Plessenburg is a village in the town of

Ilsenburg Ilsenburg () is a town in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. It is situated under the north foot of the Harz Mountains, at the entrance to the Ilse valley with its little river, the Ilse, a tributary of the Oker, about six north ...

in the

Harz National Park Harz National Park is a nature reserve in the German federal states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. It comprises portions of the western Harz mountain range, extending from Herzberg and Bad Lauterberg at the southern edge to Bad Harzburg and I ...

, in the district of

Harz The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

in the German state of

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

Location and establishment

In the years 1775-76 Count Henry Ernest of

Stolberg-Wernigerode The County of Stolberg-Wernigerode (german: Grafschaft Stolberg-Wernigerode) was a county of the Holy Roman Empire located in the Harz region around Wernigerode, now part of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was ruled by a branch of the House of Stolberg. ...

had a grand hunting lodge built on the Königskoll in the Huysburger Häu south of Ilsenburg. He named it Plessenburg after his son-in-law, Prince Frederick Erdmann of Anhalt-Köthen-Pleß. In the 19th century, there was a forester's house some distance away from the hunting lodge, which soon become a popular day tripper's cafe. In 1880 a timber-framed building was built for the kitchen staff immediately next to the hunting lodge. The kitchen staff building became a restaurant when the Princes of Stolberg-Wernigerode were dispossessed after the Second World War, and it was later joined structurally to the old hunting lodge. Today it is a popular inn for day visitors, the ''Gasthaus Plessenburg''.

Tourism

Numerous footpaths converge on Plessenburg from the surrounding area; from Ilsenburg,

Drübeck Drübeck is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2009, it is part of the town Ilsenburg. Abbey It is the site of a former monastery of nuns of the Order of Saint Benedict, first ...

Darlingerode Darlingerode is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. On 1 July 2009, it was incorporated into the town of Ilsenburg. Geography It is situated at the northern edge of the Harz mountain range on t ...

Wernigerode Wernigerode () is a town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the district of Wernigerode. Its population was 35,041 in 2012. Wernigerode is located southwest of Halberstadt, and is picturesquely s ...

and

Bad Harzburg Bad Harzburg (; Eastphalian: ''Bad Harzborch'') is a spa town in central Germany, in the Goslar district of Lower Saxony. It lies on the northern edge of the Harz mountains and is a recognised saltwater spa and climatic health resort. Geogra ...

. It is a popular intermediate stop on the outward or return journey to the highest peak in the Harz, the

Brocken The Brocken, also sometimes referred to as the Blocksberg, is the highest peak in the Harz mountain range and also the highest peak in Northern Germany; it is near Schierke in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt between the rivers Weser and Elbe. ...

. Not far from the Plessenburg lie the crags of the ''

Wolfsklippen The Wolfsklippen, also called the Wolfsklippe, is a granite mountain in the Harz mountains in Central Germany with an observation platform on the summit. Its height is frequently given as about , but occasionally also as only around . Location ...

'' with their observation platform, and the Ilse Falls in the Ilse valley. In addition there is a summer bus route from Wernigerode via Ilsenburg to Plessenburg (from the beginning of May to the end of October). Plessenburg and the Oberförster Koch Memorial are numbers 7 and 25 in the system of checkpoints on the

Harzer Wandernadel The Harzer Wandernadel is a system of hiking awards in the Harz mountains in central Germany. The hiker (or mountain biker) can earn awards at different levels of challenge by walking to the various checkpoints in the network and stamping his or ...

hiking network. Also in the vicinity is the

Ferdinandstein The Ferdinandstein is a prominent rock in the Harz National Park in central Germany Geography Location The Ferdinandstein lies at an elevation of 648 metres above sea level near Plessenburg in the borough of Wernigerode in the Harz Mountains.H ...

(no. 16).

External links

Official website of the Waldgaststätte Plessenburg restaurant
{{Coord, 51, 49, 55, N, 10, 40, 05, E, type:landmark_region:DE-ST, display=title Castles in Saxony-Anhalt Castles in the Harz Ilsenburg