Goslar from Klusfelsen

Far too little known is a circular hiking trail that leads from the Rammelsberg World Heritage Site in the south, past the Maltermeister Tower on the eastern side around Goslar, all the way to Petersberg and the Klus Rock. Along the way, you’ll find plenty of raspberries and wonderful views across meadows towards the old town, with the Imperial Palace, Market Church, and the Zwinger Tower as important landmarks. The way back can be taken through the town centre. (9 kilometres, 2.5 hours, signposted)

Johann Ludwig Bleuler (1792–1850) was born in Feuerthalen into a family of painters. This Swiss town, not far from the Rhine Falls, was at that time a well-known name throughout Europe. For their motifs, the brothers and their father travelled all over Europe, even as far as St. Petersburg. What made them special was that they drew all their subjects on site themselves, although they sometimes adopted already familiar picturesque views. In the Harz Mountains, Johann Ludwig Bleuler considered four motifs worthy of depiction: Wernigerode, Falkenstein Castle, Clausthal, and Goslar from the slope of the Petersberg with the Klusfelsen.

From Feuerthalen, the Bleuler family supplied views as large and vividly coloured as oil paintings, yet affordably reproduced as etchings. Those who couldn’t afford paintings chose Bleuler’s coloured etchings or prints beautifully overpainted with white tempera (gouache). When the moods and the staffage varied, everyone felt they held a unique piece in their hands. Let everyone rejoice in their Bleuler, in which so much craftsmanship and effort have been put! Just as Nathan the Wise advised in his famous parable of the rings.