Harz Monastery Hiking Trail - 3rd stage - Ilsenburg to Wernigerode

You start the 12 km long stage at Ilsenburg Monastery with a beautiful view of the town. The monastery, founded around 1018, was once one of the most influential Benedictine monasteries in the Harz region. The monastery church of St. Peter and Paul houses unique fragments of a 12th-century gypsum screed. The unique organ and the restored buildings of the south and east wings are definitely worth a visit. Here, concerts and events also take place in atmospheric rooms.

There is also a Harz Monastery Hiking Trail stamp location in front of the gate entrance to the monastery. A stamp booklet for the Monastery Hiking Trail can be easily purchased at the local tourist information. From the monastery, the Harz Monastery Hiking Trail continues towards Drübeck through the castle park, which has belonged to the "Garden Dreams of Saxony-Anhalt" since 2019. Here, too, you can enjoy the silence and maybe rest on one of the unique Angel benches.

Then you go through the forests between Ilsenburg and Drübeck. Upon arriving at Drübeck Monastery, you can relax in the monastery café – there is also a stamp location here – or stroll through the very special and unique baroque reconstructed gardens of the monastery complex. The Romanesque monastery church of St. Vitus was probably built around 960. Drübeck Monastery belongs to the Protestant Church of Central Germany and today serves as a conference center, pastoral college, pedagogical-theological institute, and also a great retreat. This monastery complex is also part of the "Garden Dreams of Saxony-Anhalt," which rediscover historical parks in the state. You should take your time at Drübeck Monastery and definitely not miss the monastery tour and the delicious cake in the monastery café.

Back on the path, newly established in 2024, you continue over the scenic Karberg to the beautiful village of Darlingerode. Darlingerode captivates with its beautiful nature and cultural highlights. Particularly worth seeing are the village church of St. Laurentius and the Komturhof, first mentioned in 1468 as "curia de comtures" in the Ilsenburg Monastery's deed book, whose local history room today shows the former life in Darlingerode. From here, the route leads towards Ütschenteich and past the former Augustine hermitage monastery Himmelpforten, founded in 1253 and visited by Martin Luther. Today the complex is a ruin. From there, the path leads directly to the upper district of Hasserode, a district of Wernigerode. Along the tracks of the Harz narrow-gauge railway, the route goes straight into the town center of Wernigerode. Through the historic Westerntor and over Westernstraße, you reach the market square of Wernigerode.