The Fortress Town of Wolfenbüttel

Taking a walk around Wolfenbüttel, you can quickly come in contact with the history and stories that even today, can seem brutal. Some conversations with the locals over a beer, and you will hear some dark tales. A first settlement was founded here during the tenth century, and Wolfenbüttel was first mentioned in texts from 1118 as Wulferisbuttle, when the Saxon count Widekind of Wolfenbüttel had a water castle erected on the important trade route from Brunswick to Halberstadt and Leipzig.

Wolfenbüttel was destroyed by Henry the Lion in 1191, and yet again by his great-grandson Duke Albert I of Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1255. The fortress and town, as well as nearby Asseburg Castle, were seized in 1258 by Albert I from the House of Asseburg, the descendants of Widekind. The castle was rebuilt by the Welf Duke Henry I of Brunswick from 1283 onwards. Quite a turbulent history, as much of Europe has also seen.

The Thirty Years' War

The dark tales continue.. In 1626, during the Thirty Years' War, Danish troops under the command of King Christian IV occupied the fortified town of Wolfenbüttel. They were besieged by the Imperial forces of General Gottfried Heinrich Graf zu Pappenheim in the Battle of Lutter. Re-conquered in 1627, the Wolfenbüttel fortress remained under the command of Gottfried Huyn von Geleen. In June 1641 the Battle of Wolfenbüttel was fought here, when the Swedish forces under Wrangel and the Count of Königsmark defeated the Austrians under Archduke Leopold of Habsburg, however, they failed to occupy the town. But it doesn't stop there...

During World War II, the city prison became a major execution site of prisoners of the Gestapo. Most of those executed were members of various Resistance groups, and one such victim was Dom Lambert, a monk from Ligugé Abbey in France, who was beheaded there on 3 December 1943. These days, it's a lot safer, nicer and more interesting to float around this old medieval town with the dark past lurking right under the surface.

The Baroque Castle of Schloss Wolfenbüttel

In 1866, the castle became the Anna-Vorwerk-School for girls, and today part of the building is used as a high school. It also contains a great example of Baroque state apartments, which are open to the public as a museum. The churches Marienkirche (Hauptkiche Beatae Mariae Virginis) was built during the seventeenth century, and St. Trinitatiskirche (Trinity Church) was built during the early eighteenth century.

Wolfenbüttel is located on the German Timber-Frame Road, and although it is smaller than the neighbouring cities of Braunschweig, Salzgitter, and Wolfsburg, its downtown area is rich in half-timber buildings, many dating several centuries back, and it still retains its historical character, due to the fact that it was largely undamaged during WWII.

Kaiserpfalz Goslar - The Imperial Palace of Goslar

Continue your exploration of the Harz Region and you'll eventually find the Imperial Palace of Goslar. Kaiserpfalz Goslar is a historical building complex at the foot of Rammelsberg hill, south of the town of Goslar. Painstakingly restored in the late 19th century, The Kaiserhaus was a favourite imperial residence, especially for the Salian emperors, and the 11th-century Imperial Palace has a spectacular display of historic murals.

Since 1992, the palace site is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with the Goslar's Old Town and Rammelsberg Mountain with its silver and copper mines that are more than 1000 years old, as well as Rammelsberg Mining Museum which contains the old mine railway and underground waterwheels. The Rammelberg mines were finally closed in 1988, after over a millennium of mining history. Rammelsberg Museum is an anchor point on the ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage, and it's definitely worth some of your time!