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 nort ...

in the

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

, in the district of

Harz The Harz (), also called the Harz Mountains, 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'' der ...

in the German state of

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

Location and establishment

In the years 1775-76 Count Henry Ernest of

Stolberg-Wernigerode The County of 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. History The Counts of Wernigerode h ...

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, Darlingerode,

Wernigerode Wernigerode () is a town in the Harz (district), district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the Wernigerode (district), district of Wernigerode. Its population was 32,181 in 2020. Wernigerode is located southwes ...

and

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

. 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 a mountain near Schierke in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, between the rivers Weser River, Weser and Elbe. The highest peak in the Harz mountain range, and in Northern Germany, ...

. Not far from the Plessenburg lie the crags of the '' Wolfsklippen'' 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. Hikers (or mountain bikers) can earn awards at different levels of challenge by walking to the various checkpoints in the network and stamping their ...

hiking network. Also in the vicinity is the Ferdinandstein (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