Goseck Castle is a medieval castle and later monastery complex in Goseck in Saxony-Anhalt, near the imposing and oldest solar observatory in Europe.

The Midwives' Association of Saxony-Anhalt has had a forest planted near Goseck. Two beautifully designed commemorative plaques complete the small grove and convey the message of the midwives:

We had already been told several times about the circular moat not far from Goseck Castle, now the ancient building, better known as the “solar observatory”, should be hiked.

The four decentralized “Halle Christmas Markets” on the market square, Domplatz, in front of the Ulrichskirche and on Hansering had to close due to the currently new 15th SARS-CoV-2 containment ordinance of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, which has been in force since November 24th, 2021.

As already mentioned, our accommodation in Halle - Saale was so centrally located in the city centre that we made several spontaneous decisions on our way to the city centre.

We were already on the way back from the Rosarium Sangershausen on the BAB 38 in the direction of Halle when Detlef remarked that we should also make a short detour to the castle in Querfurt.

We were on our way back from Sangerhausen when, after about 12 kilometers, we came across the town of Allstedt, which is overlooked by a magnificent castle complex.

In a first blog we had already reported about the first Vanlife Festival in Ferropolis, so-called Eisenstadt in the former open-cast mining area in Golpa Nord near Leipzig.

Anyone who passes the motorway junction near Sangerhausen on the A 38 motorway in the direction of Berlin will be amazed at the huge rock cones in the landscape, which after many years of storage are only partially greened and can therefore still be recognized as "man-made".

The historical imposing buildings of the "village" Schulpforte had already struck us several times when we were on the road 87 between Bad Kösen and Naumburg.

Every hike, at least if you walk through nature with your eyes open, always brings new perspectives or even new insights, which you have already encountered many times, but little or not at all explored.

This year the Finnelauf will not be stopped by the corona virus. For a long time, the organizers of the SG Finne Billroda advised ideas on how the traditional and nationally known run, which is so popular with athletes, can be set up even in pandemic times.

We are more fan of hiking up to the Brocken, but lot of people use the trains go up even in winter with six pairs of trains a day, if there are no Corona-related breaks.

The place Zscheiplitz is located on the elevated left bank of the Unstrut within sight of the Neuchâtel / Neuenburg about two kilometers west of Freyburg in southern Saxony-Anhalt.

The red sandstone mountains Hohe Schrecke, a striking ridge between Saxony Anhalt and Thuringia, lies, in a broader sense, between Bretleben and Reinsdorf in the north, Gehofen, Nausitz and Donndorf in the northeast, Langenroda, Garnbach, Wiehe and Allerstedt in the east, Lossa in the southeast, Hauteroda, Oberheldrungen and Heldrungen in the west and Braunsroda in the northwest.

Once again on our hiking shoes, we noticed a new sign board in the forest above Billroda, the inscription of which referred to a boundary stone of the Kingdom of Prussia.

The dark gray clouds on the way to Freyburg to Neuenburg Castle indicated snowfall, but it had stayed dry until our arrival at the Unstrut Bridge.

When it comes to hiking, the Harz region really offers something for everyone. Even those who associate hiking more with the term “walking” will find a network of easy-to-use terrain paths in most tourist locations, which can often be varied as desired.

The Saale-Unstrut-Elster-Rad-Eight (Acht) is a 178 km long regional tourist cycle route in Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, which connects the cycle routes along the Saale, Unstrut and White Elster.

And now they shine and turn again, the often-handcrafted wooden light roundabouts, which are meant to warm hearts outdoors or at home as pre-Christmas decorations.