Hotel Altora

A Trip to Fachwerkstadt

by hunterV

"A Good Chance"

During my trip to Germany (the GDR at that time) when a I was a student I had a very good chance of visiting the Harz - the famous mountainous region to the south of Magdeburg.
We, a group of Soviet students of German, stayed in Magdeburg at the teacher-training college for a month to study German.
We stayed at the campus of Erich Weinert pedagogical college and attended classes at that college.
We were also taken to the Harz for a weekend trip to see the great sites.
This city, as we were told, is famous for its medieval architecture and is often called "the city of half-timbered houses". "Fachwerkstadt" - this is how it sounds in German.
It is really full of those old houses and one of them is the City Hall built in the 15th century. They say this city became famous all over Germany for married couples liked to come here for a wedding ceremony in the old City Hall. So the city was also called The city of the newly-weds.
We also had the pleasure of visiting the Feudal Museum in Wernigerode located in an old castle up the hill. It was, in fact, the first medieval castle I had ever visited.
I hope I will have another chance of visiting that splendid city!

"Historical Ritterburg ("Knights' Castle")"

This is the Knights' Castle that is a must for everybody coming to this city.
If you take your time and go up the hill, you will enjoy the whole day of discoveries in this splendid complex of buildings.
I visited this city shortly after a famous Soviet movie about Baron Münchhausen had been filmed here.

"Wedding Attraction"

This is the famous City Hall that has always attracted lots of newlyweds from all over Germany.
It's astonishing to see the well-preserved exibits, the halls and rooms that have preserved their original look for 400 years...