Nordhausen is a 44 000 inhabitant town in Thuringia. It is situated within the greater Harz area.

Understand

In Germany Nordhausen is a household name, mostly for the "Nordhäuser Doppelkorn" that has been produced here continuously since at least 1507, when the first mention of a tax on locally produced liquor was made. Korn or its higher alcohol variety Doppelkorn is a distilled spirit made from grain, usually rye.

Just out of town lies one of the most notorious concentration camps on German soil from World War II. Mittelbau-Dora is the site where forced laborers had to produce V2 rockets that were later fired on London, Antwerp and other cities throughout the Western front in the waning months of the war. Despite the deadliness of the weapon itself, conditions in the forced labor camps were so horrific that actually more people died producing V2 than through its actual use.

Get in

By train

• 1 Nordhausen station.  

Nordhausen lies along the train line that connects Kassel with Halle, there are regional trains (RE and RB) in either direction at least every two hours, with more trains available on the Nordhausen-Halle part of the connection. Furthermore there are trains from Erfurt (hourly) and Göttingen (hourly) via Herzberg am Harz.

Nordhausen also lies on the Harzer Schmalspurbahn (HSB) a narrow gauge steam railway that covers most of the Harz, including a line up to the Brocken, the highest mountain in the Harz. The Nordhausen tram (streetcar) system is connected to the HSB network and in fact one line uses part of it for an interurban connection to Ihlfeld.

By plane

The few airports in the vicinity of Nordhausen have a rather limited number of flights. As such your best bets are probably Leipzig-Halle (LEJ ^IATA) to the east or (a bit further away and to the southwest) Frankfurt Airport (FRA ^IATA). Both airports are connected to the S-Bahn network of their respective cities and you can book a train and plane combined ticket with most airlines. See rail air alliances for more on specifics.

By bus

See also: intercity buses in Germany

• Meinfernbus serves the city daily. With twice daily connections to Erfurt.

Get around

By tram (streetcar)

A tram (streetcar) in Nordhausen

Nordhausen has a tram system that also connects to neighboring Ihlfeld via an interurban line that uses the tracks of the Harzer Schmalspurbahn. The line is unique in the sense that the trains have a diesel-electric hybrid engine, using electricity from the overhead wires for most of their trip and the internal diesel generator for the stretches without overhead wires. The fare system is zone based and divided into five zones with one zone costing 1.60€ and the full five zones costing 3.70€ per single ride. Week tickets are also available on a zone basis. The cheapest (one zone) week ticket costs 10.40€ (meaning it is worth it after the seventh trip) whereas the full five zone week ticket costs 24.10€ (making it break even after seven five zone trips).

See

A V2 rocket engine on display at the Dora-Mittelbau KZ memorial

• 1 KZ Gedenkstätte Mittelbau Dora, Kohnsteinweg 20, ☏ +49 3631 495 80, fax: +49 3631 495 813, info@dora.de. Tuesday to Sunday10:00-16:00 (winter) 10:00-18:00 (summer). Just out of town this Nazi-era concentration camp is where forced laborers built the V2 rockets that were fired on London and Antwerp. The conditions for the forced laborers were truly horrific and visiting this place can be a disturbing experience. free, donations welcomed. (updated Jul 2015)
• IFA Musem Nordhausen, Montaniastraße 13, ☏ +49 3631 47 91 54 3, info@ifa-museum-nordhausen.de. Tuesday and Thursday: 10:00-17:00. A technology museum with the focus on engines and locomotives 4€ (regular) 2€ (reduced) 15€ (tour group) youth under 16: free. (updated Jul 2015)

Buy

• Südharz Galerie, Landgrabenstraße 6a, ☏ +49 3631 90 94 0, shg@rosco-net.de. (updated Jul 2015)
• Echte Nordhäuser Marktpassage, Pferdemarkt 1. (updated Jul 2015)

Eat

• India Namaste, Töpferstraße 31, ☏ +49 3631 46 28 94. Indian food and takeaway. No delivery. (updated Jul 2015)
• Restauran bar fuss, Altendorf 1, ☏ +49 3631 65 15 87 0, info@barfuss-nordhausen.de. mains 10€ to 20€. (updated Jul 2015)

Drink

• Traditionsbrennerei, Grimmelallee 11, ☏ +49 3631 63 63 63. As mentioned above, Nordhausen is famous for its Doppelkorn and no visit to the city would be complete without a visit to the distillery. There is an on site shop and tasting is included in the tour (mon-sat. 14:00). The factory is well reachable by tram line 2 and you should take the tram for DUI considerations if nothing else. 6€ including tasting (regular) 3€ (reduced) 1€ for school groups (advance notice required). (updated Jul 2015)

Sleep

• Hotel zur goldenen Aue, Nordhäuser Straße 63, ☏ +49 3631 60 30 21, post@hotel-zur-goldenen-aue.de. single from 41€ double from 66€. (updated Jul 2015)
• Hotel Handelshof, Bahnhofstraße 12, ☏ +49 3631 62 50, Handelshof-NDH@t-online.de. single from 54€ double from 73€. (updated Jul 2015)

Go next

• This town is a good entry point for the rest of the Harz area.