Via Romea Germanica Day 19: Königshütte - Domäne Stiege

Vor Gefahren ma bewahrten Deinen Pfad
Dich beschirmen in den Stürmen Gottes Gnad

(May God's grace protect your path from danger, and protect you from the storms)

- pilgrim blessing written under the crucifix on the path outside Hasselfelde 

Today's stage of the Via Romea Germanica coincided with the Harzer-Hexenstieg, the Harz Witches' Trail, and the witchy theme was clearly apparent in Königshütte! 

I left the village along the stream called the Warme Bode (Warm Bode), which flows together with the Kalte Bode (Cold Bode) at Königshütte to form the river Bode, which must presumably be just the right temperature 😄. I then climbed a gravel road up to a high plateau that appeared to have been blighted by the witches' curse. The forest here has in actual fact been blighted by 20th-century industrial expansion and climate change; more information about that here.

I didn't see a single animal walking through the forest all day yesterday, though a couple of foxes crossed the road ahead of me today.  The last bear in the Harz mountains was killed in 1705; the last wolf in 1798. There is said to be a stable population of European lynx, or Eurasian wildcat, in the more diverse forested areas, though I didn't see any evidence of this (don't think I would want to see a wildcat too close up, anyway!).

After five and a half kilometres of this rather bleak landscape, I stopped at a viewpoint over the Trautenstein reservoir and the Vorsperre Rappbode dam to stamp my pilgrim credential with the stamp in the box, drink some water and get a rock out of my shoe. Then I crossed the dam that forms the reservoir, built between 1957 and 1961. 

On the other side of the reservoir,  I climbed a hill on a gravel road, turning around for my last view of the Brocken. Another five kilometres on this road brought me to the town of Hasselfelde. 

Looking back at the Brocken 

Crucifix at a pilgrim rest stop

Hasselfelde cemetery 

Hasselfelde 

Hasselfelde church 

Hasselfelde town hall

Cute rest stop in the fields 

Once I had been to the tourist office for a stamp on my pilgrim credential and to the supermarket for groceries for the next day or two, there was nothing much to keep me in Hasselfelde, so I continued out of the town through the park and along a path through the pastures to Domäne Stiege, the guesthouse and campground where Sabine from the tourist office in Wernigerode had booked me a miniature cabin for the night. At first I couldn't find where to check in; I was looking for the Rezeption, and completely ignored a big sign that said Anmelung in red gothic letters over a background of teirly grapevines - not easy to read! Then I spotted it and thought I'd better look up the word Anmelung, and discovered that it meant Registration, so I went over to read the fine print by the door and call the number posted. The lady who answered sounded surprised; it turned out she had been expecting me yesterday. The mistake must have been hers, as Sabine had also booked my hotel yesterday, and she surely can't have booked me into two places for the same night! In any case, there was plenty of room in the campground, the lady said when she came over. She assigned me a Wanderhütte and sold me a giant bottle of beer for two euros. Cheers!

Domäne Stiege

Bed & beer! Just what I need

Wanderhütten

My own little Wanderhütte!

Bed....

& beer! 

Königshütte - Domäne Stiege 15.5 km