Seesen sits at the western edge of the Harz, where the hills begin to rise out of the plain, and it is a handy town for a stop with a little history tucked inside. In the early nineteenth century it was the home of the Jacobson School, founded by a Jewish banker and reformer named Israel Jacobson, one of the first schools to bring Jewish and Christian pupils together and to push for the reform of Jewish worship, and a temple he built beside it became a model for the first Reform synagogues. The temple was destroyed in 1938, and a memorial now marks the site.
Another famous figure is linked to the area. The writer and illustrator Wilhelm Busch, the creator of Max and Moritz, spent his last years in nearby Mechtshausen and is buried there, and his memory is kept alive there. His rhymes, with their sharp sketches and black humour, are known to every German child, and a copy of one in a local bookshop makes a nice souvenir.
The town itself has an old centre with half-timbered houses and a market square, and the remains of a castle on a hill, and it is easy to wander. With nearly twenty-two thousand people it has fuel, supermarkets and plenty of places to eat, including bakeries where you can pick up a Harz speciality. Sandwiches, cake, sausages and a strong coffee are all easy to find, and the prices are fair.
The roads leading out of Seesen go in several directions, but the most interesting lead into the hills, toward Bad Grund, Wildemann and Clausthal, climbing through forest in a series of bends. The surface is generally good, the gradients moderate, and the traffic is lighter than on the more famous roads to the east. The foothills are also a good place for a gentle warm-up before the harder riding of the Oker valley.
Weather is changeable, with fog in the lowlands in autumn and winter and cool, damp air in the hills. The best seasons are late spring and early autumn, when the light is clear and the forest is fresh.