You only see what you know (Goethe)
The Selke Valley Railway (Selketalbahn) connects the places Quedlingburg and Hasselfelde/Eisfelder Talmühle with a branch to Harzgerode. It is part of the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways (Harzer Schmalspurbahnen), the largest narrow gauge network in Germany. At my first visit I took a ride from Alexisbad to Gernrode.
While waiting for my steam train heading to Gernrode, I came across a diesel railbus of the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways (Harzer Schmalspurbahnen). This narrow gauge diesel railbus was built in 1999 for the lines of the HSB.
On my walk through Quedlinburg, I came across this Moravian Star. Generally, it is an Advent decoration popular in Germany and other places where there are Moravian congregations. The German name Herrnhuter Stern refers to the city of Herrnhut. There the stars were first commercially produced.
In the year 1254, a hospital for people in need, invalids and orphans, but also for pilgrims has been erected in Goslar. Today the building, which is generally known by its German name ‘Große Heilige Kreuz’, still houses flats for retired people. In another part of the former hospital, you can visit a couple of craftspeople in their shops.
A very special way to learn more about the history of Goslar: This pewter figure museum (Zinnfigurenmuseum) offers guided tours along the numerous showcases telling about the history of the city.
The house with the name Kaiserworth was built in 15th century as guildhall for the cloth merchants. At this time they were the wealthiest people in the city and so the building looks like. Today it houses a hotel and restaurant. The figures represents different emperors.
Goslar is a city which really can’t deny that there were slate mines nearby for many centuries. I saw a lot of slate-faced buildings in this city, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites now.
The Upper Harz Water Regale (Oberharzer Wasserregal) is a system of dams, reservoirs and ditches, built from the 16th to 19th centuries to divert and store the water that drove the water wheels of the mines in the Upper Harz region.