The Scharzfeld Dolomites

Short Description

Exploring the Scharzfeld Dolomites

Description

Stone church, Schulberg, Unicorn Cave, cliffs, and the ruined castle of Scharzfels

Directions

You walk through forests, geology, Ice and Stone Age, through cliffs, encounter cave bears, and still hear the echoes of French artillery. This tour runs through perhaps the most historically significant region of the Southern Harz! It is recommended to hike the tour clockwise, so that the rest stops come when you have worked up enough hunger.

We start the tour under the bridge of the B 243 on the western edge of Scharzfeld. From here, you first go up to the stone church, always well signposted, a natural cave fissure where hunters and gatherers sought shelter and maintained fires at the end of the last Ice Age. In the Middle Ages, this was expanded into a church space with a pulpit, baptismal font, and crypt. The forecourt accommodated burials and was covered. The ritual use ended probably with the Reformation. The path continues over species-rich semi-dry grasslands up to the Ritterstein, where remnants of a wall and moat are still recognizable, likely an early medieval bastion in the vicinity of Burg Scharzfels. Here, in an ancient tradition, the Easter fire is burned with a wide panoramic view over the Southern Harz.

The path leads past a monument for Turnvater Jahn on the ridge of the Steinberg into the forest and soon descends on a narrow path into the Bremketal where a campground, a swimming pool, a restaurant, and further up a forest playground await. At the southeast corner of the playground, the path ascends over the Talbach and soon steadily climbs up through the deciduous forest to the Rottstein cliffs.

Here, in the dolomite cliffs below the path, there are half-caves (abris), perhaps the starting point of the underground cave system of the Unicorn Cave. Along this section, some information boards provide information about the forest, ecology, and geology.

The path continues through deciduous forest on the hill clockwise around the source basins of the streams in Rott and Hasenwinkelbach up to the upper end of the Wolfskuhlental.

200 m to the left at the southwest edge of a clearing, hidden in the undergrowth, are the rather inconspicuous artillery positions of French troops from September 15, 1761, during the Seven Years War - from there, the Frauenstein was initially bombarded and then the Burg Scharzfels was shot into ruins. A little later, well signposted 150 m to the left is the Frauenstein, a dolomite rock, with a bastion securing the mountain side of Burg Scharzfels. Vault remnants are still recognizable.

The Burg Scharzfels, built around 1000, had great territorial-historical significance. Information boards reveal the history and former structures.

In the Schlossgaststätte, the now necessary refreshment awaits after about half the distance (closed on Mondays and Tuesdays and Wednesdays in winter). Then, first visit the upper castle with the magnificent panoramic view, then take the short signposted circular path around the castle rocks, then descend into the Hasenwinkeltal and ascend on the other side, where a guided tour of the Unicorn Cave is a must for every visitor to the Southern Harz.

Here, before or after the cave, the Einhorn House invites for a stop. The cave is a place of long-lasting scientific research, starting from the legendary unicorn through the Ice Ages and the cave bear to the Neanderthal and early researchers like Leibniz, Goethe, or Virchow.

Along the Kaiserklippe and other dolomite rocks, the path heads west and soon leads along the meadows edge with beautiful views of the vast Harz foothills down to Rott and continues westward up to the Schulberg. Here, on a signposted path, you can circumnavigate the south-facing Schulberg, where rocks and abris show where people lived in the Middle Stone Age. The final stretch goes through the lower Bremketal up to the already familiar Steinberg, below the Ritterstein and along the B243. Here, the hiker can pause and think of Hermann Löns, who often stayed here with his Barbiser in-laws around 1908, also sat on the Ritterstein, and wrote something like this:

Oh, how peaceful it is in Scharzfels, far from the roar of automobiles!

After a few steps, the hiker is back at the starting point, where his car is parked or a short walk to the Sattlergasse bus stop in Scharzfeld.

Parking Information

Parking lot Steinkirche, Am Schmeerberg 2, 37412 Herzberg am Harz