Around Osterode - Part 2 (South)

Short Description

Around Osterode - Part 2 (South)

Description

Hainholz, Teufelsloch, Aschenhütte and the diverse South Harz region

Directions

A part of the Pferdeteich (horse pond) where the hike begins has been filled in to serve as a parking lot for the ALOHA swimming pool. It used to belong to a former nail smithy. In the summer, fish breeding was carried out, and after strong frost, the ice was harvested, meaning it was cut into blocks and used by the brewmasters to cool their cellars.

We turn right and pass the railway crossing. Passing by the Vocational School, after about a hundred meters we reach the city wall, first mentioned in 1233. It was built from roughly hewn large river pebbles from the Söse River, which consist of quartzite from the Acker-Bruchberg. Gypsum was used as a binding agent. In the gypsum mortar joints of the city wall, plants settle that are typical for the rock vegetation of the Osterode gypsum areas.

Further on, passing the Kaiserteich (Emperors pond) on the left, we reach a viewpoint overlooking the former Gipsfabrik Augustental (Augustental Gypsum Factory). Before World War I, up to 20 workers were employed there. The operation was shut down in 1940.

Descending the path, passing by a fire extinguishing pond and carefully crossing the street, we arrive at the Teufelsbäder (Devils baths). Ponds and marshy hollows are the remains of an intensive leaching of the Werra anhydrite. Today, these ponds and swamp areas form valuable habitats. The area of the Devils baths with the Quellerdfall Teufelsloch is a nature reserve. Please stay on the path.

The Papenhöhe has been used since 1839 as a tavern for carters and a popular destination for walkers and school classes from the nearby villages and Osterode. Due to the relocation of the road from Herzberg to Osterode in 1937, the house had become practically insignificant as a restaurant. The path leads up a hill to the Aschenhütter Teich or Schwarzer Pfuhl (Black Pit) (to the left of the shooting range): about 120 meters long and 50 meters wide. Two-thirds of it are silted. The sinkhole pond has no above-ground inlet or outlet. The largest infiltration area of the Sieber system is located in the area of a retaining wall. Below about 15 meters of thick lower terrace gravels lie the karstifiable Werra anhydrite and downstream to Hörden, the equally permeable main dolomite.

In dry periods, the Sieber loses its water here permanently. Various water markings have shown that the submerged Sieber water emerges at the Rhumequelle spring 9 km away. An old castle was located on the limestone hill above. It was first and last mentioned in a document in 1337. It is questionable whether this castle was ever completed.

Following the Sieber River leads to Hörden, where a stop at the Eulenhof inn is possible. Passing through the village past the Edelhof, a former manor of the Berkefeldt family, the path leads on the karst hiking trail to the Hainbuchenbestand am Südberg (Hornbeam stand at the southern hill). The trees were previously pollarded, pruned to the trunk. The branches were used as firewood and for livestock management.

The karst hiking trail leads to the Hainholz Nature Reserve with exemplary well-developed karst phenomena in a small space: karst spring, cave, episodic sinkhole pond, karst cone, sinkholes, karst springs, and disappearances.

Before Düna, turn left and follow the Panorama trail on the Rötzel, passing by the massive gypsum rock Beierstein. To the right of the path, a system of ditches and embankments can be seen: remnants of the old Osterode Landwehr (defensive earthwork). In the 14th century, the city built it to protect its possessions and livestock. The embankments were planted with thorny bushes. If an enemy or cattle thief approached, the message was relayed to the city via watchtowers.

The route continues up to the Feldherrenhügel (Field Marshals Hill) on the former Osterode training ground. Descending in a northerly direction, the route passes through the former training ground back to the starting point at ALOHA.

Parking Information

ALOHA Aqua-Land Osterode, Schwimmbadstr. 1, 37520 Osterode am Harz