Vietnamese Lantern Festival

On Saturday we went to the Vietnamese Lantern Festival at Wernigerode. This two day event was to celebrate the new town linking between Wernigerode and Hoi An in Vietnam. 

It was nice to see the colorful lanterns hanging across the market square with the historic town hall as a backdrop.

 

 

We arrived to see the evening show with a dragon dance, drum show, theater, and kung fu demonstration. 

We tasted the Vietnamese cuisine being served, with the sweet spicy chicken being the yummiest with my kids.

Bad Sachsa Schützenfest

Bad Sachsa Schützenfest

Over the weekend my home town of Bad Sachsa held its annual Schützenfest (Marksmen Festival).  This was a three day festival with a parade through the town on Sunday.  The Bad Sachsa Riflemen club dates back to 1814 and this annual event is to find the 'Schützenkönig' ("Marksmen King"). 

The history of the Schützenfest in Germany can be traced back to King Henry I, who sanctioned for the first time in the “Defensive Constitution of the Towns” law the use of local paramilitary associations to defend themselves from gangs of marauders.

In Germany the largest Schützenfest is held in Hanover with more than 5,000 marksmen competing. The “Parade of the Marksmen”, consists of 10,000 participants, 60 floats, marching bands and can stretch 12 km long.   

 

 

The festival in Bad Sachsa is a slightly smaller affair, but rich in history.  The festival starts on Friday evening with the laying of a wreath at the memorial in front of St. Nikolai Church, then a torchlight procession through the streets.  On Saturday its children’s day with their own parade and a special afternoon at the fairground with reduce prices; followed in the evening with a disco. 

On Sunday it starts with the Kings Breakfast at 10.00, while the last minute touches are made for the parade. Other rifleman clubs from the neighbouring towns are invited to take part as well as local clubs and associations. The parade starts at 1.00 and leads through the town, stopping at the town hall to be presented with the flags and banners by the mayor. The parade ends at the fairground by the riflemen club -house where basically a party starts until very late. 

Sadly this year the fireworks had to be cancelled last minute due to the current heat wave. There was fear that with the ground so dry; sparks could easily cause a serious fire.

Scharfels Castle - nature and history combined

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at the ruins of Scharfels Castle in Scharzfeld, researching the area for a book that I am writing about the castles of the Harz.  The castle sits 150 meters above the Oder Valley and remained an impregnable fortress for most of its history. 

It was only during the,” Seven Years War” that it was finally captured by some 6,000 French troops, during a ten-day siege. The fact that the castle was so successfully defended for 10 days by a force of 100 infantry, 60 gunners and 250 invalids from Hanover against an army of 6,000 goes to show just how well this castle was built and designed. After only four days occupation the French army blew up the castle, and since then it has laid in ruins.


 

The remains left include some outer walls, old well and the imposing 20 meter high dolomite rock outcrop. Admission is free and it’s open all year round. There is a small restaurant with a terrace giving good views over the local countryside. What I really like is how nature has been allowed to reclaim this one mighty fortress and how the two merge seamlessly together.

Details of the book I am currently writing will be given later, but it is hoped that it will be ready by the autumn.

Harzer Wandernadel - Bad Harzburg

On Thursday we were able to find some time to go hiking and collect two more stamps for the Harzer Wandernadel. We headed to Bad Harzburg, stopping off at the new Torfhaus Resort which has just opened on the way. 

In Bad Harzburg we took the, Castle Mountain Cable Car (Burgberg-Seilbahn) up the Castle Hill (483m) which is a short three minute ride. 
 

After looking around the remains of the former castle we headed off to our first stamp “Number 121”. This was a slightly uphill trek, but offered some good views across Bad Harzburg. With a bit of luck we took the right trail and found the stamp very easily. The next stamp was only 1.5 kilometers away so although it had started raining we decided to continue.

Stamp number 122, is by the “Cross of East Germany” (Kreuz des deutschen Ostens) which was erected in 2000 to remember the expulsion of 20 million people; off which 2.8 million did not survive after the Second World War.

After a quick rest we headed back to get a currywurst from the kiosk by the former castle.

So we have now collected 32 stamps and need another 18 this year to reach our target of 50 to be awarded the Harzer Hiking "King" Badge.