The best gravel rides around Mansfeld

Invites for a short break

Invites to a short break

The route starts at Klostermansfeld station. The station is not located in the municipality of Klostermansfeld, but in Benndorf. The Wipperliese offers direct transfer connections here to the regional express trains of line RE 10 (Erfurt–Magdeburg) and a connection to the Mansfelder Bergwerksbahn museum railway. From Klostermansfeld station, the route initially runs parallel to the Berlin–Blankenheim railway line in the direction of Hettstedt and jointly crosses under the Mansfelder Bergwerksbahn with it. On a plateau of the Harz foreland, the Wipperliese route bends in a wide left curve around Klostermansfeld into the Wippertal valley. Further on, the route winds westwards up the valley of the Wipper, following the river closely. For topographical reasons, the Wipper is crossed numerous times, so that the route has a large number of bridges of different designs. Structures of outstanding importance are the Mansfelder Viaduct (also known as Hasselbach Viaduct)[22] and the Rammelburg Tunnel.[23] A rarity in railway operations is the level crossing in the densely built-up town center of Biesenrode, which is not visible for train journeys from the east. Therefore, the level crossing in the direction of Wippra must be manually secured by the train crew with the white-red-white signal flag (so-called postensicherung). Source https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahnstrecke_Klostermansfeld%E2%80%93Wippra

After the Berlin–Blankenheim railway line (so-called Kanonenbahn) was opened by the Prussian State Railways in 1879, a railway was also desired in the adjacent Wipper Valley. However, as the request was assessed as unprofitable, it was rejected. After the turn of the century, the project for the Eisleben–Wippra–Stolberg railway line emerged, as the town of Stolberg (Harz) in the Thyra Valley also sought a rail connection. After Klostermansfeld emerged as the junction station for the new line by 1905, the Prussian State Railways had initial preparatory work carried out. This was limited to the Klostermansfeld–Wippra section; the extension to Stolberg (Harz) was to be started later. As Klostermansfeld lies considerably higher than the Wipper Valley, two route variants emerged: The former was intended to overcome the descent into the valley with a short rack railway; the second variant envisaged the construction of a valley bridge. Although the construction costs of the bridge variant were higher than those of the rack railway variant, the decision was made for the bridge (today's Mansfelder Viaduct) to reduce later operating costs. The two million marks required for this were approved in 1907, but the realization was nevertheless not started immediately. Causes included problems with land acquisition. The actual construction work began in 1913 and was considerably delayed in connection with the outbreak of the First World War.[2] Nevertheless, the line was already printed in the timetable in 1914 with the note "under construction". The two largest structures, the Rammelburg Tunnel and the Hasselbach Viaduct, were completed in 1916 and 1918 respectively.[3] Only in 1919 was work on the construction of the railway line resumed on a larger scale, and it was completed in the autumn of 1920.[4] The branch line was to be opened on November 1, 1920, by the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft. However, commissioning had to be postponed to December 20, 1920, because a house with a thatched roof along the line had to be covered with roof tiles first due to the fire hazard.[5] The line extension to Stolberg (Harz) did not materialize, as work on the extension of the Berga-Kelbra–Rottleberode railway line to Stolberg (Harz) had already been underway since 1914.[4] This line was completed in 1923. Source https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahnstrecke_Klostermansfeld%E2%80%93Wippra Source

The Klostermansfeld–Wippra railway line is a branch line in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. The line leads from the Mansfelder Land into the Harz mountains. The line is also known as the Wipperliese or Wippertalbahn, as it runs for long stretches through the valley of the river Wipper. Only local passenger transport operates on the line, which has been offered as a tourist service every year from Easter to the end of October since 2015. Source https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahnstrecke_Klostermansfeld%E2%80%93Wippra

In spring it is teeming with frogs, a break is fun, just no seating by the lake, a pity as the lake has Scandinavian flair.

Until the first half of the 20th century, the pond was called Silberteich (Silver Pond) due to its clean water. It served as a reservoir for the former Alte Grube (Old Mine) on the Hohen Warte hill. Until 1962, the pond was used as a drinking water reservoir for Gernrode. Since then, the town has received its drinking water from the Rappbode Dam. After heavy rain in 1976, the pond's dam broke, and the water flowed as far as Gernrode, 3.5 km away. Following this disaster, the dam was reinforced and equipped with an overflow system. The pond reaches its greatest depth of 12 m at the dam. Source: Wikipedia

The number of bison and cattle here is truly impressive.