The Aschentalshalbe is a ridge in the

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 ...

of Germany that is up to . It lies south of the village of Sieber in the

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

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 ...

in the district of

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

in the state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

Name

The Aschentalshalbe was named after the ''Aschental'' ("Aschen valley"), a southern branch of the ''Tiefenbeekstal'' ("Tiefenbeek valley"), through which the

Tiefenbeek Tiefenbeek (also Breitentalbach) is a small river of Lower Saxony, Germany. It flows into the Sieber in the village Sieber. See also *List of rivers of Lower Saxony All rivers in the German state of Lower Saxony flow directly or indirectly i ...

flows.

Geography

Location

The Aschentalshalbe lies in the

Upper Harz The Upper Harz (german: Oberharz, ) refers to the northwestern and higher part of the Harz mountain range in Germany. The exact boundaries of this geographical region may be defined differently depending on the context. In its traditional sense, th ...

within the

Harz Nature Park The Harz (Lower Saxony) Nature Park (german: Naturpark Harz (Niedersachsen)) or just Harz Nature Park lies in the districts of Goslar (district), Goslar and Göttingen (district), Göttingen (in the area of the former Osterode am Harz (district), O ...

about 2 km southeast of Sieber, a village northeast of

Herzberg am Harz Herzberg am Harz is a town in the Göttingen district of Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography Herzberg is situated on the southwestern rim of the Harz mountain range and the Harz National Park. Natural monuments in the surrounding area include the ...

. It rises between the Gropenbornskopf to the north, the Koboltstaler Köpfe to the northeast with their outlier, the ''Gödeckenkopf'', to the east, the

Schadenbeeksköpfe The Schadenbeeksköpfe are two summits on a southeastern outlier of the Aschentalshalbe in the Harz Mountains of Germany, about 3.6 kilometres southeast of Sieber (Herzberg am Harz), Sieber in the district of Landkreis Göttingen, Göttingen i ...

to the southeast, the Übelsberg to the south, the

Großer Knollen The Großer Knollen (also the Groß Knollen; colloquially referred to as the Knollen, historically the ''Grosze Knolle'') is a mountain in the southwestern part of the Harz in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography The Großer Knollen is located nor ...

to the south-southwest, the Pagelsburg to the southwest, the Adlersberg to the west and the Breitentalskopf to the northwest.

Watershed

The

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

between the Sieber to the north and west and the

Oder The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows thr ...

to the east and south runs over the Aschentalshalbe. Whilst the

that rises north of the mountain flows northwest into the Sieber, the

Grade Lutter The Grade Lutter is a river of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is one of the two headstreams of the River Lutter in the South Harz. It rises at over 660 metres on the Aschentalshalbe. It then flows mainly in a southerly direction in order to merge wi ...

that rises on its southern uplands is the right headstream of the Lutter that flows southwards into the Oder.

Summits and survey points

The Aschentalshalbe has several summits: * The western summit (''Westkuppe''), also called ''Hohes Feld'' is 667 m metres high. There is a view of the Sieber from the top. * The two main summits, which are roughly in the centre of the ridge, are the highest points at about 685 m above sea level * The east-northeast summit is about 640 m metres high. Just to the southeast is a trig point on the

map A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes. Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...

(627.0 m). From there and the

refuge hut Refuge is a place or state of safety. It may also refer to a more specific meaning: Safety * Area of refuge, a location in a building that may be used by occupants in the event of a fire * Bunker, a defensive fortification designed to protect pe ...

, a little to the east, the view drops away to the south.

Walking

Harz Club The Harz Club (german: Harzklub) is club dedicated to maintaining the traditions of the Harz mountains in Germany and looking after the walking trails in the Harz. It was founded in 1886 in Seesen and, today, has about 16,000 members in some 90 ...

trail no. 15 G runs over the Aschentalshalbe from which several footpaths lead to the neighbouring summits. There is a refuge hut with the ''Schadenbeeksköpfe'' checkpoint of the

Harzer Wandernadel The Harzer Wandernadel is a system of hiking awards in the Harz mountains in central Germany. The hiker (or mountain biker) can earn awards at different levels of challenge by walking to the various checkpoints in the network and stamping his or ...

hiking network near the eastern summit of the Aschentalshalbe. The hut is around 1.25 km east-northeast of the mountain and about 1 km north of the northwestern summit of the nearby

Sources

* Topographic map 1:25,000 series, No. 4328, Bad Lauterberg im Harz

References

Aschentalshalbe
at natur-erleben.niedersachsen.de Klaus Gehmlich: ''Flurnamen im Landkreis Osterode am Harz'', Band 1, Verlag Papierflieger, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, 2008, , pp. 226-227 Klaus Gehmlich: ''Flurnamen im Landkreis Osterode am Harz'', Band 3, Verlag Papierflieger, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, 2010, {{ISBN, 978-3-86948-097-8, p. 68 Mountains of the Harz Mountains under 1000 metres Ridges of Lower Saxony