Compact Dark Ride Opens in Bad Harzburg

(eap) A new leisure facility opens today in Bad Harzburg, Germany. In the new BurgBergCenter, which was built at the foot of the Burgberg mountain between the Kurpark/Wipfelbiergarten (a “beer garden”) and the valley station of the Burgberg cable car, visitors will now find gastronomic options (open as of May), a souvenir store and a ticket sales point as well as an “experience cinema” with motion platform as the location’s main attraction.

This cinema is the “Circulum 360 Mini” product type from Austrian company Attraktion!, a mini dark ride so to say, in which visitors ride through three different media-based scenes that are arranged in a circle. The animated film “Hickhack um die Harzburg” (Engl. “Bickering around Harzburg Castle”) is shown, which was produced for the BurgBergCenter and is based on the Bad Harzburg comic created by Dr. Thomas Dahms. It tells the story of the spectacular escape of the young King Henry IV from Harzburg Castle. In addition to the movements of the motion platform, special effects such as wind and water bring the story to life. The attraction, which also features a preshow, is accessible for wheelchair users as well.

The project was commissioned by the Erlebniskontor Bad Harzburg with the involvement of the HarzVenture GmbH (which already operates some other tourist attractions on the Burgberg such as the Baumwipfelpfad Harz treetop walk, the BaumSchwebeBahn Harz zipline and the SKYROPE high ropes course), the Bockberg Invest GmbH & Co. KG, and the tourism and economic businesses of the city of Bad Harzburg (Stadt Bad Harzburg GmbH). The mini dark ride was financed with the support of the state of Lower Saxony and the federal government (GWR funding). A total of around 2.8 million euros was invested in the BurgBergCenter and its cinematic main attraction.

This coming Saturday (April 20), visitors will be able to enjoy a celebration with various activities around the new BurgBergCenter. ■