A lovely region full of lush meadows and pastures, plus good soil and a friendly climate: Saxony-Anhalt's agriculture produces great products for good cuisine. The state also offers specialties that are widely known and loved - the sparkling Rotkäppchen sparkling wine, for example, and good wines, the protein-rich and low-calorie Harz cheese or sweet Halloren balls from one of Germany's oldest chocolate factories. Here are five genuinely delicious tips for high enjoyment during your vacation.
Table of Contents:
1. Tangermünde beers
2. Baumkuchen and Co.
3. Highest cocktail lounge
4. "Sweet tour" - the sugar and beet route
5. Wine routes
„Musik von Sackpfeife, Laute und Trommel, dazu reichlich Gesöff und Fraß“, so empfängt die Zecherei St. Nikolai seine Gäste. Das Restaurant im gut 800 Jahre alten einstigen Kirchengemäuer mit seinen meterdicken Wänden und Kerzenbeleuchtung ist eine Station bei der kundigen Führung „Tangermünder Biere“ durch das historische Zentrum der 10 000-Einwohner-Stadt im Norden Sachsen-Anhalts eine Autostunde von Magdeburg entfernt. Bis vor 100 Jahren wurde hier in zeitweise 82 Brauhäusern Gerstensaft produziert, etwa das „Kuhschwanzbier”, das den Gästen der Stadtführung jetzt in der Zecherei St. Nikolai serviert wird – weil einst im als Brauwasser genutzten Fluss auch Rinder badeten, erhielt das Bier seinen Namen.
After exactly a century, the Schulzens brewery has now revived Tangermünde's old tradition. In the lovingly restored estate ensemble with its glass brewery, restaurant, cellar bar, Elbe garden and small museum, visitors can sample beer varieties such as Altmarkgold, Hell, Ziegelrot and Porter, created according to traditional craft methods from regional malt, selected hop varieties and yeasts. The good barley juice is bottled in distinctive bottles with swing tops. If you are very thirsty, reach for the "Dicken Dörthe®" - the bulbous two-liter bottle was named after a cat, now very well-fed, that once ran to the brewmasters. More information is available here.
By train comfortably and without traffic jams to Tangermünde: Plan arrival.
Die Herstellung des Harzer Baumkuchens ist eine Kunst. Dabei wird ein biskuitartiger Teig Schicht für Schicht auf eine sich waagerecht drehenden Walze aufgetragen und in einem Spezialofen gebacken, so entsteht die wie Jahresringe eines Baumstamms aussehende Struktur. Im Schaubackraum des Harzer Baumkuchenhauses in Wernigerode lässt sich das gut beobachten und die schon seit 1749 vor Ort hergestellte Leckerei natürlich auch genießen. Produkt und Hersteller sind dabei mit der Regionalmarke „Typisch Harz“ zertifiziert, so wird dem Verbraucher schon im Vorfeld die Qualität dieser Spezialität aus dem Mittelgebirge signalisiert. Bei der Vergabe des Labels gilt der Grundsatz „Klasse statt Masse“, egal ob für tierische oder pflanzliche Produkte, für veredelte Nahrungsmittel oder handwerkliche Angebote.
The range is large. Would you like more examples? Glittering, mouth-blown treasures from the Derenburg glass manufacturer Harzkristall, for example. Sausage and ham specialties from Brocken farmer Uwe Thielecke with his organic farm slaughter in Tanne near Blankenburg, who keeps 400 cattle of the rare breed "Harzer Rotes Höhenvieh" in a species-appropriate manner on mountain pastures. Or Harz mountain honey from beekeeper André Koppelin from Hüttenrode: For the nectar of a 500-gram jar, his industrious insects travel a distance of at least 40,000 kilometers - and pollinate around 6.5 million blossoms along the way! More information is available here.
By train comfortably and without traffic jams to Wernigerode: Plan arrival.
After 225 steps the ascent is completed, the highest cocktail lounge of the beautiful city of Halle an der Saale has been reached. You make yourself comfortable in red "Verliebt in Halle" deck chairs and enjoy the magnificent view over the city and the countryside. To lounge music at a height of 44 meters, cocktails mixed by expert hands are served in a relaxed atmosphere, the sunset approaches and the romance takes its course. The distinctive "Hausmannstürme" of the Market Church (also known as St. Mary's Church), which was built in 1529, is one of the city's landmarks - where the "Hausmann" used to blow the evening chorale and keep watch over the city, today haljito and sunset cocktails are sipped with relish on certain dates (advance reservation required).
Another particularly sweet highlight in Halle is a visit to Germany's oldest chocolate factory. What began more than 200 years ago with the business of confectioner and gingerbread maker August Miehle has grown into a world of experience of the first order. Products such as the famous original Halloren balls (optionally in Sea Salt Caramel, African Style or Lemon Buttermilk version) are produced in front of the customers in the show workshop "Pralineum", can be nibbled in the café and purchased in the factory outlet. The highlight of the adjoining museum is the unique chocolate room - in 5,000 hours of work, fascinating showpieces were created here from more than 1.5 tons of chocolate!
Mit der Bahn bequem und ohne Stau nach Halle (Saale): Plan arrival.
"Hope is like sugar in coffee. Even if it is small, it sweetens everything," says an old Chinese proverb. This is the motto of one of the most modern sugar factories in Europe. Nordzucker AG is located in Klein Wanzleben, a town in Saxony-Anhalt with a population of 2,300 and the regional "sugar capital" about 25 kilometers west of Magdeburg. A small, fine sugar museum also resides here on the upper floor of the town hall, inviting visitors on a virtual journey through time to discover the almost 870-year history of this local industry. The "white gold" has been growing in the Magdeburger Börde for over 180 years, and there were once a proud 188 beet sugar factories. Today, production sites and museums are stops on the "Sweet Tour" - those who follow it can learn a lot about the history of sugar, get to know its processing and also enjoy the typical regional cuisine and local products.
The route leads to more than 20 experience offers from various areas, ranging from local companies and exciting collections to tourist businesses and sights. Among them are romantic country inns as well as dignified star hotels, feudal Renaissance castles and 1000-year-old moated castles. You don't have to follow the entire 400-kilometer route - you can, of course, also use parts of it or visit individual attractions. More information is available here.
By train comfortably and without traffic jams to Magdeburg: Plan arrival.
Wide valleys, a glittering river, vines climbing up the mountainsides: Germany's northernmost quality wine-growing region is reminiscent of Italian landscapes, and it is not for nothing that the Saale-Unstrut region is also known as the "Tuscany of the North. Vineyards have been cultivated here in the mild south of Saxony-Anhalt for centuries. Thanks to the mineral-rich soils of the vineyard terraces, excellent grapes thrive in the 760-hectare region with its more than 60 estates. The wineries and wine taverns are connected by three large themed routes - a great way to test the quality of local wines.
The best known is certainly the Saale-Unstrut wine routethe most northerly of its kind in all of Europe. Over 60 kilometers, it follows the course of the two rivers that give it its name, with striking fortresses and opulent castles towering over their valleys. From Posa Zeitz Monastery to Trebnitz, the 17-kilometer wine route then follows the White Elster River, where many estates as well as a goat farm offer regional specialties. Finally, the Mansfeld Lakes Wine Route connects seven wine communities and three enchanting inland waterways, with 25 kilometers of the rarest inns. Common to all routes is the quality of the products on offer. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe particularly appreciated the region because: "Life is far too short to drink bad wine."
UNESCO World Heritage, the Brocken in the Harz Mountains and the Garden dreams and historical parks are good reasons for your vacation in Saxony-Anhalt. Even more? Sure! This way:
