Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Goslar (Germany). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Rammelsberg, Imperial Palace of Goslar, and Romkerhall. Also, be sure to include Zwinger in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Goslar (Lower Saxony).
Table of Contents
Rammelsberg
Historic mountain with a museum and mines. The Rammelsberg is a mountain, 635 metres high, on the northern edge of the Harz range, south of the historic town of Goslar in the North German state of Lower Saxony. The mountain is the location of an important silver, copper, and lead mine, the only mine which had been working continuously for over 1,000 years when it finally closed in 1988. Since 1992, the visitor mine of Rammelsberg has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[1]
Address: Bergtal 19, 38640 Goslar
Imperial Palace of Goslar
Also known as: Kaiserpfalz Goslar
Sprawling former imperial palace site. The Imperial Palace of Goslar is a historical building complex at the foot of the Rammelsberg hill in the south of the town of Goslar north of the Harz mountains, central Germany. It covers an area of about 340 by 180 metres. The palace grounds originally included the Kaiserhaus, the old collegiate church of St. Simon and St. Jude, the palace chapel of St. Ulrich and the Church of Our Lady. The Kaiserhaus, which has been extensively restored in the late 19th century, was a favourite imperial residence, especially for the Salian emperors. As early as the 11th century, the buildings of the imperial palace had already so impressed the chronicler Lambert of Hersfeld that he described it as the "most famous residence in the empire". Since 1992, the palace site, together with the Goslar's Old Town and the Rammelsberg has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[2]
Address: Kaiserbleek 6, 38640 Goslar
Romkerhall
Hotel in Goslar, Germany. Romkerhall is a popular tourist destination on the River Oker in the Harz Mountains of Germany. There is a public car park here as well as a hotel and restaurant opposite the Romkerhall Waterfall. Romkerhall lies within the unincorporated area of Harz in the Lower Saxon county of Goslar in the Harz Mountains. The hotel and waterfall form a small tourist attraction which is marketed as the "Kingdom of Romkerhall - the smallest kingdom in the world!"[3]
Zwinger
Historical landmark in Goslar, Germany. The Zwinger in Goslar is a battery tower that is part of the fortifications of the old imperial city of Goslar, Germany. It is located on the Thomaswall in the south of the town and was built in 1517. On this side Goslar was strongly dominated by the nearby hill of Rammelsberg, which would have made a good location for positioning enemy guns in the event of an attack on the town; the town fortifications therefore needed the extra protection of a strong battery tower at this point.
The stonework of Goslar's Zwinger was predominantly made of sandstone quarried from the Sudmerberg northeast of Goslar and mortared with burnt lime. Because lime burning was still in not fully developed, the builders mixed the mortar with horsehair, quark, goat's milk and ox blood to harden it fully.
Immediately under the corbelling are two sandstone tablets in the wall bearing the coats of arms of the German Empire and the town of Goslar and the inscription "Anno dm M D X V II". The original conical roof was dismantled in 1857.
With a wall thickness at the base of 6.5 metres, a diameter of 26 metres and a height of 20 metres, the Zwinger is one of the strongest surviving and utilised defensive towers in Europe.
The Goslar Zwinger has been privately owned since 1 August 1936. Today it houses a restaurant on the ground floor, three holiday apartments on the middle floor and a small museum of medieval weapons, armour and torture implements on the top floor.[4]
Address: Thomasstraße 2, 38640 Goslar
Goslar Cathedral
Also known as: Goslarer Dom
Historical landmark in Goslar, Germany. The church known as Goslar Cathedral was a collegiate church dedicated to St. Simon and St. Jude in the town of Goslar, Germany. It was built between 1040 and 1050 as part of the Imperial Palace district. The church building was demolished in 1819–1822; today, only the porch of the north portal is preserved. It was a church of Benedictine canons. The term Dom, a German synecdoche used for collegiate churches and cathedrals alike, is often uniformly translated as 'cathedral' into English, even though this collegiate church was never the seat of a bishop.[5]
Mönchehaus-Museum Goslar
Museum, Art museum
Address: Mönchestraße 3, 38640 Goslar
Königsberg
Mountain in Germany. The 435 m high Königsberg is a hill in the Harz mountains in central Germany, southwest of Goslar between the Grane Reservoir and the Steinberg. On its summit are the ruins of an old tuberculosis convalescent home, later a children's home, the Königsberg Sanatorium.[6]
Market Church
Also known as: Marktkirche
The Market Church of St. Cosmas and Damian is an Evangelical Lutheran church building in the center of the old town of Goslar. It is the town's council and main parish church and is named after Saints Cosmas and Damian.
Address: Marktkirchhof 1, 38640 Goslar
Zinnfiguren Museum
Museum, Specialty museum
Address: Klapperhagen 1, 38640 Goslar
Frankenberger Kirche
The former monastery church and current Evangelical Lutheran parish church of St. Peter and Paul in Goslar is usually referred to as the Frankenberg Church and stands on the hill called Frankenberg at the western end of the historic old town. It is Romanesque at its core, but features Gothic and Baroque alterations. Together with the building of the "Little Holy Cross", the sexton's house from 1504 and an old gate from 1510 in the immediate vicinity, it provides a remarkable picture of medieval town planning.
Address: Nonnenweg 14-15, 38640 Goslar
Marktbrunnen
The market fountain in Goslar is considered one of the most important bronze castings from the Romanesque period and is the largest and oldest preserved Romanesque market fountain in Germany.