After the horrors of Theresienstadt (and the long drive) we decided to do something nice today - plus it's Valentine's Day
and we do try not to do concentration camps, work camps or anything else unpleasant on Valentine's Day. Although of course
it's a sobering thought that the wretched victims of these atrocities had no choice but to be in such places whatever day it was...
After another excellent breakfast at Schlossberg and a late start we decided to go to Thale and walk up the Bodetal.
Thale is only a few kilometers east of Wernigerode and is a very pleasant place with some good things to see and do.
Sadly, I don't think that this museum was open (or we decided that our walk was more important this time), but this
fireless steam locomotive was interesting and unusual:
The Bode:
One of the other attractions in Thale is the Museum of the GDR, which I should very much like to see if we ever get to this part of the
world again. This Trabant was an advertisement for the museum. It rather amused us as (and meaning no disrespect to any Trabant owners reading this!)
we didn't think that the Trabant had enough power to pull itself along, let alone pull a trailer (it has a towing hitch)!
The walk up the Bodetal is stunning!
Sadly, not very far up the track there were signs saying 'Durchgang verboten'. Not wanting to break the rules (and after only a little excursion past the signs to get as far as the TeufelsBrücke)
we turned back. The last two pictures are looking downstream and upstream respectively from the Teufelsbrücke.
Returning to the car, we decided to drive up to the Hexentanzplatz, but on arrival it looked rather touristy (to say the least). I was tempted to have a go on the metal bobsleigh run though!
We had been recommended by our host to pay a visit to the Jagdschloss Windenhütte, partly for its location and partly for its history.
Towards the end of WWII the Nazi high command decided that they might need a bolt hole in which to hide if the tide of war turned against them. Berchtesgaden was no longer an option for some reason
so Jagdschloss Windenhütte was chosen (but never used) as their retreat. It is easy to see why this place might have been suitable: it's pretty remote even now.
Whatever the story, and of course this is only one part of the story, of this building it dates back to the 19th century.
I'm not really a fan of off-roading in Clara: it's not her natural environment. I'm glad we saw this interesting building, though - even if it is three
kilometers down a very muddy track!
We had tried to get there in February 2018, but it was very snowy and I didn't fancy Clara sliding off the track and into a ditch!.
The picture shows just how muddy that track was!
Germany Again Seven