Germany POI Part VI

We conclude our tour around Germany with this flight.

We leave Kassel and overfly Hanstein Castle. It is a ruined castle, the former home of the nobles von Hanstein. In 1946, Hanstein Castle became the property of the German Democratic Republic. Because the border was only several hundred meters away one of the towers was used by the border guard as a watch tower. Some renovations started in 1985, although no tourists were allowed to go to the castle, because of the border. Since 1990, Hanstein Castle has belonged to the municipal council of Bornhagen. English photographer Mark Robert Davey helped the castle in 2006 by raising money with his black-and-white photograph of the Hanstein. In 2008, Hanstein Castle celebrated 700 years. Various festivals take place every year.

We head northeast and reach the Harz Mountains. Near Hahnenklee we see the Gustav Adolf Stave Church. It is a copy of the medieval Borgund Stave Church in Norway. It was erected during the sudden rise in Hahnenklee's popularity as a spa town and major tourist destination, with adaptions to fulfill its role as a parish church. The church was built from spruce trunks harvested at the nearby Bocksberg mountain. The interior comprises numerous carvings of archaic symbols as well as Viking ship design features. The building soon became a frequently visited landmark and a popular wedding church.

Now we reach Werningerode Castle. The present-day building, finished in the late 19th century, is similar in style to Schloss Neuschwanstein, though its foundations are much older and have been reconstructed several times. Wernigerode Castle was first built at the beginning of the 12th century (1110-1120) as a Romanesque architecture medieval fortress for German emperors to have a secure spot to stop during their hunting trips to the Harz. Few of these medieval walls and foundations remain today. At the end of the 15th century, the castle was enlarged in a Gothic architecture style, with large arched windows. During the 16th century, it was rebuilt as a Renaissance fortress. A spiral staircase tower remains intact today.

We continue east and reach Magdeburg (EDBM). Magdeburg is the capital of the German State of Saxony-Anhalt. In the Late Middle Ages, Magdeburg was one of the largest and most prosperous German cities and a notable member of the Hanseatic League. One of the most notable people from the city was Otto von Guericke, famous for his experiments with the Magdeburg hemispheres. After World War II, the city belonged to the German Democratic Republic from 1949 to 1990. Since then, many new construction projects have been implemented and old buildings have been restored. Magdeburg celebrated its 1,200th anniversary in 2005. After our departure, we overfly the Cathedral and the “Gruene Zitadelle”, an apartment building designed and built by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, a well-known artist.

Continuing northwest, we reach the city of Wolfsburg and the VW Autostadt (Car Town), the center for VW Customers who choose to pick up the new cars themselves. The next landing will be at Braunschweig (EDVE), home of the Luftfahrtbundesamt, the German equivalent of the US NTSB. We continue south, land at Schaferstuhl (EDVJ), and turn west again. The next POI is Marienburg Castle. Marienburg Castle is a Gothic revival castle. It was a summer residence of the House of Welf in the past, it is now owned by the Marienburg Castle Foundation chaired by former owner Ernst August of Hanover but publicly funded in part by the state of Lower Saxony. The castle was a filming location in the Amazon Prime Video series Maxton Hall. The castle was built between 1858 and 1867 as a birthday present by George V of Hanover to his wife, Marie of Saxe-Altenburg. Between 1714 and 1837 there was virtually no royal court in Hanover as the House of Hanover ruled the kingdoms of Hanover and Britain by personal union at the time, and so the castle was also built to serve as a suitable summer seat for the House of Hanover in Germany, besides the Leine Palace and Herrenhausen Palace in Hanover.

We continue and land at Bad Pyrmont (EDVW), a popular spa resort that gained its reputation as a fashionable place for princely vacations in the 17th and 18th centuries. The town is also the center of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Germany. We head west again and reach the Detmold Princely Residence Castle. This Palace is located in the city center of Detmold. The castle had its origins in an old castle, which was first mentioned in a document in 1366. For centuries, the castle was the seat of the Counts and Princes of Lippe and is still inhabited by the respective head of the House of Lippe. Only two miles southwest we overfly the Hermansdenkmal. The Hermann Monument is a colossal statue, built between 1838 and 1875 according to designs by Ernst von Bandel and inaugurated on August 16, 1875. The monument is intended to commemorate the Cheruscan prince Arminius, in particular the so-called Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, in which Germanic tribes under his leadership inflicted a decisive defeat on the three Roman legions XVII, XVIII, and XIX under Publius Quinctilius Varus in the year 9. With a figure height of 26.57 meters and a total height of 53.46 meters, it is the tallest statue in Germany and was the tallest statue in the Western world from 1875 until the Statue of Liberty was built in 1886. We land at Oerlinghausen (EDLO), an important center for glider flying in Germany.

We head south and land at Paderborn (EDLP), home of Aerosoft. We continue southwest and overfly the Mohne Reservoir with its Dam. It is one of the largest reservoirs in Germany. The dam was destroyed during WWII. We head north and land at Lippewiesen (EDLH). We continue west and pass by the Nordkirchen Palace. The palace was largely built between 1703 and 1734 and is known as the "Versailles of Westphalia" since it is the largest of the fully or partly moated Water Castles in that region. It was originally one of the residences of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster. We land at Münster-Osnabrück (EDDG) and continue east for the next landing at Melle (EDXG). We overfly the Kaiser Wilhelm Monument, a colossal monument above the Weser gorge of Porta Westfalica, the "Gateway to Westphalia". It was erected to honor the first German Emperor, William I (1797–1888), by the then Prussian Province of Westphalia between 1892 and 1896 and emerged against the background of a rising German national identity. The monument, which is around 88 meters (289 ft) high, is classified as one of Germany's national monuments.

We finish the flight at the German Air Force Base Wunstorf (ETNW), home of the GAF Air Transport Wing 62, flying the Airbus A400M.

Aircraft

The flight has a length of 405 miles with 9 landings. I will probably be in the Blacksquare Analog Bonanza. Please fly what you like.

Documentation

The flight plans are here.

Recommended scenery:

EDVK: https://flightsim.to/file/2250/airport-kassel-edvk

EDBM: https://flightsim.to/file/68597/edbm-magdeburg-city

EDVE: https://flightsim.to/file/23933/flughafen-braunschweig-wolfsburg-edve

EDVJ: https://flightsim.to/file/19888/edvj-salzgitter-schferstuhl

EDVW: https://flightsim.to/file/79208/edvw-bad-pyrmont-flugplatz

EDLP: https://www.aerosoft.com/de/shop/flight/microsoft-flight-simulator/msfs-2020/msfs-szenerien/msfs-europa/3491/aerosoft-airport-paderborn/lippstadt-freehttps://flightsim.to/file/15441/edlh-hamm-lippewiesen-airport-germany

EDLH: https://flightsim.to/file/13613/munster-osnabruck-international-airport

EDXG: https://flightsim.to/file/18271/edxg-melle-gronegau

ETNW: https://flightsim.to/file/56481/etnw-fliegerhorst-wunstorf-wunstorf-air-force-base

EDDG is available as payware from MMSimulations via ORBX. EDLO is an enhanced airport. The freeware from the .to site is not compatible.

The package (without Paderborn) is available here.

Time and Weather

We will try real weather. Please set your simulator for a 09:00 AM local departure.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Saturday, January 18, 2025. 1900 UTC
RTWR Multiplayer Discord Channel
Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server.

If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the multiplayer spreadsheet (linked here). Please be kind enough to enter the title exactly as it stands in the title=”xxx” line of the aircraft.cfg file. Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!