Bad Harzburg: The Well, The Crown, and Silence

Arda Eşberk
Jan 3
16 min read

December 2025 – January 2026 | Burgberg – Hotel Victoria – Sole Therme

Some journeys are not merely "trips."

A city does not call you for a photograph; it calls you to remember.

Bad Harzburg called me for exactly this: The Crown was in the well. Did I have the strength to retrieve it?

This text is not a route guide. Nor is it a list of "places to see."

This text is the diary of an initiation spanning the final days of 2025 and the first days of 2026:

An initiation into sitting on the throne of one’s own authority, self-worth, solitude, and silence.

There are some cities… They do not say "Welcome."

They hand you a key. On that key, a single word is written: Threshold.

Bad Harzburg was exactly such a place for me. Its spot on the map was small. But inside, it worked on a grand scale.

Because this was not a tourist route; it was a decision machine.

Bad Harzburg became a three-layered place for me: History – Myth – Internal Transformation.

The History Layer: The Shadow of a Fortress

Even within the name Bad Harzburg lies a "memory of stone": Harzburg means the Castle of the Harz. The ruins of Harzburg Castle, rising above the Burgberg, are not merely rubble; they are traces of time, power, and borders.

Here, the harsh face of history is evident: Castles are not just for defense, they are also "identity." Whatever a border is to a country, a boundary is to a human being.

That is why climbing the Burgberg evoked this feeling in me:

"Where do my boundaries begin, and where do they end?"

Goethe’s Path: The Harz Journey in Winter and "Initiation"

Another fascinating aspect of the Harz is the transformation journey Goethe undertook in this region in 1777. His poem "Harzreise im Winter" was not a travel note; it was an internal route and the codes of his transformation. Just like my writing…

**Harz Journey in Winter (*Harzreise im Winter***)

Like a vulture,

above the heavy morning clouds

with its soft wings calmly resting,

watching its prey, let my song fly.

Because a God

has drawn everyone’s path

in advance; the one who is happy,

runs swiftly

toward a joyful goal;

but misfortune,

the one who grips the heart,

resists in vain

against the barriers

of the iron thread;

that bitter shears

cuts him only once,

short, and releases.

In the shudder of the thickets

the coarse wild beast

jostles and shoves,

and together with the sparrows

the rich have long since

sunk into their marshes.

It is easy to walk behind the carriage,

the carriage driven by Fortuna;

how slowly the train proceeds

on repaired roads,

walking behind

the ruler’s procession.

But who is that who strays from the road?

His path merges into the thicket;

behind him the bushes close,

the grass rises again,

desolation swallows him… - The rest can be found on Google :)

The energy of the poem says this:

"Easy it is to follow Fortune’s chariot." (Ready-made paths, society’s safe route)
"But who is that apart?" (The one who leaves the caravan)
"The branches clash, the wasteland swallows him." (Solitude and the vessel of transformation)
"The dreaded summit becomes an altar of gratitude." (Fear turning into a temple)

Therefore, Goethe’s Harz was, in Campbell’s language, a complete Hero’s Journey…

ARDA'S HARZ JOURNEY

ARRIVAL

When I got off the train, the weather was that familiar tone of the German winter: gray but soft; cold but not aggressive.

A cold that touches not one's face, but one's inner voice.

Loreena McKennitt is in my ears, the time is 12:12, and the "Prologue" track from The Secret Book album is playing.

I am pulling my suitcase. The sound of the wheels on the stone floor goes "click click click".

The city seems to wake up with this sound.

I am talking to myself, yes, sometimes I do that:

"Arda… You are closing 2025 here. What needs to be left behind will stay here!"

But another sentence comes from inside me. More honest, shorter:

"You are not closing. You are crossing over."

The symbols of the road welcome me: The Lion and the Eagle, the Golden Buddha Statue, and the Golden Ear… They all whisper the mysteries and codes of the trip to me.

As I walk toward my hotel, I am greeted by a fountain of youth pool surrounded by elves, fairies, and mythical, fairytale animals! My travel companions are celebrating the death of the old and the rebirth that will occur through healing waters. And across the pool stands the hotel of my victory, worthy of Queen Victoria's splendor: Hotel Victoria. A Chinese Lion greets me at the door. On the left is the Adria Restaurant (Adra means Arda in Luvic). On the right is the Golden Palace Chinese Restaurant… And I step across the threshold…

A Hotel, A Century, A Memory: Hotel Victoria

The heart of this journey was the place I stayed: Hotel Victoria. We usually pass off hotels as "accommodation"; whereas some structures turn into a vessel of memory over time. Hotel Victoria's story is a bit like that.

When I read the small history of Hotel Victoria, it was as if I saw an archetype map of my own life:

In 1886, the structure, once an "officer's villa", is turned into a hotel by two brothers and takes the name of Queen Victoria.
It grows over the years; a tower is added; it modernizes.
In 1908, a great fire… It burns for three days.
And then, it is reborn from the ashes: water, electricity, comfort, even the city's first elevator…
During the WWII years, it is confiscated; used like a hospital for the wounded.
When the war ends, it is confiscated again, this time by the British; it turns into a rest/recovery center for soldiers.
And finally, years later, it stands up again as a family business.

If even a hotel has such a destiny, why should a human's destiny be a "straight line"?

For me, Hotel Victoria whispered this: "Destruction is not an end. The throne is often established after the fire."

A structure that changed hands during war years, used for different purposes during occupation periods, and stood up again afterward. The idea of "continuity" spanning a century reminded me of this:

True strength in life is not merely rising; it is being able to rebuild after destruction.

The effort to keep the hotel alive within a family tradition; not losing the feeling of "light at the end of the tunnel"… All of this spoke strangely the same language as the self-worth theme of my journey.

Self-worth is often thought to be "shining". Yet self-worth is tested most in shame, in disgrace, and in solitude. In this town, among stone walls and winter silence, I encountered this more.

The first feeling upon entering Hotel Victoria's door: as if I had walked into an old movie. Wood… staircase railing… dim light… footsteps echoing in the corridor… And that faint smell: the smell of an old building. Not dust; like memory.

There is a detail here: The name Victoria means "Victory." This word has resembled two things at once in my life for years:

The glitter of success
The price of the glitter

Victory… is sometimes not applause. Victory is sometimes this: to stop making yourself small.

I enter the room. I leave the suitcase by the bed. I open the window. Outside, the trees of the Harz… winter… The sky is not "speaking" but "watching."

And for the first time, I feel this: "Okay… this place won’t take me sightseeing. Something will be experienced here."

And I was here for exactly this: To close the shame programs carried from childhood, the "inner voices" sabotaging self-worth, and the old contracts that belittle me.

Not to enter the new year with a wish, but with a decision.

Witches, Elves, and the Repressed Layer of the Harz

After settling into my room, I went for a short walk. Leading the symbols that confronted me are the Witches! When one thinks of the Harz, one of the mythical layers that comes to mind is, of course, witches. Popular narrative sometimes caricatures this. Whereas in the depths of history, "witch" often represents this:

Nature's knowledge. Plants. Healing. Intuition. Repressed feminine power.

On this journey, I bought small witch figures for myself and my students; and also a wish card with a "forest elf"… Some may find this "touristic," but I look at objects with a different eye: Sometimes, when a person closes an era, they want to carry a symbol with them.

Because symbols preserve memory.

The Elf is like the "hidden language of the forests" for me: a figure that protects the unseen, knows the secret path, and speaks from within the silence.

THE CLIMB TO BURGBERG

The next day, the walk begins. The sole of the shoe settles on the wet earth. Sometimes stone, sometimes mud, sometimes leaves. The sound of the forest: a cracking branch, the thin whistle of the wind, a bird in the distance.

As I walk, my dream comes to mind: the path, the walk, an animal appearing like a "sign"… That feeling before coming to Bad Harzburg… as if something had called me here.

I ask myself: "Where does this path lead?"

A minute later I realize: this question is always the same.

I ask the same question in my life too. "Where does this relationship lead?" "Where does this project lead?" "Where does this partnership lead?"

And then something settles: What I am truly looking for is not the "result". What I am looking for is direction.

Going up, risking going down

Climbing Burgberg was not actually a walk. Burgberg was about climbing to the "height" within oneself.

Castle ruins, ramparts, stones… They all tell this: Power is not ornamental. Power is durable.

The language of stone is not flashy; it is clear.

What struck me most at Burgberg was that even a "ruined magnificence" still drew a boundary: The Ringmauer (curtain wall) is there…

It is as if an invisible sentence is written: "Where you do not set a boundary, a throne cannot be established either."

Because being a King is not just rising; It is learning to protect your domain. It is learning to keep your word. It is learning to protect your energy.

HARZBURG CASTLE / THE LANGUAGE OF STONE

Castle ruins… Stones… And that ring of walls: Ringmauer.

The cold on the fingers touching the stone is a kind of reality reminder. "This place is not romantic," says the stone. "This place is clear."

The Ringmauer transformed into a single thing in my mind instantly: boundary. Where you do not set a boundary, the sacred scatters. Where you do not set a boundary, energy scatters. Where you do not set a boundary, the relationship rots. Where you do not set a boundary, work becomes a burden.

I stand in front of the castle ruin and I laugh. Because for years, saying "harmony," I have hurt myself. Saying "let peace not be disturbed," I have started a war inside myself.

And I form this sentence to myself:

"To be King is not to shout. To be King is to protect your domain."

RING / OATH

You feel the Ring theme everywhere in the Harz: the ring wall, the curve of the paths, the ring of the narratives… And something becomes clear inside me: Crossing into 2026 requires an "oath".

But the thing called an oath… is not taken with a loud voice. The thing called an oath… is taken with silence.

I whisper to myself and bury the ashes of old agreements in the soil at the base of the supreme tree in front of me:

"I break the oath that diminishes me." "I choose the oath that magnifies me."

Wagner’s Ring: Wall ring, Destiny ring

Throughout this journey, Wagner's music came spontaneously. The Ring (Der Ring des Nibelungen) is playing in my ears. Ring… Ring… Circle… Loops…

Sometimes music does not come like a song from outside, but like a ritual sound rising from within.

For me, the Ring was this:

Wall ring (Ringmauer): boundary
Destiny ring: cycle
The Ring: oath

THE FAMOUS WELL

While wandering on the Burgberg hill of Bad Harzburg, one of the most powerful stories whispering that this is not just a castle ruin is the legend of the "crown in the well".

According to the rumor, when the Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich IV had to flee Harzburg during the great conflicts with the Saxons, he threw the imperial crown into a well on the Burgberg to avoid being caught by his pursuers. The crown is buried into the darkness; but the narrative does not end there: From that day on, the earth and stone of Harzburg carry the spot where the "symbol of power" was once hidden underground like a secret. That is why every step on the Burgberg is like approaching not just a hill, but an emperor's moment of destiny and a lost symbol of "legitimacy".

Here is the place… The heart of the narratives. The knot of the legend.

That motif in local sagas: Heinrich IV throws his crown into the well while fleeing. The well is not just a well here. The well is the human's "below".

The well is the subconscious. The well is the thing that is shamed. The well is the sentence left half-finished saying "actually I..."

When I come to the head of the well, I get a lump in my throat. For a moment I say, "What's the connection?" Then I understand: The darkness of the well is calling what I have been postponing inside me for years.

How many times have I thrown my crown into the well? So someone wouldn't outshine, I dimmed. So "no trouble would arise," I stayed silent. So "they wouldn't leave me," I gave up on myself.

And at that moment, a very simple sentence comes out of me. Short. Not like a slogan, but like a breath:

"I am taking my crown back."

Writing this is easy. Living it is hard. Because the thing called a "crown" is actually this: self-worth.

And self-worth is not a feeling; it is a position.

KRODO / THE MOMENT SYMBOLS OPEN THE DOOR

Then I go to Krodo. The figure stands like a statue but is actually a "code." Wheel, bucket, fish, flowers… four elements…

In Bad Harzburg, the road leads you to the Krodo figure at some point. Referred to as "Sachsengott Krodo" in local narratives, this legendary figure carries a powerful language of symbols even when looked at with modern eyes: the objects in his hands, his stance, the composition… Sometimes a statue tells of a "human state" rather than a history.

Krodo is mentioned as the "God of the Saxons" in Conrad Bothe's Sassenchronik dated 1492; he is likened to the Roman Saturnus. According to legend, his statue in Harzburg (Burgberg) was destroyed by Charlemagne / Karl der Große around 780. The same text describes Krodo: A man standing on a large fish atop a pillar; a flowered vessel in one hand, a raised wheel/gear in the other. Bothe interprets these details in a moral-symbolic way such as "the unity and strength of the Saxon people".

The Krodo figure is also used like a cultural mascot of Bad Harzburg today.

Krodo made me think this: The oldest form of power is the contract made with nature. That is, the balance in man's relationship with water, earth, air, and fire. Just as what we call "ritual" today was once "life order"… Here, this figure left an echo in me regarding that old order: establish the balance, keep your word, know what you carry.

As I stand in front of Krodo, the wind hits my face. And suddenly I feel this: I have been fighting with cycles for years. But one does not fight a cycle. A cycle is resolved.

Krodo seems to be saying this to me: "What you repeat is not destiny. It is habit." "Habit can also be broken."

A symbol does not give information sometimes. A symbol reminds.

Krodo: What a Statue Tells One of the powerful symbols I encountered in Bad Harzburg was "Sachsengott Krodo". Putting aside the truth/falsity of myths, the language of this statue for me was this:

Wheel / Gear: The cycle of time. The weave of destiny. When the "right time" for something comes, you cannot stop it.
Bucket / Water Vessel: Purification and unloading burdens. Carry what needs to be carried, give to the water what will no longer be carried.
Fish: The flow of life, rebirth, "deep water."
Four elements emphasis: This trip was not a "thought trip"; it was a sealing done with elements: water, earth, air, fire.

I read Krodo not like a "god"; but like a threshold guardian: "You came here. Now you cannot return with your old identity."

And the sentence passing underneath it all: four elements.

At that moment I realized this: I had actually been doing a "four elements ritual" unknowingly for the last two days.

Fire: burning what needs to be burned
Earth: giving to the soil what needs to be buried
Air: sealing the intention with breath
Water: completing the purification

Krodo was telling me this, more than a god: "What you call a symbol is the lock of the subconscious." And I was here to open the lock.

Sole Therme and the Closing of Water

Bad Harzburg's "spa" culture is actually built on the sole (natural salty spring water) tradition. The city's best-known address is Bad Harzburger Sole-Therme: It offers thermal pools fed by natural salty water coming from 840 meters deep since 1966, swimming and massage pools, and a wide sauna world (like Sole-Gabbro-grotto, "snow" sauna). It is stated that this natursole is rich in sodium and calcium; and specifically mentioned for its relieving effects on movement system and respiratory tract complaints.

Sole Therme was the closing gate of this journey for me. The symbolic power of entering salty water is clear: water purifies; salt protects; the body releases memory. Sole Therme…

When I entered the water, the first feeling was not "ah". The first feeling was this: "Okay… let go."

The water washes as if not my body, but my story. The weight on my neck… the pressure on my chest… that "I'll handle it" burden on my shoulders…

Inside the water, I close my eyes for a moment. A sentence rises in my heart:

"Arda… do not carry yourself anymore. Manage yourself."

I call this "the silence of the king." Because true authority does not prove itself. True authority… calms down.

Entering the water is sometimes not "relaxing". Sometimes you enter the water and the water demands more from you: It demands Surrender.

Inside the water, I did this:

I purified not my body, but my story.
I dissolved not my fears, but my contracts.
I left not my fatigue, but the shame program.

And when I came out, a single sentence remained inside me: "There are no words left to say. There are no rituals left to perform. Everything that needed to be done has been done. Only silence remains."

This is it… The true seal of the initiation is this sentence.

Because true power does not need to speak. True authority does not try to prove itself. The King sits on the throne not with the crowd; but with the silence within himself.

I take this from Bad Harzburg: Silence is my new authority.

Lynx / Wild Cat: Bad Harzburg’s Gaze

The lynx/wild cat (Wildkatze), which appeared before me as the symbol animal of the town, was one of the most interesting signs of this journey. Because before coming here, I had encountered a lynx while walking on a path in my dream. In the dream, there was a friend with me—someone who is no longer in my life. Life sometimes carries the scene of the dream into reality; but changes the characters.

The symbolic language of the lynx is clear:

Intuition (knowing without seeing)
Boundary (protecting the balance of approaching and distancing)
Power in solitude (being able to exist on one's own)
Silent authority (a noiseless but definite stance)

This merged with what I learned at my 2026 threshold: Equality sometimes requires risking a farewell.

Some friendships, some relationships, some old identities… Close in order to transition into a "new human" state. The lynx whispered to me that this transition is not "pain," but "necessity."

The two films of this journey: Elizabeth & Henry: "If the throne is inevitable, character is chosen!"

Watching Elizabeth (1998) on the last night of the year opened the concept of "power" to me in a naked way, without romanticizing it. Someone who does not want to ascend the throne, unable to escape the call of destiny…

Most of all I saw this: If an authority is being born, something is sacrificed.

Sometimes love, sometimes innocence, sometimes the habit of "pleasing everyone"… And perhaps the greatest sacrifice: the comfort of the old self. This film, when combined with the stones of Bad Harzburg, turned into a single sentence in me: "The King/Queen has no friends; they have responsibilities."

This sentence is not cruel; it is mature.

January 1: The King (Henry V) and "consciousness not fleeing conflict"

The next day, with The King (Henry V), the theme continued from the same place. Henry's path is a bridge between the "pulse of the people" and the "loneliness of the king".

The lesson that fell to my share was this:

Harmony does not solve everything.
Sometimes peace requires clarity first.
And clarity sometimes requires risking conflict…

When these two films came consecutively, Bad Harzburg's message became thoroughly clear: 2026 must be the "year I stand behind my own word".

Both films I watched during the nights of this journey (Elizabeth (1998) and The King / Henry V) operated the same theme in me: Those who do not want the throne but sit there by the web of destiny…

Both teach this at some point:

Power is not a "desire", it is a "responsibility".
The friends of the King/Queen decrease; but their stance becomes distinct.
You cannot escape facing betrayal.
You learn to speak not with your emotions, but with the purpose you serve.

These two films told me this in the silence of Bad Harzburg: "Authority is born from within solitude." And authority means not shouting; but not turning back.

The Last Walk: The Staff, The Broom, and A Decision

On my closing walk, I saw a staff on the ground at the resting point next to Sole Therme. Behind it, there was a thicket board reminiscent of the famous Harz witches' brooms. This can be dismissed as "coincidence". But sometimes coincidence coincides with the internal timing of a thing.

I read it like this: "Use your power now."

Because talking about nature's repressed feminine power, the knowledge of elements, intuition, and creative energy for years; and then "not applying it in life" is a kind of delay.

Seal for the return to Berlin: "Living with the crown" (3 rules)

I want to return from here to Berlin not with a "memory", but with a protocol.

1) The Boundary Rule Like the Ringmauer: let your boundary be visible. Let the place where you say no be clear.

2) The Word Rule Reduce your words, increase your weight. Speak little but stand behind what you say.

3) The Water Rule Create a purification space every week: Body (water), mind (silence), energy (breath).

From Bad Harzburg to Berlin: What I Carry With Me

If I were to reduce the essence of this trip to a single sentence: "I do not have to take my power from the outside; I am establishing the throne within me."

Bad Harzburg gave me the same lesson through history, myth, and nature alike:

Stone walls: Continuity.
Forest: Intuition.
Water: Purification.
Myths: The return of the repressed.
Films: The call to authority.
Lynx: Boundary and solitary power.

And at the end of all this, the final state of the ritual was "silence". Because sometimes the greatest seal is not a word; it is wordlessness itself.