In my opinion, Goslar with Rammelsberg is the best mining site central Europe can offer, and I visited Goslar already two times. Both my visits I traveled by train from Gottingen.

What I appreciated on this site: (1) It has very compact historical core with half-timber houses, which are covered by slate tiles - not only roofs but also walls! With combination with classical roof tiles, it makes Goslar gray&red from afar, which is very delicate (PHOTO). (2) It comprises numerous valuable monumental buildings such as churches, municipal hall, imperial hall, and the remaining of the cathedral. (3) I enjoyed my visit of the former mine, where the main building is kind of iconic. I admired the big wooden wheel inside the mine, and also that the corridors were covered by white, blue, and green salts originated in dissolution of metallic ores (zinc, copper, and iron sulfides) by sulfuric acid created by oxidation of metal sulfides. (4) I enjoyed even walking around the mine on the slopes of Rammelsberg, especially at the place called Ramseck. Then I had a lunch in restaurant by Maltermeister Turm. (5) The last component - the Upper Harz water management system - I have not visited yet.

Similar WHSs such as Banská Štiavnica and Kutná Hora faded in comparison with Goslar. Only mining WHS which can be set apart from Goslar is: Erzgebirge! Erzgebirge WHS however suffers that the area is too vast and "hard to catch". Thus picking up only Freiberg and Jáchymov would be a good choice for Erzgebirge.

I like all the old mining sites, because I grew up in one in Czechia - Jihlava, which was built because of rich silver deposits in 13th Century. However, quick development was followed by rapid decline after opening richer mines in Kutná Hora. In comparison, Goslar is exceptional, because the mines were active from 12th till the end of 20th Century! I am a chemist perhaps because I grew up in the former mining town. I collected minerals that can be found on the fields all around, and it initiated my interest in chemical compounds.