Eichsfeld - Eichsfeld

The Eichsfeld is located south of the Harz in Lower Saxony and Thuringia and since the reunification in 1990 in the heart of Germany. The northern part, which largely belongs to Lower Saxony, is also called Subfield referred to, the part belonging to Thuringia as Area field.

View into the Leinetal near Uder

places

Places of tourist interest in Eichsfeld:

  • Duderstadt (Lower Saxony) - "Capital" of the Eichsfeld with a historic half-timbered old town.

Other goals

  • Ohm Mountains - The small mountain range can be found northeast of Worbis. The highest point is the "Birkenkopf" north of Kaltohmfeld at 533 m. A Russian military installation with a radar station stood here until the fall of the Wall. Remnants of the barracks are still preserved. The summit of the Birkenkopf on the site and at the same time the Ohm Mountains is probably the base plate of the former radar station 51 ° 27 '45 "N.10 ° 24 '11 "E From the area, which lies in the open field markings, you have distant views on clear days over the heights of the Eichsfeld, to the Brocken in the Harz, to the Thuringian Forest and into the North Hessian mountains.
The view from the is also worth seeing Hauröder cliffs, which is in the northern slope of the Ohm Mountains 51 ° 28 '59 "N.10 ° 25 ′ 40 ″ E can be found. About 1.5 km west of the Hauröder cliffs can be found with the "Wild Church" another shell limestone formation.
  • Golden mark - Fertile basin landscape between Duderstadt, Seeburg and Gieboldehausen with a dense network of cycle paths.
  • Thin - Ridge between Heilbad Heiligenstadt in the west and the Hainleite in the East. They are worth seeing Scharfenstein Castle, the former Reifenstein Monastery and the lookout at Keulaer Rondel.
  • Südichsfeld - Varied landscape in the southern Eichsfeld with the Gobert (highest elevation in the Eichsfeld), the Hülfensberg, the Eichsfelder Westerwald and the cannon railway line Lengenfeld under the stone.

background

The rulers of Eichsfeld had been the Archbishops of Mainz since the Middle Ages, who suppressed the Protestant Reformation in their area. Therefore, the Eichsfeld is still strongly influenced by Catholicism, unlike the rest of the federal states, the Catholic holidays apply. It was not until the Congress of Vienna that the Eichsfeld was divided into a Prussian part (Obereichsfeld) and a Hanoverian part (Untereichsfeld), a division that became obsolete again with the annexation of Hanover by Prussia in 1866. What remained was the administrative division of belonging to the province of Saxony and the province of Hanover, which after the end of the Second World War should lead to the assignment of the lower field to the British occupation zone and thus the FRG and the upper field to the Soviet occupation zone and thus the GDR.

Due to the cultural unity in Wikivoyage, the Eichsfeld is treated as a cross-state region, as this makes sense from the perspective of the traveler. Therefore, there is no further subdivision into the sub-regions Lower Field in Lower Saxony and Upper Field in Thuringia.

getting there

Göttingen-Heilbad Heiligenstadt airport near Günterode, the A38 runs to the left

By plane

The nearest commercial airports are Hanover and Frankfurt / Main. There are good connections by train to Eichsfeld with a change in Göttingen or Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe. Also the Leipzig Airport is easily accessible, but has fewer flight connections than the first two airports mentioned.

Private pilots, even with larger planes, can head for the Göttingen-Heilbad Heiligenstadt airfield.

By train

The Halle-Kasseler-Eisenbahn crosses the Eichsfeld in an east-west direction with a stop in Heilbad Heiligenstadt and Leinefelde. Regional express trains run on the route between Halle / Saale Hbf. And Erfurt - Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe long-distance train station (ICE connection) (Attention, some trains also start / end in Kassel Hbf, especially at off-peak times).

The regional express line is the north-south connection Goettingen–Heiligenstadt – Leinefelde-Mühlhausen–Erfurt- (Jena-Glauchau). This line connects every two hours to the ICE train stations in Göttingen and Erfurt. The next ICE train station to the Untereichsfeld is the Goettingen train station, the train station is in Obereichsfeld Erfurt mostly cheaper.

In the street

The Südharzautobahn A 38 from Kassel / Göttingen to Halle an der Saale crosses the Eichsfeld in a west-east direction. The route has been open to traffic since 2009. The federal highways 27, 89 and 446 run parallel to this. The B 247 crosses the region in a north-south direction.

By bicycle

The Iron Curtain Europe Cycle Route also crosses the Eichsfeld on its route from the Norwegian Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea coast. The route connects the Harz with the Werra Valley and also leads through Duderstadt.

mobility

Tourist Attractions

Grenzlandweg at the Grenzlandmuseum Eichsfeld
  • Bear park in Worbis: Bears from various origins - some from former circus populations - live in the Bear Park under conditions that are as appropriate to their species as possible: The bears share a 40,000 m² outdoor area with a pack of wolves, through which visitors can walk in a lattice tunnel.

Pilgrimage sites

Great pilgrimage in Germershausen

The Catholic Eichsfeld has numerous pilgrimage sites, whose pilgrimages are still very important in the religious customs of the region.

  • To the image of grace Mary in the meadow in Germershausen Thousands of people make a pilgrimage on the first Sunday of July. Other important pilgrimages are the women's pilgrimage on the first Sunday in May and the men's pilgrimage on the first Sunday in September.
  • The Pilgrimage Church of the 14 Not Saints on the Higher mountain at Wollbrandshausen was consecrated in 1856. From the top of the 242 high mountain you have a good view of the Harz, the Göttingen Forest and the Ohm Mountains, but above all in all directions over the under-field. Numerous benches and shady places allow you to rest on the mountain, which can be reached from Wollbrandshausen and Lake Constance, among other places.
Pilgrimage chapel Etzelsbach
  • The Pilgrimage church Etzelsbach, a Marian pilgrimage site near the Wüsting Etzelsbach near the Thuringian town of Hundeshagen, has been at the latest since the visit of Pope Benedict XVI. known far beyond the borders of the Eichsfeld on 23.09.2011.
  • The Hülfensberg in the southernmost tip of the Eichsfeld district, on the border with Hesse. The pilgrimage routes to the Hülfensberg were partially interrupted by the German-German border strip, and the pilgrimages themselves were subject to severe restrictions during the 40 years of German division.
  • Kerch mountain in Dingelstädt. In the former Franciscan monastery on the hill today has a Family center of the Diocese of Erfurt has its seat.
Pilgrimage to Klüschen Hagis
  • Klüschen Hagis near Dingelstädt, here, among other things, the men's pilgrimage takes place on Ascension Day, which was founded in 1957 and was one of the largest demonstrations of faith in the GDR. Another pilgrimage is the Klüschen pilgrimage to the Visitation of the Virgin Mary (July 2nd, different dates possible).

Other places of pilgrimage include the Antoniuskirche in Worbis, the Marienkirche in Dingelstädt, the pilgrimage church of St. Mary's Visitation in Breitenholz Leinefelde. There is also the cruise pilgrimage to Kreuzebra, the Joseph's pilgrimage to Renshausen and the Marian pilgrimage in Beberstedt. Finally, an important place of pilgrimage for the Eichsfeld, especially the Obereichsfeld, is the cathedral Erfurt, the seat of the bishop responsible for the upper area (while the lower area is the diocese Hildesheim is a member).

Palaces and castles

Bodenstein Castle
  • Bodenstein Castle, medieval castle above Witzingerode, today a family recreation center
  • Großbodungen Castle
  • Scharfenstein Castle, renovated, with extremely steep driveway from Beuren from and a great view to the Harz when the weather is good; Self-service café and restaurant

Castle ruins

  • Altenstein Castle at Mackenrode (District of Eichsfeld)

activities

Draisine rides on the cannon train

Out and about on the cannon train
With the bicycle trolley over the Lengenfeld Viaduct to Großbartloff

In the southern Eichsfeld you can from Lengenfeld under the stone experience an attractive part of the cannon railway by handrail. There are two routes that can be traveled there and back. Route 1 is particularly interesting because it goes over a large viaduct and through 5 tunnels:

  • Draisine rides on the cannon train, Bahnhofstrasse 43, Lengenfeld unterm Stein. Tel.: 49 36027 78866, Fax: 49 36027 78453, Email: . online booking!
  • Route 1: 13 km uphill with at least 124 m difference in altitude (the excursion is then 26 km long with 4 hours driving time, the return is then mostly downhill); Route: Station Lengenfeld unterm Stein - Lengenfeld Viaduct (244 m long and 24 m high) - Entenberg tunnel (288 m), stop Großbartloff - Heiligenberg tunnel (198 m) Rottenbach stop, Mühlberg tunnel II (343 m), Effelder stop, Mühlberg I tunnel (198 m), Luttergrund stop, Hübental stop, Küllstedter tunnel (1530 m) Küllstedt train station (turning point) (Track status 11-2010; Incidentally, the development association or the non-profit company use the proceeds to maintain the cannon railway).
  • Route 2: Trial route for beginners: Lengenfeld train station unterm Stein - Gesimar train station (7km there and back)

kitchen

A particular specialty is the Eichsfelder Mettwurst, Kälberblase, Feldkieker and Stracke.

  • Eichsfelder Feldgieker is a coarse-grained, cut-resistant raw sausage, similar to the Italian salami. It is made from lean pork and coarse bacon and seasoned with nitrite curing salt, pepper, honey and raspberry juice. After filling, the sausage ripens for several days and is then cold-smoked for one day. Often the edible sausage is then hung up for a few weeks to a year until the desired degree of hardness is reached. The Eichsfelder Feldkieker or Feldgieker has the status of PGI. - Protected geographical indication.
  • The Eichsfeld calf bladder consists of pork that is filled into a bladder by the calf, which gives the sausage a spherical shape. After six months of ripening, the Eichsfeld calf bladder, made without preservatives, can be kept for months. The Eichsfeld calf bladder is usually eaten on mixed bread with pickled cucumbers,
  • The Eichsfeld sausage is a blood sausage. They can be bought in the intestine or in a glass.

  • Feldgieker, here as Eichsfelder Stracke

  • Eichsfeld calf bladder

  • Eichsfeld sausage

  • Besides, the sour cream cake in Eichsfeld, and as a foreigner you might be surprised if you order an "iron cake" from the menu and find what you would simply call a "waffle" on your plate.

nightlife

The nightlife is mostly rural and takes place in the pubs and inns in the smaller towns. However, there are also well-known institutions beyond the borders of the region, such as the Glass house in Worbis and the Music workshop in Duderstadt, where party-goers are guaranteed to get their money's worth.

As a visitor, you shouldn't miss the many festivals in the annual cycle, which are usually celebrated late into the night: During the carnival, the many local carnival parties, often "in the hall" of an inn, as well as the shooting festivals, of course, and the mostly large events in Eichsfeld are in the smallest of places.

security

climate

trips

literature

  • Wolfgang Dahms: Go for a walk, hike, stop by. 39 excursions in the vicinity of Göttingen, between the Weser, Harz and Eichsfeld. Mecke publishing house.
  • Uwe Gerig (editor): Eichsfeld: history, home, humor. Ruth Gerig Verlag, Königsstein / Taunus 1991. ISBN 3-928275-08-9 .

Web links

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