Emperor's path

In Bad Harzburg, the venue of the 114th German Hiking Day in 2014, the Kaiserweg begins. Before starting the hike, a visit to the ruins of the castle on Burgberg is worthwhile. According to legend, Heinrich IV fled in 1073 through a secret passage in the castle well to escape the Saxons along the Kaiserweg. To reach the starting point of the hike, you can take the Burgberg cable car or the Herzogweg. From Antoniusplatz, where the Saxons camped almost 1000 years ago to conquer the Harzburg, the path leads over the Säperstelle and the Reuschenteich to the Molkenhaus. At the Hopfensäcke, two typical Harz granite cliffs, we reach the highest point of the Kaiserweg. You then reach the former inn Oderbrück and the Kaiserweg leads from there through the source area of the Oder, partially over medieval cobblestones. You reach the inn Königskrug and cross the B4, hiking on the Old Harzburger Straße past Braunlage and the Lausebuche, reaching the Kapellenfleck. Here you will find the remains of a chapel from the early Middle Ages, a combination of hostel and chapel. Via the wayside cross Helenenruh, you will soon reach the village of Walkenried and the Cistercian monastery there. From there, the path continues in an eastern direction and merges with the Karstwanderweg. You cross the border to Thuringia and pass through Juliushütte, Ellrich, and the Mittelbau Dora concentration camp memorial to reach the North Thuringian city of Nordhausen. In the Middle Ages, there was a royal court here that was frequently visited by German kings until the late Staufers. Then the path leads from Nordhausen through Heringen and Hamma to the Badraer Schweiz, from whose mountains you can enjoy a beautiful view of the Harz. The path then leads over the Kyffhäuser and finally to Tilleda in Saxony-Anhalt, where it ends at the royal palace there.