Around Wernigerode

The starting point of this route is the street "Am Lustgarten" in Wernigerode. We drive uphill on the street, past the Lustgarten and the turnoff to the castle, and continue straight ahead until after the turnoff to the hotel "Am Schlosspark"/shooting lodge we turn half right onto a forest path into the woods. We follow this path past several bends and junctions until at a crossroads we see the first houses of Benzingerode on the left. Here we turn left, along the main edge of Benzingerode, and at the first intersection turn right into "Friedensstraße". We continue straight on this street until it ends at a concrete track. Here we turn into "Schützenstraße", which leads to "Rösenstraße" past the school museum. Here we turn left, passing the school museum, down the red-paved "Schulstraße". At the next intersection, we turn left again and then immediately right into "Mittelstraße" down to the main road (L85). Here we already see the "Plan", the village square by the church, where there is also a playground and the inn "Zum Lindenhof". We drive about 50 m along the main road, then at the end of the square, just behind the church, turn left again.

At the fire station, we turn right onto a field path that first takes us uphill on the flank of the "Augstberg", then downhill again to the federal road B6. Caution is advised on this section, as the path has some unpaved parts. We follow the farm track along the federal road westward to the next bridge, where we cross the four-lane road and follow the subsequent concrete track to Silstedt. At the first street intersection, we turn right into "Clara-Zetkin-Straße". Now it goes straight ahead over "Ahornweg" to "Holzweg", into which we turn left. We continue straight on "Holzweg" until we reach "Hauptstraße" (L82) and cross it at the pedestrian crossing on our right. After crossing the street, we keep right and drive the street in a gentle left bend downhill, past the natural monument linden tree and the inn "Zur Linde". Behind the inn, we turn left again into "Am Wasser" street, which leads us in a slight curve to "Glockengasse", which we follow to the right to the next intersection. Here we turn left again, slightly uphill, to the small village square where the "Ernst Koch" museum farm is located. We now drive along the narrow street that branches off to the right next to the museum farm from the village square, cross a ford shortly afterward and reach the "Harzmolkerei Silstedt". In front of the dairy, we first turn left, then immediately right along the "Holtemme cycle path" to the edge of Minsleben. Here we cross the Holtemme river and drive into the village along the street. At the first intersection, we keep left and now go straight ahead where the main street turns right (caution when crossing!) onto the path "Am Wasser". This path passes the playground (right), the Minsleben estate mill (left), and the church.

At the end of the path, we turn left down the old cobbled street to the former manor farm. Directly in front of the former manor house, we turn right again and enter the Minsleben estate park, which we cross.

We leave the estate park to the southwest behind the ponds over a narrow wooden bridge; the path now leads in a curve along the poplar-lined Barrenbach. A campsite was recently established here. At the next crossroads, we turn right onto the path that climbs uphill to the road to Reddeber. At the road, we turn left onto the adjacent pedestrian and cycle path, which we follow to Reddeber. In Reddeber, before the church, we turn left into "Halbe Straße", pass the playground, then turn right into "Thiestraße", which shortly leads to "Dorfstraße". We follow "Dorfstraße" to the left, which takes us to the outskirts of the village and the bus turnaround. Here we go straight ahead or slightly right onto the adjacent pedestrian and cycle path along L86, crossing federal road B6 and reaching the Reddeber pond at the edge of Wernigerode. At the Reddeber pond, we cross federal road B244 (caution!) and now drive on concrete tracks along the northern edge of the Wernigerode residential area "Charlottenlust" (with playground) and below Lustberg. At the next crossroads, our path crosses the route "The small Harz foreland tour". We continue straight ahead, crossing a busy road again (caution!) and soon reach "Halberstädter Weg" towards Darlingerode. At the end of the path, we turn left and then go straight ahead, through the path between two houses to "Friedensstraße" (L85).

We cross the street and follow "Straße der Republik" through several bends to the street "Im Winkel". Here we turn left and shortly arrive at an intersection ("Gassenberg"), where we again meet the R1 cycling trail, which we follow to the left towards Wernigerode. The gravel path now leads slightly uphill; at a larger forest intersection, we turn left. Soon after, we pass Útschenteich and reach a large clearing where the "Himmelpforte Monastery" once stood. From here, we turn left downhill again to the outskirts of Wernigerode, where the forest path ends at the street "Am Eichberg".

We follow "Am Eichberg" street to "Friedrichstraße", turn right here to then turn left into "Lutherstraße" after about 250 m. Immediately after crossing the HSB tracks, we turn right into "An den Wüstenteichen". At the next intersection, we turn right into "Hohe Warte", which after a few meters turns into the 20 km/h zone "Triangel". Here we go until the next intersection.

We turn left into "Trift" street until a forest path branches off on the left. We follow this forest path to the first crossroads (with a large central island). Here we turn right uphill onto "Drängetalhangweg", which initially has a steep incline (about 1.5 km), then runs along the slope with less incline and a beautiful view towards Drei Annen Hohne. After about 5.5 km, you leave the main path just before joining L100 and are led left over a small embankment, past a wetland, on a narrow path through denser trees to bypass the dangerous curve on L100. On this short section, pushing the bike is necessary. The path ends at a widening which is also used as a parking lot. Here we turn left and are now on the "Hüttestieg". We follow the path straight ahead, steadily downhill into the "Kalte Tal". After about 4 km, the forest path turns into an asphalted path. At this crossroads, there is an opportunity to make a detour to the Kaiserturm and the Armeleuteberg inn (left approx. 1.2 km uphill). We continue straight until we reach a small parking lot with seats. Here we turn onto the small path that branches left just before the bridge over the Zillierbach. We follow this path about 1.2 km parallel to the Zillierbach and over the so-called "Hausmannswiese" until behind the meadow we reach another crossroads at a bridge. Here we cross the brook and reach a larger fallow area, which we pass along the road. At the end of the fallow land, a foot and cycle path begins, which we follow to the fork "Wildpark Christianental". Here we turn right and reach the Wildpark Christianental after a few meters, inviting a visit.

From Wildpark Christianental, the tour now leads about 1 km steeply uphill to Wernigerode Castle, which with the castle museum and its wonderful view over the Harz foreland invites you to linger. From the castle, we drive directly down to Lustgarten again and thus end our tour around Wernigerode.

However, those who do not want to visit Wernigerode Castle or shy away from the steep climb can drive from the parking lot at the Wildpark via Bohlweg, past Theobald Cemetery with Theobald Chapel to Hohlfelder Platz. After crossing B244 (at the pedestrian crossing) and the square, you then drive right along the promenade back to the city center and to R1.