Studying in Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany
Wernigerode
A half-timbered town under the Brocken, with a small university of applied sciences and the Harz forest at the end of the street.
Wernigerode is a town of about 32,000 people on the northern edge of the Harz mountains, with a castle on the hill, a half-timbered old town and the Brocken, the highest peak of the Harz, within reach by steam train. Hochschule Harz sits in the Hasserode district, so a student here walks from lecture to forest in minutes and lives in a place where everyone knows the campus. This is a small place by design: about 2,800 students, no big-city nightlife, and an international community made up mostly of the students themselves. In return, rooms in the Studierendenwerk halls start at 186 euros, the semester contribution is 132 euros and the semester ticket covers the local and regional buses. If you want a quiet, green, affordable place to finish a degree in business, computer science, tourism or public administration, this is that kind of town. If you need a large city around you, it is not.
- Population
- 31,835 (31 Dec 2025)
- State and district
- Sachsen-Anhalt, Landkreis Harz
- Semester contribution (Wernigerode)
- 132 EUR: 90 EUR Studierendenwerk, 32 EUR semester ticket, 10 EUR student body
- Dorm rooms (Studierendenwerk Magdeburg)
- 186 to 363 EUR a month including utilities and internet, rents as of 1 Feb 2026
- Work rules for non-EU students
- 140 full days or 280 half days a year, or 20 hours a week during semester, as noted on the residence permit
Part 1
Living in Wernigerode
A town below the mountain
Wernigerode was first mentioned in 1121 and received town rights in 1229. The Counts of Stolberg ruled it from 1429, and a great fire on 29 March 1847 destroyed the Heideviertel, so the town you see is a mix of surviving half-timbered streets and the rebuilding that followed. The town hall on the market square was remodelled in 1539 to 1544, and above the roofs stands the castle, which the Stolberg-Wernigerode family used as their residence until 1929 and which is now a museum.
The railway arrived in 1872, and tourism has been a business here since the nineteenth century. After 1990 many factories closed, and tourism became the main employer, which is why the old town is built around visitors. For a student that means a market square you will cross every day and a town centre that can be crossed on foot.
The weather needs honesty. The Harz catches the rain, so Wernigerode is drier than the mountains behind it, with about 500 mm a year, but winters sit around 1 to 2 degrees on average and the town can be grey for weeks. Summers are mild at 16 to 18 degrees.
What to see and do
The old town and the castle are the sights, and almost everything is within walking distance of the market square.
A 19th-century rebuilt castle with nearly 40 rooms to tour. Entry is 9 euros, and 8 euros for students and trainees. It is open daily 10:00 to 18:00 from late March to 1 November, with shorter hours in winter.
The tourist office runs a daily 'thousand steps around the town hall' tour at 10:30 from the Marktplatz and an evening old-town tour at 17:00. Behind the town hall is the flower clock, where horse carriages to the castle start.
The narrow-gauge railway runs from Wernigerode Hauptbahnhof and has a stop at Hochschule Harz. A return ticket to the Brocken costs 65 euros and a single costs 43 euros, so most students go once, with visitors.
Chocolate festival chocolART ↗
The old town turns into a chocolate market from 28 October to 1 November in 2026, a reminder that the town has a chocolate-making past.
Harzmuseum, Stadtbibliothek and Harzplanetarium ↗
Municipal culture listed by the town: the town library, town archive, Harzmuseum and a planetarium.
Waldhofbad, Wildpark Christianental and Schierker Feuerstein Arena ↗
The town lists these as its leisure sites: an open-air pool, a wildlife park and the Feuerstein Arena in Schierke.
The Harz on your doorstep
The Harz National Park covers about 24,700 hectares across Sachsen-Anhalt and Niedersachsen, with the Brocken at 1,141 m as its high point, and its administration is based in Wernigerode on Lindenallee. The park asks you to stay on marked paths and keep dogs on a lead. Hiking, winter walks and the train up the mountain are the weekend plan here, and they cost little.
Green space starts at the edge of the campus. Local buses run into the hills, and the semester ticket covers the regional network of Harzer Verkehrsbetriebe, which runs 60 lines across the district. Without a car you can still get a long way, though evenings and Sundays in the villages are thin.
What it costs
- Semester contribution, Wernigerode campus
- 132 EUR per semester, or 122 EUR without the 10 EUR student body feesource
- Semester ticket
- 32 EUR per semester, planned to rise to 35 EUR from winter semester 2028/29; buses only, no trainssource
- Dorm room, shared flat, Am Finkenborn 5
- 186 to 254 EUR a monthsource
- Dorm single room with shared kitchen, Friedrichstr. 54
- 266 EUR a month, furnishedsource
- Dorm one-room flat, Friedrichstr. 57-59
- 309 to 363 EUR a monthsource
- Castle entry
- 8 EUR for students, 9 EUR adultssource
- Steam train to the Brocken
- 43 EUR single, 65 EUR returnsource
Figures are from the university, the Studierendenwerk and the tourist sites, read in October 2026.
Work and employers
Tourism is the main business, with some industry around it. Part-time work for students mostly means hospitality, retail and campus jobs.
Develops and builds electric motors in Wernigerode.
A brewery in the Hasserode district, the same district as the campus.
Part 2
Student life in Wernigerode
Where you can study
Founded in 1991 as Fachhochschule Harz, with 2,840 students in winter semester 2024/25 on two campuses: Wernigerode, in the Hasserode district, and Halberstadt, where the Administrative Sciences faculty is based. The three faculties are Automation and Computer Science, Business Studies and Administrative Sciences, with degrees such as Computer Science, Business Informatics, Data Science, Sustainable Management, Business Psychology, Tourism Management and International Tourism Studies. Most programmes are taught in German. The university names two as English-taught: Technology and Innovation Management (M.Eng.) and Business Consulting (M.A.). Applications from abroad go through uni-assist, and German certificates such as DSH 2, TestDaF with 14 points or Goethe C2 are accepted for the German-taught degrees. This is the only higher-education institution in Wernigerode.
International office ↗Student unions, services and groups
Thirteen elected members who represent students, fund projects, rent out a barbecue area and throw parties. Office in dormitory IV on Friedrichstrasse 57-59, consultation hour on Wednesdays 13:00 to 13:30.
Runs the dorms in Wernigerode, the Mensa and Café au lait on campus, and psychosocial and legal counselling for Hochschule Harz students.
Student associations of Hochschule Harz ↗
About 15 groups, among them act. (sustainability), Be 4 Business, eSports Hochschule Harz, the cinema Film ab!, Kulturschock, Musikfreunde, Sportfreunde, Tatort Campus and pluseins for students with children.
The local Erasmus initiative that pairs international and local students through language tandems, events and trips.
Courses for students of both campuses and open to students from other universities too, with the office in Haus 14 in Wernigerode.
The student magazine, published twice a year, and a blog on campus life.
Representative of International Students and Staff ↗
Regina Bernhardt in the Language Centre is the confidential contact for international students, double-degree students and the English-track Technology and Innovation Management students. Visiting hours Tuesdays 14:30 to 15:00 in Haus 9.
Campus and study culture
Everything is close. The Wernigerode campus is in Hasserode, the dorms are on the same site on Friedrichstrasse and the Mensa is on campus, with a dining room that looks out on the park and the narrow-gauge railway. The university stop on the steam railway is in the campus district. A student here rarely needs a bus to get to class.
There is only one university in town, so the student associations and the InterForum tandem programme are where you meet other international students.
Where to live
The university says student residences in Wernigerode are plentiful and four are directly on campus. The Studierendenwerk lists five halls.
Dorms 1 to 3, Friedrichstr. 57-59 ↗
One-room flats at 28 m2 for 332 to 358 euros, and shared rooms in two-room flats from 231 to 317 euros, all including utilities, internet and TV.
51 furnished single rooms of 20 m2 for 266 euros, with a shared kitchen and bathroom in the hallway.
Shared rooms in three- and four-room flats, 186 to 254 euros, the cheapest option.
Housing page of Hochschule Harz ↗
Lists the private providers in Wernigerode: RegioAssist, Wernigeröder Wohnungsgenossenschaft and the Gebäude- und Wohnungsbaugesellschaft Wernigerode, plus wg-gesucht and Kleinanzeigen.
Food, fun and nights out
The Mensa on Friedrichstrasse is open Monday to Thursday 11:00 to 14:00 and Friday 11:00 to 13:30 in lecture time, and the Café au lait next to it opens at 07:30. Outside lectures lunch is 11:00 to 13:30 on weekdays.
Student nights are student-organised: StuRa parties, Be 4 Business gatherings, the professors' DJ party, a Halloween party from Kulturschock and films from Film ab!. Sportfreunde runs beach volleyball and trips with the university sports department. Do not expect clubs open every night. The town is small, and a typical week is lectures, a Mensa lunch, a walk in the hills and one event on a weekend.
Health and counselling are on campus: the Studentenwerk's psychosocial counselling is in the Wernigerode campus building, and a lawyer gives a free first consultation to students.
Your first weeks
- 1
Before you travel
Non-EU students need a visa with an admission letter, proof of money and health insurance. Applicants from China, Vietnam and India need an APS certificate, and Pakistani qualifications need an HEC certificate. Apply well ahead.
- 2
Week 1
Take your keys at the Studierendenwerk and register your address at the town hall on Marktplatz 1. The town lists opening hours Monday, Tuesday and Friday 09:00 to 12:00, Thursday 09:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 18:00, closed Wednesday, with online appointments available.
- 3
Week 1 to 2
Join a German public or private health insurer. The university requires valid cover to enrol, starting on your arrival day, and foreign insurance is generally not accepted for non-EU students.
- 4
Week 2 to 4
Book your residence permit with the Ausländerbehörde of Landkreis Harz, which sits in Halberstadt, not in Wernigerode. A directory lists Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 42 and appointments by email to abh_terminvergabe@kreis-hz.de; confirm hours with the district before you go.
- 5
First month
Visit the International Office on campus (Campus Centre, rooms 4.019 and 4.020) and meet the InterForum students. Consider personal liability insurance, which the university recommends.
Where you come from matters here
Pick your home country: food, faith, community groups and the consulate that serves you, checked 21 October 2026.
🇮🇳 Living in Wernigerode as an Indian student
Wernigerode has no Indian consulate. The Consulate General of India in Frankfurt is one of the missions in Germany; check on its site which office serves Sachsen-Anhalt.
Consulate General of India, Frankfurt ↗
Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 26, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, with a second location at Bettinastraße 52.
International Office of Hochschule Harz ↗
Contact incoming@hs-harz.de for admission and arrival questions; the office has hours on campus Monday to Friday.
🇳🇬 Living in Wernigerode as a Nigerian student
Wernigerode has no Nigerian embassy or consulate. The nearest is the embassy in Berlin, and in town the first person to ask is the university's representative for international students.
Neue Jakobstrasse 4, 10179 Berlin. Passport submissions are Monday to Thursday 10:00 to 14:00, appointments are free, and visas go through the VFS centre on Zimmerstrasse 68 by online appointment.
Representative of International Students and Staff ↗
Regina Bernhardt, Haus 9, Wernigerode: a confidential contact for questions about studying and living here.
🇻🇳 Living in Wernigerode as a Vietnamese student
Wernigerode has no Vietnamese consulate. The embassy and its consular section are in Berlin.
Embassy of Vietnam in Germany ↗
The consular section in Berlin handles passports and legalisation. Its site says electronic passports are issued from 1 April 2026, and warns about scam callers who pose as embassy staff.
InterForum, the Erasmus initiative ↗
Language tandems, events and trips with local students, a practical way to meet people in a small town.
🇳🇵 Living in Wernigerode as a Nepali student
Wernigerode has no Nepali embassy or consulate. The embassy is in Berlin, and the cheapest rooms are in the dorms.
Guerickestrasse 27, 10587 Berlin. Services listed include passports, visas, travel documents, powers of attorney and document attestation.
Studentenwerk dorms in Wernigerode ↗
Rooms from 186 euros a month with utilities and internet, so the first month is not a search for a flat.
🇨🇳 Living in Wernigerode as a Chinese student
There is no Chinese consulate in Wernigerode. The embassy is in Berlin, and Chinese students should know the APS requirement before applying.
Märkisches Ufer 54, 10179 Berlin, with the consular document hall at Brückenstraße 10. The embassy has announced mobile consular services in Dresden, Leipzig, Jena and Ilmenau.
Hochschule Harz FAQ for international students ↗
States that applicants with qualifications from China, Vietnam or India need an APS certificate.
English-taught programmes in Wernigerode
Soonest open deadline first. Every entry links to its official source.
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