Goslar

– built between 1040 and 1050. For more than 200 years German and European history was made here. Open: Apr - Oct: 10:00 - 17:00; Nov - Mar: 10:00 - 16:00, closed during special events. Admission: adults €7.50, children/youth €4.50. Kaiserbleek 6, +49 5321-311 9693

The massive Zwinger Tower arrests the attention of those driving by. Pedestrians in the green belt park, as well, stop to gaze in awe. Built to protect the Rammelsberg and the east flank of the town up to the Broad Gate, it was one of the mightiest defences in Europe. Up to 1000 people could find safety in its four storeys in case of siege. Measuring 26 metres in diameter, the tower's lower walls are over 6 metres thick. Today it houses a private Museum of the Late Middle Ages where armour and weapons for knights and musketeers, instruments of torture as well as boors’ weapons from 1524 are on display. From the rooftop there is a good view across Goslar and toward the mountains. It also houses a restaurant and holiday flats.

Town Hall (Rathaus) – The Goslar Town Hall is, indeed, a building of the centuries: the east wing with the arcades opening onto the Market Square was begun in the middle of the 15th century and over the following 400 years the Town Hall was continually extended and enlarged. Today its overall impression is determined by the 16th-century additions: a period of great prosperity for Goslar, which, as a member of Hanseatic League and a Free Imperial City, profited from the flourishing mining industry. The Town Hall still serves its original purpose, housing the Lord Mayor’s Office and the hall where the Town Council still discuss the weal of the town under the beautiful star-studded wooden ceiling. Hall of Homage (Huldigungssaal) – The Hall of Homage was set up as a council chamber between 1505 and 1520. It is a unique jewel of late Gothic interior decoration: its walls, the ceiling and even the window alcoves are completely covered with wood panel paintings. Each painting is an artwork of quality, contributing to the overwhelming complete ensemble. Richly carved wood decorations surround each painting. After many years of restoration the room is now protected by complex environmental protection devices so that this masterpiece can be preserved for future generations.

Just five minutes away from the Market Square, between the Glockengießer Straße and the Abzucht stream, is Goslar’s oldest unaltered half-timbered house. This almshouse was founded in 1488 and contains portions of a Romanesque stone “Kemenate” with a medieval kitchen, the large one-room hall, and a chapel. Of particular note is the Baroque altar by Jobst Heinrich Lessen and the artfully-worked Margarete Tapestry from the 15th century with 32 illustrations of the life of the martyred saint.

This small Romanesque hall church from the 12th century was incorporated in the town fortifications and served as a gate chapel. From 1537 onwards it was the miners' hospice chapel, replacing their former church in the Bergdorp village, which had been destroyed. The miners passed through the Claus Gate going to and coming from mines and the chapel served for hundreds of years for prayer and church services. The Frankenberg Parish had the pulpit rights and obtained the chapel from the mine administration in 1969. In 1988 following the last shift in the mines the miners visited the chapel for the last time. Today it is used regularly by the Frankenberg parish congregation for prayer and church services.

The Frankenberg Church of St. Peter and Paul Church was built in the 12th century as a three-aisled, cruciform, pillared basilica with a flat ceiling. It stands on the highest point in the west of town. The steeples were part of the town wall. The existence of the church is documented for 1108 and beginning in 1234 it was also used for the nuns of the neighbouring St. Mary Magdalena Convent. Around 1240 the roof was vaulted, in the 14th and 15th centuries Gothic alterations of the choir and the southerly transept are recorded, in 1783 the badly deteriorated steeples were removed and the Baroque tower roof added, and in 1873/80 extensive restoration of the interior and exterior was carried out. The Frankenberg Church was the parish church of miners who lived in close proximity to the mines in the Frankenberg Quarter. The bell inscriptions and the Mining Thanksgiving festival on Sunday before Ash Wednesday are reminiscent of this.

The Goslar Market Church, first mentioned in 1151, was built as a smaller copy of the Imperial Church, which no longer exists, in the form of a triple-aisled, pillared basilica with two spires in the west. In the 14th and 15th centuries the choir was enlarged and an additional nave was added on both sides. Today it not only attracts attention through its central location on the Market Square but also because of its very high unmatched steeples, which assist in orientation and provide attractive views from various points in the Old Town. Of special note are the nine medieval stained glass windows from the first third of the 13th century, the old library, the bronze baptismal font from 1573, the remnant of a Late Gothic mural from around 1440 and the wooden Baroque altar from 1659. The North steeple of the Market Church has been made accessible for a view over the town.

Different prices for different tours above and underground. Few buildings (baths, workshops, warehouses) and underground corridors accessible. Attractions include a ride in old miners' underground train and mining tools showing. Guides speak a few languages.