town, the castle and, ideally, a memorable steam-train ride into the mountains.