Harz Mountains
The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...
Bad Suderode
Bad Suderode is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2014, it has for administrative purposes been included as part of the municipality of Quedlinburg.Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of
and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...
county of
Harz
The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...
.
Location
The Ölbergshöhe is located within the
Harz/Saxony-Anhalt Nature Park
The Harz/Saxony-Anhalt Nature Park (german: Naturpark Harz/Sachsen-Anhalt) is situated n the districts of Harz and Mansfeld-Südharz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The nature park which lies in the Harz Mountains was founded in 2003 and has ...
and is a northern spur of the
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
massif of the Ramberg. It rises immediately to the south of
Bad Suderode
Bad Suderode is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2014, it has for administrative purposes been included as part of the municipality of Quedlinburg.Gernrode (both part of the borough of Quedlinburg) between the streams of the Kältetalbach to the west and the Hagentalbach to the east. Its northern spur is the rather lower Schwedderberg.
Prussia Tower
On the Schwedderberg spur, an observation tower was first erected in 1845, called the Prussia Tower (''Preußenturm'', ). A second tower, which was high, stood there from 1885 to the 1940s and was used for firewood after the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
because it had fallen into disrepair.
In 1953, a new tower, the Thomas Müntzer Tower, was erected, made of timber-framing. It was renamed the Prussia Tower in 1991 and was renovated in 2007. From its
observation platform
An observation deck, observation platform, or viewing platform is an elevated Tourism, sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure, such as a skyscraper or observation tower. Observation decks are sometimes ...
at treetop level there are views of Bad Suderode, Gernrode and
Ballenstedt
Ballenstedt is a town in the Harz district, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.
Geography
It is situated at the northern rim of the Harz mountain range, about 10 km (6 mi) southeast of Quedlinburg. The municipal area comprises the vil ...
, the Harz Foreland and Quedlinburg and
Halberstadt
Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bombi ...
behind it and of the
Brocken
The Brocken, also sometimes referred to as the Blocksberg, is the highest peak in the Harz mountain range and also the highest peak in Northern Germany; it is near Schierke in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt between the rivers Weser and Elbe. ...
, away. A
toposcope
A toposcope, topograph, or orientation table is a kind of graphic display erected at viewing points on hills, mountains or other high places which indicates the direction, and usually the distance, to notable landscape features which can be seen f ...
on the platform acts as an aid to orientation.
Hiking
A section of the
E11 European long distance path
The E11 European long distance path or E11 path is one of the European long-distance paths, running 4700 km (about 2900 miles) west-east from The Hague in the Netherlands through Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia to Tallinn, Estonia. It sta ...
from Bad Suderode to Gernrode runs over the north flanks of the Ölbergshöhe and Schwedderberg. Crossing this path, hikers from the Kurpark in Bad Suderode reach a very steep path up both hills before gaining the Prussia Tower. The tower is no. 185 in the system of checkpoints of the Harzer Wandernadel hiking network.