Rosstrappe

Well-developed hiking trails, breathtaking views all the way to the Brocken mountain and a mystical legend surrounding its name: the Rosstrappe in the Harz Mountains combines all the features that make this region so appealing to visitors.

It's uphill!

The Rosstrappe granite rock, criss-crossed with quartz veins, rises 403 metres above the Bode Valley in the municipality of Thale. Hikers can reach the Rosstrappe via the Schurre, a serpentine hiking trail built as early as 1864, or via the four-kilometre-long President's Trail. The Rosstrappe is No. 71 in the Harzer Wandernadel (Harz Hiking Needle) system, whose stamps can be found at a total of 222 locations and thus provide an incentive for young and young-at-heart to hike in the Harz Mountains.

If you want to make it more comfortable, you can of course take the car or the bus, or you can climb 244 metres in altitude with the chairlift, whose top station is 421 metres above sea level and about 500 metres from the Rosstrappe viewpoint. At 668 metres, the cable car is also the longest in the Harz Mountains.

The ascent is rewarded!

Halfway up, the Berghotel Rosstrappe has been inviting visitors to take a cosy break since 1819. In addition to the culinary delights, it is above all the view of the Harz foreland, the Bode Valley and the Hexentanzplatz (Witches' Dance Site) that makes it hard to leave the hospitable beer garden. But there is still more to see!

Also close to the Rosstrappe viewpoint are the ruins of Winzenburg Castle, a refuge that was already in use in the Neolithic Age. Fliehburgs are fortress-like defensive structures that were not permanently inhabited, but served as a place of protection for the population. On the Rosstrappe in the Harz mountains, for example, there are remains of a 500-metre-long rampart made of boulders and earth mounds. Unfortunately, the Winzenburg tower, built in 1860, is no longer accessible to visitors. And what does all this have to do with a hoofprint?

How the Rosstrappe got its name

Of course, the Rosstrappe is also part of the legends and myths of the Harz mountains: the knight Bodo of Bohemia wanted to marry the beautiful king's daughter Brunhilde, but the latter did not agree. She fled on a white steed. When a precipice opened up in front of her, she courageously jumped and reached the opposite rock. Only her golden crown sank in the floods of the raging river.

Her pursuer, however, plunged into the depths, turned into a black dog and has guarded the princess's crown ever since. The memory of the knight Bodo remains, after all, in the name of the little river Bode. However, the princess's horse left a clear imprint where it touched down on the rock, which is now the real attraction of the Rosstrappe and gave the rock its name.

Of course, it could also be the weathered remains of a Germanic sacrificial basin, but it certainly doesn't hurt one's luck to put a coin in the basin. Thus, the Rosstrappe in the Harz Mountains is an ideal destination for holidaymakers, hikers and families, combining all the facets of this low mountain range and whetting the appetite for further forays.