On the way from Marktredwitz We stood at the Baltic Sea for one night near the Harz National Park. We have set ourselves up in the Kyffhäuser Mountains in Bad Frankenhausen on a parking space directly at the thermal baths. A parking space that we already knew from our vacation in 2018. That day it was supposed to rain and thunderstorms and the day after that. So we used the time to write and edit the homepage. So no excursion. But we give you a look back at our great vacation of 2018 in the Harz National Park.
We were brave too, as we went to the Harz Mountains in the 2nd week of November. You can actually count on cold, wet weather. But the sun was with us. Except for 2 rainy days we were really lucky with the weather and it was sometimes really warm.
The advantage in November was that many sights, viewpoints and parking spaces were not overcrowded with tourists and you could see a lot in peace.
Kyffhäuser Monument
The monument is located in the Kyffhäuser Nature Park on the site of the former Kyffhausen Castle and about 420 m above sea level. The Kyffhäuser Monument was built in memory of Kaiser Wilhelm in 1896. He is shown sitting on a horse and below him Barbarossa is sitting on his throne and is just awakening. On the back of the monument there is also a castle museum in the base and a little further the castle ruins of the upper castle, which can be viewed.
That day we had nice weather and a clear view. Below the equestrian statue one could look over the Kyffhäuser Mountains and into the Harz National Park. Super great pictures were taken.
We made the way back to the car via the middle castle and the lower castle, where you can sometimes only guess which wall belonged to which part of the castle.
You can find other interesting sights nearby on the Side of the Kyffhäuser monument.
Barbarossa Cave
The caves were discovered by chance by miners in the Kyffhäuser Mountains. When the hall-like caves were found, the name after Barbarossa was quickly found. In the dance hall of the caves there is a throne and a table made of stone and there is a legend in the country that Barbarossa can be found there at some point. The caves are made of anhydrite rock and is one of only 2 show caves worldwide.
There are also many lakes in these caves that are mirror-clear. After seeing a lake that was covered with lime, we were told that the lakes are cleared (skimmed off) of lime every week. It's unbelievable how the rocks are reflected over the lake, as if you put a real mirror on the ground.
The round through the cave was very nice, but no dog is allowed. But since it was November and not hot, Finja took care of our bus. 🙂
