Exploring the enchanting Harz Monastery Hiking Trail (Germany)

The hiking trail starts in Golsar, a fairytale-like medieval town nestled on the slopes of the Harz Mountains. The Neuwerkkirche was founded in the 12th century by imperial bailiff Volkmar and his wife Helena as the collegiate church "St. Maria in horto”, outside the city walls. The monastery flourished with the Benedictines thanks to the exploitation of the extensive lands it owned. With a monastic garden surrounding it, the church is a small haven of peace to begin this adventure.

Situated just an hour's walk from the centre of Goslar, Kloster Grauhof is the second important stop. Grauhof was once an important Augustinian monastery. It is known for its Church of St George, completed in 1714 in a Baroque style. The church houses an important organ, built by Baroque master Christoph Treutmann the Elder in 1737. Its beauty, its exceptional acoustics and the fact that it is one of Treutmann's best-preserved works make it a highly desirable visit for organists from all over the world.

The Monastery of Woeltingerode was founded by the Benedictines, but flourished between the 13th and 15th centuries, with the Cistercian nuns. It is currently a privileged venue for cultural and academic events. The complex consists of the monastery church, a distillery, a farm shop, a restaurant and a hotel housed in the former cloister. Its famous distillery, founded in 1682, produces a wide variety of spirits according to old recipes and can be visited with a guided tour. An excellent place to spend the night after completing the first stage of the hiking trail!

The second stage of the Harz Monastery Hiking Trail starts at Ilsenburg Monastery, which was one of the most influential monasteries of the Harz Mountains in medieval times. The monastic complex is situated in a beautiful natural landscape in the Ilse valley. It belonged to the Benedictines, who built it between the 10th and 12th centuries. Today, the restored monastic buildings host concerts and cultural events. A guided tour of Ilsenburg Monastery will give you a perfect insight into the life of the monks in the region.

Following a scenic route along the former inner German border, the trail leads to Drübeck Monastery in less than an hour's walk. The monastery was founded by Benedictine nuns in 960, according to a document signed by Holy Roman Emperor Otto I. Here you can enjoy a guided tour of the various rooms, visit the church of St. Vitus and relax in the monastic gardens surrounding the complex.

The former Cistercian monastery Michaelstein was founded in 1146 close to the town of Blankenburg. The monastery was dissolved in 1543 by the Counts of Blankenburg, who founded a monastic school. Over the centuries the monastery changed ownership and use on numerous occasions. Since the 1960s, the monastery has housed the Saxony-Anhalt Academy of Music for Education and Performance Practice, which is an important centre for musical education and promotion of music in Europe. The also now houses a museum exhibiting liturgical objects, an interesting stop to start the fourth stage of the hiking trail.

The mountain church of St Bartholomeus is a Romanesque building originally founded as a small parish church in the 11th century. From the 12th to the 16th century it served two monasteries, one of secular canons and one of Cistercian nuns. After the Reformation, the church was rebuilt several times, incorporating new artistic styles, such as the Renaissance high pulpit or the Baroque altar. With the construction of the church of St. Catherine, St. Bartholomew's began to decline. An enjoyable visit in an incomparable setting before starting the 6th stage of the trail!

With its extraordinary dimensions, the Collegiate Church of St. Cyriakus is an unmissable stop to get to know the Ottonian architecture that preceded the Romanesque in the region. The church was founded in 961 by a nobleman called Gero. It regularly hosts concerts of both the Protestant and Catholic churches. But undoubtedly the greatest treasure of this church is its Holy Sepulchre, one of the oldest copies of the tomb of Christ in Jerusalem.

The monastery was founded by Abbess Mechthild, daughter of Emperor Otto I, and sister of Otto II, after whom the complex was built. It functioned until 1536. In the following centuries, it was secularised and several houses were built on the site it had occupied. A large part of the remains of the old church were recovered in 1994 thanks to Professor Siegfried Behrens and his wife, who bought one of the houses that had been built on the site of the monastery. In today's museum it is possible to see the apse, the transept, the nave with three bays and the west building, as well as numerous recovered remains, such as half columns, capitals and reliefs of Santa Maria.

The final stage of the Harz Monastery Hiking Trail takes us to Kloster Burchardi, a former Benedictine monastery now transformed into a space for social projects, cultural offers and encounter. The monastery was founded in 1186 by Bishop Burchard I of Halberstadt. It operated until 1810, when in the process of secularization of Germany, the order was suppressed and the complex sold. The monastery changed hands many times in the following decades until it finally became the place of work, culture and meeting place for citizens that it is today.