Discover Harsleben

Harsleben offers two different perspectives: the architecture of St. Simon and Judas Church and a small park where several springs converge in a pond. The church brings together architectural features and furnishings from different periods; the park offers a different setting, with a place to sit and the option of a picnic. You can get to know the village through its architectural history and a break in the green surroundings.

St. Simon and Judas Church: Architecture from several periods

A slightly leaning, rectangular Romanesque tower dates from around 1200. The Gothic chancel, with its ribbed vault, dates to the 14th century. The tower and chancel thus present two different architectural styles and their place in time: Romanesque and Gothic can be seen in the church’s distinctive features.

Inside the church is a Baroque, two-doored altar screen featuring statues of the church’s patron saints, St. Simon and Judas. An older Renaissance pulpit with valuable inlay work is incorporated into the altar screen. The pulpit is therefore part of the Baroque design; the interplay between the periods is a topic in its own right in art history.

The organ also has a distinctive history: its richly decorated case on the west gallery was formerly the Rückpositiv (rear positive) of the David Beck organ from Gröningen Castle. During renovation work in the 1970s, the exterior staircases and the sacristy were removed. These changes add another facet to the church’s history alongside its surviving architectural and decorative features.

A break in the park

The small park offers a simple counterpoint to the architectural details. Several springs converge in a pond; you can sit on a bench, and a picnic is also possible. This gives your itinerary a different rhythm: alongside looking at architectural styles, you can plan a break by the water. Especially if you want to accommodate different interests on a shared trip, the two themes are easy to distinguish: church architecture on the one hand and time in the park on the other.

The Harz as a broader travel destination

Within the broader travel destination of the Harz, the UNESCO Global Geopark Harz–Braunschweiger Land–Ostfalen provides another thematic framework. It encompasses the Harz; its visitor facilities include geopark information points, discovery trails, show mines, erratic boulder gardens and museums. The Harz National Park has eight visitor centers and national park houses, with information about the park, hiking tips, exhibitions and film screenings.

The size of the national park also helps put this regional context into perspective: it covers 24,732 hectares and accounts for around ten percent of the entire Harz region. Its 560 kilometers of signposted trails lead to particularly scenic viewpoints. At 1,141 meters, the Brocken is the highest peak in the Harz and lies within the national park’s core zone; the Brocken Railway offers a way to reach it by train.

Another Harz topic brings together nature and cultural history: the Upper Harz Water Management System has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage since August 2010. It comprises 107 surviving ponds, 310 kilometers of water ditches and 30 kilometers of underground waterways. For hiking enthusiasts, the Harzer Wandernadel (Harz Hiking Pin) connects 222 stamping stations throughout the Harz. Anyone who collects all the stamps earns the title “Harz Hiking Emperor.”

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Discover more destinations

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Back to the broader travel overview: Harz.