My dear friend, Tülin, and I spent a girls’ weekend in Goslar, a small town located on the western edge of the Harz Mountains. We found so many things to do in Goslar that a weekend was barely enough time. We were both so enamored with the adorable little town that it was hard to leave.
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A Gem in the Harz
The Harz is the closest mountainous region to Berlin, which makes it a great weekend playground for climbers and outdoor adventurers. Goslar is on the northwest side of the Harz in Lower Saxony, while other top Harz attractions like Quedlinburg, Wernigerode, and the Brocken are in Saxony-Anhalt.
Tip: Stay for the night! Included in Goslar’s tourist tax is a Guest Card. The card allows you to take public transportation in the city for free and includes discounts for many attractions.
Goslar was a seat of the Holy Roman Empire from the 10th to 12th century. The richness of the nearby mines made Goslar an important player in the Hanseatic League.
Did you know Goslar is a UNESCO site? The Altstadt, Kaiserpfalz, and Rammelsberg Mine make up the Harz’s UNESCO site. It’s possible to do all of these things in one weekend, but there is so much more to see in Goslar that staying longer is worth it!
Tip: the HBX Harz Berlin Express by Abellio allows you to travel Berlin-Goslar (or Quedlinburg, Halberstadt, Wernigerode, etc.) for just 16€! Though this train only runs on Saturday and Sunday in the direction of Berlin-Harz and takes a bit longer than a regular DB train, the advantage is that it is a DIRECT connection. I’ve had train stress/bad luck 4 out of 5 times to the Harz, so this sounds like a fantastic option! Check it out at abellio.com under Sondertarife: Harz-Berlin-Express Spezial Tarif. The 16€ price is only available when buying your ticket on the train, so don’t buy through DB.
Thing to do in Goslar 1: Stroll the Altstadt
Amazingly, Goslar was spared any bombing in the Second World War. The reason? It was the location of an American POW camp. The old town’s 1,500+ half-timbered houses were saved, many of which date back as far as the 16th century. Another unique architectural element in Goslar is all of the slate-shingled houses. This style is unlike anywhere I’ve seen in Germany. If you wander outside of the pedestrian zone and stray further from the center, the houses around Goslar are mostly 18th century villas and equally impressive.
slate architecture 
half-timbered house
The old town is home to many churches, like St. Cosmos und Damien, St. Jakobus der Ältere, and St.-Stephani-Kirche, and several museums, like the Mönchehaus museum for modern art and Zinnfiguren Museum about tin figures. The fountain in the market square is from 1230 with Goslar’s golden eagle on top. Can you find the human-eating donkeys in the fountain?
Thing to do in Goslar 2: Visit the Kaisersaal in the Kaiserpfalz
The Kaiserpfalz, or Imperial Palace, is over 1000 years old. Over. 1000. Years. Old. Of course, it was renovated and expanded over the years, but this palace dates back to the Holy Roman Empire. The most recent renovation took place in the 19th century.
The Imperial Palace is worth a visit with your Goslar guest card (the admission is then 6€ instead of 7.50€). Included in your ticket fee is a tour of the Kaisersaal, the Imperial Hall. This tour takes place at 11am and 3pm, so plan your day accordingly. The tour was in German only and explained the paintings all around the hall. They were chosen to represent the history of Goslar and the Imperial Palace’s most important residents, with a touch of Prussian patriotism (as this was the era in which the room was painted).
more at the Imperial Palace
Other than the main hall of the palace, you can also visit the Wintersaal below. Due to many fires, the large hall was divided into several smaller alcoves which now host meager exhibitions on architectural columns and other features. During non-corona times, you can visit the St. Ulrich chapel which hosts the grave of Kaiser Heinrich III, builder of the Kaiserpfalz in 1040.
Note: I found the ticket price to be worth the cost of the tour around the Imperial Hall. If the tour information is not available in English, it may be best to just visit from the outside.
Thing to do in Goslar 3: Descend into the Mine
Mining has been prevalent in the region since Roman times. The water management system, which aided in the process of extracting minerals from the mine, developed over the course of 800 years, and is of particular cultural importance. The tour Tülin and I went on in the mine was all about one of these waterways and how vital it was to the daily operation of the mine. If you are interested in the tours in English, inquire in advance.
Make sure you visit the museum!
If you can’t get a tour in English, the museum is still worth a visit. You can wander around some of the mining buildings and massive equipment. The Museumshaus Magazin houses a massive exhibit about mining and Goslar rolled into one, with plenty of information available in English and German. The cost of your visit depends on how many tours you’d like to take during the day (up to 3). The museum plus one tour costs 16€, or 14.40€ with your Goslar Guest Card. Plan enough time for your visit here: one tour plus the museum could easily turn into 3-4 hours.
Bus 803 and the Museumsshuttle conveniently transfer you from town to the museum for free with your Guest Card.
Thing to do in Goslar 4: Find the Dukatenkacker
At the corner of the bright orange hotel/restaurant Domero Rotes Eichhörnchen on the market square in Goslar, you will find a sculpture of a tiny, naked man. It appears that a coin is coming out of his bottom. This is the “ducat pooper.” This character comes from an old fairy tale in which a donkey excretes gold coins. The phrase eventually came to mean someone who is good at making money or well-versed in finances.
The meaning of the Ducatenkacker on this hotel overlooking the market square in Goslar, though, is different. This little, bare-bottomed Dukatenkacker is meant to remind people to pay their debts or they will be “gebottarscht” – have their nude tush rubbed over a stone for all to see!
Thing to do in Goslar 5: Go for a hike
Goslar is located on the edge of the Harz, one of Germany’s National Parks. Though the surrounding mountains are canvased in dark green evergreens, this is a cultivated landscape. Once all the deciduous trees were used up, the locals needed quick growing wood for homes and mine shafts, so they planted pines. Now, due to climate change and the Borkenkäfer (a parasitic bark beetle) the monotonous Kiefer are perishing in droves, creating space for the leafy trees to make a comeback. This is a great little tour to do from the Goslar Altstadt and through the forest to Thing to do in Goslar 8. If you’re spending more time in the Harz, visiting the Brocken is worthwhile – it’s the tallest mountain in northern and eastern Germany.
Thing to do in Goslar 6: Walk along the Abzucht
The Abzucht is the little stream that runs between the Altstadt and the Imperial Palace. The pedestrian walkway next to the water is lined with flower boxes brimming with colorful blooms. Wooden and stone bridges span the waterway every few meters, some for road crossings, others to reach the front door of homes directly on the other side. It doesn’t get more picturesque than this!
Thing to do in Goslar 7: Have cake at Barock-Café Anders
If you are in Germany, you must experience Kaffee und Kuchen. Usually around 3 or 4pm (but really any time is a good time for cake), Kaffee und Kuchen is comparable to Britain’s afternoon tea. You can experience a great one at Barock-Café Anders in Goslar. It is close the market, just across from the Marktkirche St. Cosmos und Damien. From the outside it seems kind of small and kitschy, but there’s more than meets the eye. Tülin and I sat outside on the terrace and enjoyed two delicious and tall slices of cake. (I think I’m an expert now, they really were very good cakes!)
Thing to do in Goslar 8: Enjoy the view at the Maltermeister Turm
You don’t have to do the whole hike in Thing to do in Goslar 5 to enjoy the view at the Maltermeister Turm. It’s a short walk from the Altstadt (about 20 minutes) over the Blauer Haufen meadow to the Maltermeister Turm. Built in the 1500s, the tower’s primary purpose was to guard the entrances to the mine. Secondarily, the tower also rang the bell to announce the start and end of shifts and to give warning of attacks. Next to the tower is now a restaurant with a fantastic view of Goslar from the deck outside. It’s a super spot to get away from all the touristic hubbub.
Thing to do in Goslar 9: Ascend the Himmelsleiter
If you’d like amazing close-up views of the city, then you’ll have to climb this “stairway to heaven” in the St. Cosmos and Damien church on the market. Each stair is labeled with its number and patron. There are 231 stairs to the top, including over a dozen stairs on a steep stair-ladder. But the views are worth it! It is such a beautiful way to see Goslar. Beware of the bell: every quarter hour the loud gong surprises visitors at the top!
the best view in Goslar
Thing to do in Goslar 10: Watch the Glockenspiel
Every day at 9am, 12 noon, 3pm and 6pm a special event occurs on the market square. Across from the Rathaus, next to the tourist information, the house with the many bells puts on a little show. Lasting approximately five minutes, the bells ring and the characters scroll across the stage paying homage to the town’s (male) mining history. It’s quite unique to have such a clock in town, as the only other one I can think of is in Prague, and the characters in Goslar are much larger.
More to visit in the Harz
There are so many things to do in Goslar that the weekend flies by! If you have more time, you can also explore other parts of the Harz Mountains like Wernigerode, Quedlinburg, and the Brocken.