Emperor's Route

In Bad Harzburg, the host town of the 114th German Hiking Day 2014, the Emperor's Route begins. Before starting the hike, a visit to the castle ruins on the Burgberg is worthwhile. According to legend, in 1073 Henry IV fled through a secret passage in the castle well along the Emperor's Route to escape the Saxons.

You reach the starting point of the hike by the Burgberg cable car or via Herzogweg. From Antoniusplatz, where the Saxons camped nearly 1000 years ago to conquer Harzburg, the route leads over Säperstelle and Reuschenteich to Molkenhaus. At the Hopfensäcke, two typical granite cliffs of the Harz, we reach the highest point of the Emperor's Route. Then you reach the former Oderbrück inn and the Emperor's Route leads from there through the Oder source area, partly over medieval cobblestones. You reach the Königskrug inn, cross the B4, and walk along the Old Harzburg Road past Braunlage and Lausebuche to reach Kapellenfleck. Here you find the remains of a chapel of misery from the early Middle Ages, a combination of hostel and chapel. Over the Helenenruh wayside cross, you shortly thereafter reach the town of Walkenried and the Cistercian monastery there. From there, the route runs eastwards and joins the Karst Hiking Trail. You cross the border to Thuringia, and via Juliushütte, Ellrich, and the Mittelbau-Dora memorial camp you reach the North Thuringian town of Nordhausen. In medieval times, there was a royal court here frequently visited by German kings up to the late Staufen period. Then the route goes from Nordhausen via Heringen and Hamma into the Badraer Switzerland, from whose mountains there is a wonderful view of the Harz. The route then finally leads over the Kyffhäuser to Tilleda in Saxony-Anhalt, where it ends at the royal palace there.