The Osterode District is dominated by the Harz Mountains, the highest range in Central Germany, which takes up more than half the district’s land mass.
Osterode District Map
Towns & Villages in the Osterode District
- Bad Grund
- Bad Lauterberg im Harz
- Bad Sachsa
- Badenhausen
- Eisdorf
- Elbingerode
- Gittelde
- Hattorf am Harz
- Herzberg am Harz
- Hörden
- Osterode am Harz
- Walkenried
- Wieda
- Windhausen
- Wulften am Harz
- Zorge
You can hike here, in the Harz National Park, amid forests of beech and spruce, icy creeks and craggy granite formations. And keep your eyes open. The reserve is home to a variety of rare animal species!
The district seat, Osterode am Harz, is the starting point for a 100-kilometer hiking trail that runs all the way to Thale. The town’s city hall was originally a granary, built in the early 18th century, and the Museum im Ritterhaus displays local history running back to the Middle Ages. Look for castle ruins nearby.
In the southeast, Herzberg am Harz also has ruins in Scharzfeld and a renovated 950-year-old castle above the town, where you can tour a museum with suits of old armor or take in music concerts within its vaulted Knights Hall. Also, explore the Unicorn Cave for a rendezvous with rocks of the late Paleozoic Era, some 270 million years old.
Further southeast, two spa towns beckon you. Bad Sachsa is a quiet little town with well-kept town houses and timbered facades that specializes in wellness and cures, including aroma therapy. And Bad Lauterberg offers the well known Kneipp and Schroth therapies at its spa facilities, emphasizing holistic health, physical therapy and rehabilitation, with qualified physiotherapists and masseurs on staff.
