For a stay in Pöhlde, two main themes stand out: traces of its Palatinate and church history, and karst features, moorland and forest. History comes to life in marked ground plans and surviving traces in the landscape; a circular trail passes through a sequence of landscape features. If you are planning a trip and looking for a holiday apartment, you can first decide whether architectural history or nature will shape your stay more.
Palatinate history and church architecture
The Palatinate of Pöhlde was visited a total of 27 times by German emperors and kings between 922 and 1059. The visits spanned more than a century, making the Palatinate a notable historical landmark for the town. The outline of the Palatine Chapel is marked by stone slabs in the lawn, making the original layout of its foundations visible to visitors.
The present-day church represents a different building phase. It was built in 1668 on the foundations of the central nave of the former collegiate church, which dated from the 13th century; the medieval choir was also incorporated. Thus, 1668 does not mark the beginning of the church’s history at this site, but rather a later construction that incorporated older parts. Alongside the church remains, the court linden tree is another local landmark: it is estimated to be 1,000 years old.
Archaeological traces in the landscape
On the Rotenberg, the remains of the rampart and ditch system of the fortification known as “König Heinrichs Vogelherd” (“King Henry’s Birding Ground”) are still clearly visible in the landscape. The site was probably an early refuge fortress. This reveals two different forms of archaeological evidence: at the Palatine Chapel, stone slabs mark the ground plan; on the Rotenberg, ramparts and a ditch trace the fortification across the landscape.
Karst landscape and watershed
The “Finnenbruch, Großes Butterloch und Schwimmende Insel” nature reserve lies about 400 metres southeast of Pöhlde. It comprises funnel-shaped sinkholes, transitional mires and swamp forest habitats.
A circular trail crosses the wooded Bornberg and enters a side valley with the Großes Butterloch nature reserve and other partly marshy sinkholes. It then climbs to the pass by the former Pöhlde brickworks, which forms the surface watershed between the southern Harz and the Eichsfeld. This distinction can help you choose a focus: the nature reserve brings together sinkholes and wetland habitats, while the circular trail also takes in the route up to the pass. Here, a watershed marks the divide between surface watercourses flowing towards the southern Harz and the Eichsfeld.
The Rhume Spring
The Rhume Spring is also associated with Pöhlde. It is one of the largest and most abundant karst springs in Europe. Its average discharge is 2,500 litres of water per second, and at times it exceeds 5,000 litres per second. During these periods, the discharge is more than double the average. The spring adds a hydrological perspective to the sinkholes and wetland habitats: here, the scale of karst water can be seen in a specific discharge rate.
Discover more destinations: Bad Lauterberg, Wulften am Harz, Osterode Am Harz, Herzberg Am Harz, Bad Sachsa, Riefensbeek-Kamschlacken, Bad Grund, Lonau.
Back to the main travel overview: Osterode Am Harz.
