The Harz () is a

highland area Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts 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 ...

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 ...

, and

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German word ''Hardt'' or ''Hart'' (hill forest). The name ''Hercynia'' derives from a Celtic name and could refer to other mountain forests, but has also been applied to the geology of the Harz. The Brocken is the highest summit in the Harz with an elevation of above sea level. The

Wurmberg Wurmberg is a municipality in the district of Enz in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Geography Wurmberg is located on the so-called Platte, a Karst mountain range in the northern Black Forest (Schwarzwald). Municipality The municipality Wur ...

() is the highest peak located entirely within the state of Lower Saxony.

Geography

Location and extent

The Harz has a length of , stretching from the town of Seesen in the northwest to Eisleben in the east, and a width of . It occupies an area of , and is divided into the Upper Harz (''Oberharz'') in the northwest, which is up to 800 m high, apart from the 1,100 m high Brocken massif, and the Lower Harz (''Unterharz'') in the east which is up to around 400 m high and whose plateaus are capable of supporting arable farming. The following districts (''Kreise'') fall wholly or partly within the Harz: Goslar and Göttingen in the west, Harz and Mansfeld-Südharz in the north and east, and

Nordhausen Nordhausen may refer to: * Nordhausen (district), a district in Thuringia, Germany ** Nordhausen, Thuringia, a city in the district **Nordhausen station, the railway station in the city * Nordhouse, a commune in Alsace (German: Nordhausen) * Narost ...

in the south. The districts of the Upper Harz are Goslar and Göttingen (both in Lower Saxony), whilst the Lower Harz is on the territory of Harz and Mansfeld-Südharz districts (both in Saxony-Anhalt). The Upper Harz is generally higher and features

fir Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family (biology), family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North America, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The ...

forests, whilst the Lower Harz gradually descends into the surrounding area and has deciduous forests interspersed with meadows. The dividing line between Upper and Lower Harz follows approximately a line from Ilsenburg to

Bad Lauterberg Bad Lauterberg is a town in the district of Göttingen, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the southern Harz, approx. 15 km southwest of Braunlage, and 20 km southeast of Osterode am Harz. Bad Lauterberg is known ''inter alia' ...

, which roughly separates the catchment areas for the Weser (Upper Harz) and Elbe (Lower Harz). Only on the southeastern perimeter of the Upper Harz, which is also called the High Harz (''Hochharz'') (Goslar, Göttingen and Harz districts), does the mountain range exceed on the Brocken massif. Its highest peak is the Brocken (1,141 m), its subsidiary peaks are the Heinrichshöhe (1,044 m) to the southeast and the Königsberg (1,023 m) to the southwest. Other prominent hills in the Harz are the Acker-

Bruchberg At , the Bruchberg in the Upper Harz is the second highest mountain in Lower Saxony and the third highest in the Harz mountains in North Germany. It lies between Altenau and Torfhaus in the middle of the Harz National Park. The Bruchberg is mo ...

ridge (927 m), the

Achtermannshöhe At , the Achtermannshöhe (also just called the Achtermann) in the Harz National Park is the third highest mountain in Lower Saxony and the fourth highest in the Harz mountains. It lies in the unparished area of Harz between the Harz-Heide route ...

(925 m) and the

(971 m) near Braunlage. In the far east, the mountains merge into the East Harz foothills (Harz district, Saxony-Anhalt), which are dominated by the Selke Valley. Part of the south Harz lies in the Thuringian district of Nordhausen. The Harz National Park is located in the Harz; the

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

covers the Brocken and surrounding wilderness area. Approximately 600,000 people live in towns and villages of the Harz Mountains.

Rivers and lakes

Because of the heavy rainfall in the region the rivers of the Harz Mountains were dammed from an early date. Examples of such masonry dams are the two largest: the Oker Dam and the

Rappbode Dam The Rappbode Dam (german: Rappbode-Talsperre) is the largest dam in the Harz region as well as the highest dam in Germany. Together with several other dams and retention basins, it forms the flood protection system for the eastern Harz. The indi ...

. The clear, cool water of the mountain streams was also dammed by early mountain folk to form the various mountain ponds of the Upper Harz waterways, such as the Oderteich. The 17 dams in the Harz block a total of twelve rivers. Because the Harz is one of the regions of Germany that experiences the most rainfall, its water power was used from early times. Today the dams are primarily used to generate electricity, to provide drinking water, to prevent flooding and to supply water in times of scarcity. Modern dam-building began in the Harz with the construction of the

Söse Valley Dam Söse is a river of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the river Rhume and long. Geography The Söse rises on the plateau of ''Auf dem Acker'' in the district of Göttingen in the southwestern part of the Harz Mountains in Ger ...

, which was built between 1928 and 1931. The dams of the Upper Harz lakes are some of the oldest dams in Germany that are still in operation. → ''See

List of dams in the Harz In the Harz mountains, there is a higher than average number of dams with their associated reservoirs. The reason is that the Harz is one of the regions with the heaviest rainfall in Germany and so its water power was utilised very early on. The ...

'' The largest rivers in the Harz are the Innerste, the Oker and the Bode in the north; the Wipper in the east; 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 ...

in the south. The Innerste merges into the

Leine The Leine (; Old Saxon ''Lagina'') is a river in Thuringia and Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Aller and the Weser and is long. The river's source is located close to the town of Leinefelde in Thuringia. About downriver, t ...

and its tributaries are the

Nette Nette can refer to: Rivers * Nette (Innerste), a river in Lower Saxony, Germany, tributary to the Innerste * Nette (Hase), a river in Lower Saxony, Germany, tributary to the Hase * Nette (Middle Rhine), a river in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, tr ...

and the Grane. The rivers Radau,

Ecker The Ecker is a , right-hand, southeast tributary of the Oker which runs mainly through the Harz mountains in the German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony. Course From its source to Abbenrode the Ecker is a border river, today running b ...

and Ilse all discharge into the Oker. The Hassel, the Selke and the Holtemme (whose main tributary is the Zillierbach) flow into the Bode. The Wipper is fed by the Eine. The Rhume is joined by the Söse and the Oder; the latter being fed by the Sieber. The Zorge, the

Wieda Wieda is a village and a former municipality in the district of Göttingen, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 November 2016, it is part of the municipality Walkenried. Wieda is on River Wieda, a tributary of Zorge in the southern part of the ...

and the Uffe all flow into the Helme.

Hills

→ ''See List of hills in the Harz'' → ''See List of rock formations (crags, tors, etc.) in the Harz''

Climate

Climatically a hill range has lower temperatures and higher levels of precipitation than the surrounding land. The Harz is characterised by regular precipitation throughout the year. Exposed to westerly winds from the Atlantic, heavy with rain, the windward side of the mountains has up to 1,600 mm of rain annually (West Harz, Upper Harz, High Harz); in contrast, the leeward side only receives an average of 600 mm of precipitation per annum (East Harz, Lower Harz, Eastern Harz foothills). File:Klimadiagramm-Brocken (Harz)-Deutschland-metrisch-deutsch.png, Brocken (windward) File:Klimadiagramm-Braunlage-Deutschland-metrisch-deutsch.png, Braunlage (windward) File:Klimadiagramm-deutsch-Vatterode-Graefenstuhl (ST)-Deutschland.png, Mansfeld (leeward)

Geology and pedology

Origins

The Harz is the most geologically diverse of the German '' Mittelgebirge'', although it is overwhelmingly dominated by base-poor rocks. The most common rocks lying on the surface are argillaceous

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

s, slaty (''geschieferte'') greywackes and granite intrusions in the shape of two large igneous rock masses or plutons. The Gießen-Harz surface layer of the Rhenohercynian zone, which is widespread in the Harz, consists mainly of flysch. Well-known and economically important are the limestone deposits around Elbingerode and the Gabbro of Bad Harzburg. The landscapes of the Harz are characterised by steep mountain ridges,

stone run A stone run (called also ''stone river'', ''stone stream'' or ''stone sea''plateaus with many raised bogs and long, narrow V-shaped valleys, of which the

Bode Gorge The Bode Gorge (german: Bodetal) is a long ravine that forms part of the Bode valley between Treseburg and Thale in the Harz Mountains of central Germany. The German term, ''Bodetal'' (literally "Bode Valley"), is also used in a wider sense to r ...

, the Oker and Selke valleys are the best known. A representative cross-section of all the Harz rocks is displayed on the Jordanshöhe near

Sankt Andreasberg Sankt Andreasberg is a former town in the Goslar (district), district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 November 2011, it is part of the town Braunlage. It is situated in the Harz, approximately 7 km west of Braunlage proper, and 2 ...

near the car park (see photo). The formation and geological folding of the Harz hills began during a prominent phase of the

Palaeozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and '' ...

era, in the course of the

Hercynian mountain building The Variscan or Hercynian orogeny was a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Euramerica (Laurussia) and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea. Nomenclature The name ''Variscan'', comes ...

of the

Carboniferous period The Carboniferous ( ) is a Period (geology), geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago (Myr, Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, ...

, about 350 to 250 million years ago. At that time in the history of the Earth, numerous high mountains appeared in Western Europe, including the Fichtelgebirge and

Rhenish Massif The Rhenish Massif, Rhine Massif or Rhenish Uplands (german: Rheinisches Schiefergebirge, : 'Rhenish Slate Uplands') is a geologic massif in western Germany, eastern Belgium, Luxembourg and northeastern France. It is drained centrally, south to n ...

. They were, however, heavily eroded due to their height (up to 4 km) and were later covered over by Mesozoic rocks. From the

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous ( geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145 Ma to 100.5 Ma. Geology Pro ...

and into Late Cretaceous times the Harz was uplifted in a single block by tectonic movements and, particularly during the Tertiary period, the younger overlying strata were eroded and the underlying base rock left standing as low mountains. The most important uplift movements were during the sub-Hercynian phase (83

mya Mya may refer to: Brands and product names * Mya (program), an intelligent personal assistant created by Motorola * Mya (TV channel), an Italian Television channel * Midwest Young Artists, a comprehensive youth music program Codes * Burmese ...

), when the northern edge was steeply tilted. This formed a fault zone on the northern border of the Harz (the

Northern Harz Boundary Fault The Northern Harz Boundary Fault (german: Harznordrandstörung or ''Harznordrandverwerfung'') is a geological fault where the Harz Block, which consists of rocks formed during the Palaeozoic Era and folded in the course of Hercynian mountain bui ...

or ''Harznordrandverwerfung''). The Harz is a fault-block range, that rises abruptly from the surrounding lowlands in the west and northeast and gradually dips towards the south. It is dissected by numerous deep valleys. North of the hills lie the Cretaceous layers of the sub-Hercynian depression in the rolling hills of the Harz Foreland; south of the Harz, Permian sediments lie flat on southwest-dipping Palaeozoic beds. As a result of the northern fault zone and the vertical or, sometimes even overfolded, geological strata, the geology of the Harz sometimes changes frequently within a relatively small area of just a few square kilometres. As a consequence of this it is also referred to as the "Classic Geological Square Mile" (''Klassischen Quadratmeile der Geologie''). There is a room devoted to geology in the Harz Museum in Wernigerode. → ''See Harz granite''

Nature

Flora

The vegetation of the Harz mountains is divided into six altitudinal zones: *

Subalpine zone Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

: Brocken summit, over * Altimontane zone: highest areas (except the Brocken summit) between 850 and * Mean montane zone: higher areas between 750 and *

Montane zone Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

: medium height areas between 525 and * Submontane zone: lower areas between 300 and * Colin zone: areas around the edge of the Harz between 250 and

Types of woods

= Beech woods

= From the edge of the Harz to 700 m above sea level beech woods dominate, especially the

wood-rush ''Luzula'' is a genus of flowering plants in the rush family Juncaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with species occurring throughout the world, especially in temperate regions, the Arctic, and higher elevation areas in the tropic ...

beech woods on locations poorly supplied with nutrients where the

common beech ''Fagus sylvatica'', the European beech or common beech is a deciduous tree belonging to the beech family Fagaceae. Description ''Fagus sylvatica'' is a large tree, capable of reaching heights of up to tall and trunk diameter, though more ...

(''Fagus sylvatica'') is often the only tree species. In lower, drier locations the English oak (''Quercus robur'') and

sessile oak ''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Cornish oak, Irish Oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an unofficial embl ...

(''Quercus petraea'') occur as well. Sycamore trees (''Acer pseudoplatanus'') may be found growing in wetter places. During times of decay and rejuvenation when there is plenty of light, light-dependent pioneers such as

rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus ''Sorbus'' is a genus of over 100 species of trees and shrubs in the rose family, Rosaceae. Species of ''Sorbus'' (''s.l.'') are commonly known as whitebeam, r ...

(''Sorbus aucuparia''), silver birch (''Betula pendula'') and pussy willow (''Salix caprea'') play a role.

Melic grass ''Melica'' is a genus of perennial grasses known generally as melic or melic grass. They are found in most temperate regions of the world. Melic grasses are clumping to short-rhizomatous grasses. They have flowering culms up to tall bearing ...

beech woods are found in the few places where there is an abundance of nutrients and bases, e. g. over dolerite and gneiss formations, and they have a vegetation layer rich in variety and luxuriant growth. Here, too, the common beech dominates, mixed, for example, with sycamore,

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

(''Fraxinus excelsior''), hornbeam (''Carpinus betulus'') and

Scots elm ''Ulmus glabra'' Hudson, the wych elm or Scots elm, has the widest range of the European elm species, from Ireland eastwards to the Urals, and from the Arctic Circle south to the mountains of the Peloponnese and Sicily, where the species reaches ...

(''Ulmus glabra''). As a result of the increasingly continental climate on the eastern edge of the Harz, the common beech gives way to mixed forests of sessile oak.

= Mixed woods

= At intermediate heights of between 700 and 800 m above sea level, mixed woods of

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

(''Picea abies'') and common beech would predominantly be found under natural conditions. However, apart from a few remnants, these were supplanted a long time ago by spruce stands as a result of deliberate forest management. Sycamore trees are also found in these woods.

= Spruce woods

= Spruce woods thrive in the highest locations from about 800 m to the tree line at around 1,000 m above sea level. These woods are also home to some deciduous trees such as rowan, silver and downy birches (''Betula pendula'' and ''Betula pubescens'') and willows (''Salix spec.''). Conditions of high humidity foster an environment rich in

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

es and

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.autochthonous) spruce trees. Wood-reed spruce woods dominate. A well developed ground vegetation thrives on their moderately rocky and fresh, but certainly not wet, soils, characterised in appearance especially by grasses such as shaggy wood-reed (''Calamagrostis villosa'') and

wavy hair-grass ''Deschampsia flexuosa'', commonly known as wavy hair-grass, is a species of bunchgrass in the grass family widely distributed in Eurasia, Africa, South America, and North America. Description Wavy hair-grass, ''Deschampsia flexuosa'', has wir ...

(''Avenella flexuosa''). The soils in the higher regions are, as in most of the Harz, comparatively poor in nutrients and bases, so that only a few herbaceous plants occur here, such as heath bedstraw (''Galium saxatile''). For that reason it is more the ferns, mosses, lichens and fungi that, in addition to spruce trees, characterise these woods. Boulders and

stone runs A stone run (called also ''stone river'', ''stone stream'' or ''stone sea''blueberry Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' within the genus ''Vaccinium''. ''Vaccinium'' also includes cranberries, bi ...

(''Vaccinium myrtillus''). Mosses and ferns are also common here. One unusual species is the Carpathian birch (''Betula pubescens subsp. carpatica''). Bog-spruce woods are found around the raised bogs on marshy and boggy soils. In these sorts of places spruce woods can, in exceptional cases, also form the natural woodland in lower down the mountains. These wet, moorland woods have a high proportion of peat mosses (''Sphagnum spec.''). The ground vegetation may also have a rich proliferation of low bushes such as cowberry (''Vaccinium vitis-idaea''). Clumps of

purple moor grass ''Molinia caerulea'', known by the common name purple moor-grass, is a species of grass that is native to Europe, west Asia, and north Africa. It grows in locations from the lowlands up to in the Alps. Like most grasses, it grows best in acid so ...

(''Molinia caerulea'') are also typical of this type of woodland habitat. The characteristic species of fungi in natural spruce woods are '' Phellinus viticola'' and prunes and custard (''Tricholomopsis decora''). Ravine (''Schluchtwald''), riparian (''Auwald'') and river source (''Quellwald'') woods only occur in small areas. In these places the common beech gives way to hardier deciduous species such as sycamore,

large-leaved lime ''Tilia platyphyllos'', the large-leaved lime or large-leaved linden, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae (Tiliaceae). It is a deciduous tree, native to much of Europe, including locally in southwestern Great Britain, growing ...

(''Tilia platyphyllos''), Scots elm or ash. The

herbaceous layer Stratification in the field of ecology refers to the vertical layering of a habitat; the arrangement of vegetation in layers. It classifies the layers (sing. ''stratum'', pl. ''strata'') of vegetation largely according to the different heights to w ...

is similar to that of the better-nourished beech woods. Notable species amongst the plant communities here include the

Alpine blue-sow-thistle ''Cicerbita alpina'', commonly known as the alpine sow-thistle or alpine blue-sow-thistle is a perennial herbaceous species of plant sometimes placed in the genus '' Cicerbita'' of the family Asteraceae, and sometimes placed in the genus ''Lactu ...

(''Cicerbita alpina''), perennial honesty (''Lunaria rediviva''),

hard shield fern ''Polystichum aculeatum'', the hard shield-fern, is an evergreen fern native to Europe. It is most abundant in upland regions of the British Isles and western France, where it benefits from the combination of mild winters and moist summers, but ...

(''Polystichum aculeatum'') and long beech fern (''Phegopteris connectilis'').

Raised bogs

The raised bogs in the Harz are some of the best preserved in central Europe. They were formed at the end of the last ice age about 10,000 years ago. A significant proportion of the vegetation on these raised bogs is made up of peat mosses (''Sphagnum spec.''). The flarks (''Schlenken'') and the hummocks (''Bulten'') are home to different species of flora. In the flarks, for example, ''Sphagnum cuspidatum'' is found, whereas the hummocks are preferred by ''Sphagnum magellanicum''. The blanket of peat moss is penetrated by dwarf bushes such as cowberry and

blueberry Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' within the genus ''Vaccinium''. ''Vaccinium'' also includes cranberries, bi ...

. Bog-rosemary (''Andromeda polifolia'') is a relict of the ice age. Other such ice age plants include the dwarf birch (''Betula nana'') and

few-flowered sedge ''Carex pauciflora'', known as few-flowered sedge, is a perennial species of Carex, sedge in the family Cyperaceae native to Holarctic Kingdom, Holarctic wetlands. The Botanical name#Binary name, specific epithet ''pauciflora'', refers to the La ...

(''Carex pauciflora''). Cranberries (''Vaccinium oxicoccus'') bloom from May to June. The black crowberry (''Empetrum nigrum'') may also be seen amongst those bearing black fruit. Common heather (Calluna vulgaris) grows on the drier hummocks and occasionally the

cross-leaved heath ''Erica tetralix'', the cross-leaved heath, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae, native to western Europe, from southern Portugal to central Norway, as well as a number of boggy regions further from the coast in Central Europe ...

(''Erica tetralix'') may be found. Typical grasses are the sheathed cottongrass (''Eriophorum vaginatum''), known for its bright, white clusters of fruit and

deergrass Deergrass or deer grass is a common name for several plants and may refer to: *''Muhlenbergia rigens'' - a perennial bunchgrass native to the southwestern United States and Mexico *''Rhexia'' - a genus of plants in the family Melastomataceae *''Tri ...

(''Scirpus cespitosus''), which is rust-red in the autumn. One fascinating moorland plant is the

round-leaved sundew ''Drosera rotundifolia'', the round-leaved sundew, roundleaf sundew, or common sundew, is a carnivorous species of flowering plant that grows in bogs, marshes and fens. One of the most widespread sundew species, it has a circumboreal distribution ...

(''Drosera rotundifolia''). Bog or

northern bilberry ''Vaccinium uliginosum'' (bog bilberry, bog blueberry, northern bilberry or western blueberry) is a Eurasian and North American flowering plant in the genus '' Vaccinium'' within the heath family. Distribution ''Vaccinium uliginosum'' is native ...

(Vaccinium uliginosum) grows on the drier margins of the bog.

Fauna

A multitude of wild animals live in the beech forests of the Harz Mountains. Over 5,000 species, most of them insects, have their home in these woods. They include many species that help to decompose leaves and work them into the soil and ground cover, including springtails, oribatid

mites Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evid ...

, woodlice, roundworms, millipedes, earthworms and snails. Characteristic breeding birds in the beech woods, with their abundance of dead wood, are the

black woodpecker The black woodpecker (''Dryocopus martius'') is a large woodpecker that lives in mature forests across the northern Palearctic. It is the sole representative of its genus in that region. Its range is expanding. The black woodpecker is easily the ...

(''Dryocopus martius'') and

stock dove The stock dove (''Columba oenas'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae, the doves and pigeons. It is widely distributed in the western Palearctic. Taxonomy The stock dove was first formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Li ...

(''Columba oenas''). An indication of the natural state of the beech woods in the Harz is the return of the black stork (''Ciconia nigra''). This shy and susceptible resident of richly diverse deciduous and mixed forest has become very rare in central Europe due to increasing disturbance of its habitat (caused by a lack of old trees and natural brooks). Through improvements to its habitat, including the renaturalisation of waterways and the creation of relatively undisturbed peaceful areas, the black stork population has now recovered. A typical mammal of such deciduous woods is the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris''), that has established a stable population in the Harz. It prefers the diverse wooded areas, which offer a rich variety of food. The animal kingdom of the mixed beech and spruce woods is also diverse. Species that thrive in mixed forest are especially at home. For example, the mixed mountain forest is the natural habitat of the

capercaillie ''Tetrao'' is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily known as capercaillies. They are some of the largest living grouse. Taxonomy The genus ''Tetrao'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ...

(''Tetrao urogallus''). The

Tengmalm's owl The boreal owl or Tengmalm's owl (''Aegolius funereus'') is a small owl in the "true owl" family Strigidae. It is known as the boreal owl in North America and as Tengmalm's owl in Europe after Swedish naturalist Peter Gustaf Tengmalm or, more ra ...

(''Aegolius funereus'') may also be found here. It breeds almost exclusively in

holes in old beeches, and needs, unlike the spruce woods, more open beech forest with its higher population of small mammals in its search for food. For cover, however, it prefers the darker, denser spruce trees. A large number of the animals that live in natural spruce forest are suited to the special conditions of life in the higher parts of the Harz. Typical residents amongst the bird population include the crested tit (''Parus cristatus''), goldcrest and firecrest (''Regulus regulus'' and ''Regulus ignicapillus''), siskin (''Carduelis spinus''), treecreeper (''Certhia familiaris''), coal tit (''Parus ater'') and crossbill (''Loxia curvirostra''). Special mention should be made here of the pygmy owl (''Glaucidium passerinum'') which is threatened with extinction and which lives in the submontane to subalpine zones within mixed and pine forests interspersed with open areas. They prefer spruce woods for breeding, but feed in more open stands of trees or on open moorland. Like the black stork, the pygmy owl had long since disappeared from the Harz, but returned in the 1980s of its own volition, as its ancestral homeland once again became more natural, so that there was sufficient food to support it (insects, small mammals and small birds) as well as standing dead wood (spruce trees with woodpecker holes). In addition to the many species of birds, there is a range of large butterflies in the various spruce woods that, outside of the Harz, are seriously endangered or simply non-existent. Two species will be mentioned here as examples. ''Gnophos sordarius'' occurs in old, open wood-reed spruce forest, sometimes in connection with stone runs or bog spruce forests; ''Enthephria caesiata'' is a native of the bilberry-rich bog spruce woods. Only a few animals are able to survive the extreme conditions of the raised bogs. Examples of these are the Alpine emerald dragonfly (''Somatochlora alpestris''), which only occurs in Lower Saxony in the Harz, and is endangered in Germany, and the

Subarctic darner ''Aeshna subarctica'', the subarctic darner, is a species of darner in the family Aeshnidae. It is found in Europe and Northern Asia (excluding China) and North America. The IUCN conservation status of ''Aeshna subarctica'' is "LC", least conce ...

(''Aeshna subarctica''), a damselfly which is threatened with extinction. Rocks and

stone run A stone run (called also ''stone river'', ''stone stream'' or ''stone sea''peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...

(''Falco peregrinus'') and ring ouzel (''Turdus torquatus''). The peregrine, which is threatened with extinction here, needs steep rock outcrops with little vegetation. After its population had died out in the Harz, a breeding pair was re-established in the region. A crucial contribution has been made by extensive efforts to promote quiet areas in the ancestral breeding grounds of this shy species. Since 1980, a breeding pair has settled in the eastern Harz as the result of a wildlife reintroduction project. The ring ouzel prefers semi-open stone runs and lightly wooded transition zones between treeless raised bogs and forests. The Harz is home to one of its few, isolated breeding areas in central Europe. Its main distribution area extends across northwest Europe, including large parts of England and Scotland, as well as the high mountains of southern and eastern Europe. The waterways, with their distinct mountain stream character, play an important role right across the Harz. In comparison with the other natural regions of Lower Saxony, they are still very natural and varied, and the water is very clean. As a result of the high water velocity of the Harz streams, flowers rarely gain a foothold in the water. Even the animals in these streams need to be well suited to high velocities. Only a few species, such as fish, swim actively against the stream. The most common species are

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...

(''Salmon trutta forma fario'') and bullhead (''Cottus gobio''). Much richer in variety, by contrast, is the range of species in the system of crevices under the streambed. In addition to the insects and fish hatchlings that thrive here, may be found

protozoon Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Histor ...

s, flatworms (''

Turbellaria The Turbellaria are one of the traditional sub-divisions of the phylum Platyhelminthes (flatworms), and include all the sub-groups that are not exclusively parasitic. There are about 4,500 species, which range from to large freshwater forms more ...

'') and water mites (''Hygrobatoidea''). Other species of animals cling fast to the stones, e. g.

caddis fly The caddisflies, or order Trichoptera, are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the b ...

larvae (''Trichoptera'') and snails, or can only live in the reduced water velocities on the bed of the stream or on stones by having flat body shapes, e. g.

stonefly Plecoptera is an order of insects, commonly known as stoneflies. Some 3,500 species are described worldwide, with new species still being discovered. Stoneflies are found worldwide, except Antarctica. Stoneflies are believed to be one of the mo ...

larvae. In the calmer parts of the stream, behind stones or in blankets of moss, there are also water beetles ('' Hydrophilidae'') and small shrimp-like

amphipod Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far descr ...

s. Occasionally the golden-ringed dragonfly (''Cordulegaster boltoni'') and

beautiful demoiselle The beautiful demoiselle (''Calopteryx virgo'') is a European damselfly belonging to the family Calopterygidae. It is often found along fast-flowing waters where it is most at home. Subspecies Subspecies include: *''Calopteryx virgo britannica' ...

(''Calopteryx virgo''), a type of damselfly, can be seen by streams in the Harz. The dipper (''Cinclus cinclus''), which is found everywhere on Harz streams, occurs almost exclusively in the highlands. Its habitat is very fast-flowing, clear mountain streams with wooded banks. It can dive and run under water along the stream bed. It turns stones over in its search for food. The grey wagtail (''Motacilla cinerea'') also uses the rich food supplies of the mountain brooks. In 2000, the

lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

was successfully reintroduced by the Harz National Park, and it has since fitted well into the ecology of the region. Through specific conservation measures in past years, the retreat of the bat population in the Harz has been halted. Amongst the mammals that may be hunted are the red deer, roe deer, wild boar and mouflon.

History

The Harz was first mentioned as ''Hartingowe'' in an 814 deed by the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

King Louis the Pious. Settlement within the mountains began only 1000 years ago, as in ancient times dense forests made the region almost inaccessible. The suffix ''-rode'' (from german: roden, to stub) denotes a place where woodland had been cleared to develop a settlement. The year 968 saw the discovery of silver deposits near the town of Goslar, and

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

s became established in the following centuries throughout the mountains. During the Middle Ages, ore from this region was exported along trade routes to far-flung places, such as Mesopotamia. The wealth of the region declined after these mines became exhausted in the early 19th century. People abandoned the towns for a short time, but prosperity eventually returned with tourism. Between 1945 and 1990, the

Inner German border The inner German border (german: Innerdeutsche Grenze or ; initially also ) was the border between the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West Germany) from 1949 to 1990. Not including the ...

ran through the Harz, the west belonging to the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the east to the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). Today the Harz forms a popular tourist destination for summer hiking as well as winter sports.

Pre-history and early history

About 700,000 to 350,000 years ago ''

Homo erectus ''Homo erectus'' (; meaning "upright man") is an extinct species of archaic human from the Pleistocene, with its earliest occurrence about 2 million years ago. Several human species, such as '' H. heidelbergensis'' and '' H. antecessor' ...

'' hunted in and around the Harz near

Bilzingsleben Bilzingsleben is a village and a former municipality in the Sömmerda district of Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the municipality Kindelbrück. The village takes their coat of arms from the Bültzingslöwen Bültzi ...

(Thuringia), Hildesheim and

Schöningen Schöningen is a town of about 11,000 inhabitants in the district of Helmstedt, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography The town is located on the southeastern rim of the Elm hill range, near the border with the state of Saxony-Anhalt. In its curren ...

(Lower Saxony). The Neanderthals entered the stage about 250,000 years ago and hunted

aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius'') ( or ) is an extinct cattle species, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of the largest herbivores in the Holocen ...

bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Ame ...

, brown bear and cave bear, mammoths,

rhinos A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

, horses, reindeer, forest elephants and other animals in the Harz region. Tools used by Neanderthals were discovered ''inter alia'' in the Einhorn Cave in the southern Harz (100,000 years ago) and in the Rübeland Caves. Finds of

birch pitch Birch tar or birch pitch is a substance (liquid when heated) derived from the dry distillation of the bark of the birch tree. Compounds It is composed of phenols such as guaiacol, cresol, xylenol, and creosol. Ancient and modern uses Birc ...

near Aschersleben on the northern edge of the Harz point to the use of this prehistoric

adhesive Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advant ...

by Neanderthals about 50,000 years ago. The

Upper Palaeolithic Revolution Behavioral modernity is a suite of behavioral and cognitive traits that distinguishes current ''Homo sapiens'' from other anatomically modern humans, hominins, and primates. Most scholars agree that modern human behavior can be characterized by ...

, about 40,000 years ago, saw ''Homo sapiens'' move from Africa into Europe, including to the Harz region, where they appear to have ousted the Neanderthals and subsequently settled here. Many discoveries in the Harz, such as the bronze club of Thale, which was found by the ''

Roßtrappe The ''Roßtrappe'' is a granite crag in the Harz mountains of central Germany. The ''Roßtrappe'' rises over the Bode Gorge in the Harz. It may be reached from Thale by road, on foot or on via the Rosstrappe Chair Lift. On the rocks is a mounta ...

'', could indicate an earlier Celtic occupation of the Harz.

Middle Ages

The Harzgau itself was first mentioned in a deed by the Emperor, Louis the Pious, from the year 814, in which it was referred to by its High German form, ''Hartingowe''. According to the

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. History ...

annals of 852, the Harzgau was occupied by the Harudes and after whom the ''Harudengau'' (''Harudorum pagus'') was named. ''Harud'', from which ''Hard'', ''Hart'' and ''Harz'' are derived, means forest or forested mountains, and the Harudes were the residents or dwellers in the Harud. Of more recent origin are settlements whose names end in ''–rode'', a suffix that is first discernable in the Harzgau from the mid-9th century. Where the founders of these villages came from is unknown. Charlemagne declared the Harz a restricted imperial forest or ''Reichsbannwald''. The ''Saxon Mirror'' ('' Sachsenspiegel''), the oldest German

law book A law book is a book about law. It is possible to make a distinction between "law books" on the one hand, and "books about law" on the other. This distinction is "useful". A law book is "a work of legal doctrine". It consists of "law talk", that i ...

(''Rechtsbuch''), probably published around 1220/30 at Falkenstein Castle in the Selke valley, later made the imperial restriction clear: "Whoever rides through the Harz Forest, must unstring his bow and crossbow and keep dogs on a line – only crowned royalty (''gekrönte Häupter'') are allowed to hunt here". Eike von Repkow's ''Sachsenspiegel'' which, for centuries, formed the basis on which German law was administered, described the Harz as a place ''where wild animals are guaranteed protection in the king's restricted forests''. There were three restricted forests, so described, in the state of Saxony, where there was no longer unfettered access for everyone. This ban did not last forever. Mining, ironworks, water management, increasing settlement, woodland clearances, cattle driving, agriculture, and later tourism all undermined this imperial protection over the centuries. As early as 1224, monks who had settled in Walkenried bought extensive tracts of forest in the western Harz, to secure economically the one quarter of the Rammelsberg ore profits promised to them by

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on ...

in 1129. From that it can be deduced that there was already a shortage of wood then. From the 12th to the 14th centuries, large parts of the Harz were managed economically by the Cistercian Abbey of Walkenried. As well as agriculture and fishing, they also controlled the silver mining industry in the Upper Harz and in Goslar. In the middle of the 14th century, the settlements in the Harz became heavily depopulated as a result of the

Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

, and a systematic resettlement of mining villages in the Upper Harz did not take place until the first half of the 16th century. Prospecte_des_Hartzwalds_(View_of_the_Harz_Forest)

Prospecte_des_Hartzwalds_(View_of_the_Harz_Forest)

16th century until 1933

In 1588, the Nordhausen doctor, Johannes Thal, published the first book on regional flora in the world, ''Silva hercynia'', in which he described the flowers specific to the Harz. In 1668,

Rudolph Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Rudolph or Rudolf may refer to: People * Rudolph (name), the given name including a list of people with the name Religious figures * Rudolf of Fulda (died 865), 9th century monk, writer and theologian * Rudolf von Habsburg-Lothringen (1788� ...

granted the first conservation order for

Baumann's Cave Baumann's Cave (german: Baumannshöhle), located nearby Hermann's Cave, is a show cave in Rübeland in the district of Harz and is Germany's oldest show cave. The grotto was formed in the Devonian limestone of the Elbingerode Complex at least s ...

. The ducal decree stated, ''inter alia'', that the cave should be permanently preserved by all those responsible as a special, natural wonder. It also stated that nothing should be spoiled or destroyed, and that groups of ordinary strangers should not be allowed to enter without prior arrangement. A resident mine worker was entrusted to oversee the natural monument. Until the issue of this conservation order, there had only been an order for the protection of the forest, which had been issued by the ruling princes for real, practical considerations. But for the first time the 1668 cave order took ethical-aesthetic considerations into account. The year 1668 was the birth of classic nature conservation in the Harz. The order had been precipitated by the earlier, serious destruction of the cave's features by Vandals. The first Harz 'rangers' were formed. In 1705, the last bear was killed in the Harz, on the Brocken. The steadily increasing consumption of wood by the pits and smelting works led to

overexploitation Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term app ...

of the forests and, from about 1700, to their outright destruction. There were no less than 30,000 charcoal piles in the Harz. In 1707, an order by Count Ernst of Stolberg forbade Brocken guides to take strangers or local folk to the Brocken without special permission, and the lighting of fires was forbidden. The first attempts at forest conservation in the Harz were centred on the Brocken, and began with a far-sighted nature conservation act over 275 years ago. In 1718, Count Christian Ernest of the

House of Stolberg The House of Stolberg is the name of an old and large German dynasty of the former Holy Roman Empire's high aristocracy ('' Hoher Adel''). Members of the family held the title of ''Fürst'' and ''Graf''. They played a significant role in feudal ...

issued an ordinance in which destruction or damage to the forest on the Brocken would be severely punished. In 1736, Christian Ernest also built the ''Wolkenhäuschen'' ("Little House in the Clouds") on the Brocken. As a young man, the famous German poet, Goethe visited the Harz several times and had a number of important lifetime experiences. These included his walks on the Brocken and his visit to the mines in Rammelsberg. Later, his observations of the rocks on the Brocken led to his geological research. His first visit to the Harz awakened in him a keen interest in science (see Goethes: ''Wahrheit und Dichtung''). In 1777, Goethe climbed the Brocken, departing from Torfhaus. At that time, there was still no mass tourism on the Brocken; in the year 1779 only 421 walkers were recorded. Goethe described his feelings on the summit later, as follows: ''So lonely, I say to myself, while looking down at this peak, will it feel to the person, who only wants to open his soul to the oldest, first, deepest feelings of truth.'' On 23 March 1798, the last wolf was killed in the Harz near the Plessenburg. The count's guest house on the Heinrichshöhe had become too small and suffered from overcrowding; in 1799 it burned down. In 1800, a new guest house was built on the Brocken to replace it. Around 1800, large swathes of the Harz were deforested. The less resistant spruce monoculture, that arose as a consequence of the mining industry in the Upper Harz, was largely destroyed by a

bark beetle A bark beetle is the common name for the subfamily of beetles Scolytinae. Previously, this was considered a distinct family (Scolytidae), but is now understood to be a specialized clade of the "true weevil" family (Curculionidae). Although the ...

outbreak and a storm of hurricane proportions in November 1800. This largest known bark beetle infestation in the Harz was known as the ''Große Wurmtrocknis'', and destroyed about of spruce forest and lasted about for 20 years. The woods were largely reforested with spruce. Continuous problems with bark beetle and storms were the negative side effects of mining in the Harz Mountains. In 1818, a mounted forester, Spellerberg, from Lautenthal, killed the last lynx in the Harz on the Teufelsberg. At the start of the 19th century, the increasing changes to the natural landscape wrought by man and the extinction of large mammals like the bear, wolf and lynx raised awareness of the threat to nature. In 1852, the district administrator of Quedlinburg placed the ''

Teufelsmauer The Teufelsmauer (''Devil's Wall'') is a rock formation made of hard sandstones of the Upper Cretaceous in the northern part of the Harz Foreland in central Germany. This wall of rock runs from Blankenburg (Harz) via Weddersleben and Rieder ...

'', ''"a rock outcrop famous as an object of folklore and as a rare natural curiosity"'', near Thale under protection, because the inhabitants of neighbouring districts were using the rocks as a quarry. This protection order survived in spite of all protests from the local villages. Thus, a valuable natural monument was saved from destruction, and it is of note that the authorities felt that the 'romantic' reasons for its preservation were entirely justified. Albert Peter laid out the

Brocken Garden The Brocken Garden (german: Brockengarten) is an alpine botanical garden on the summit of the Brocken (1,142 m above sea level), the highest peak in the Harz mountains of Germany. It lies within the Harz National Park near Wernigerode in the state ...

in 1890. This was the first Alpine flower garden to be established on German soil. And, in terms of its scientific concept and scope, the Brocken Garden was the first of its type worldwide. The Brocken Railway began service in 1899, against the already strong concerns of conservationists. For example, the botanist, Bley, wanted to prevent trains from climbing the Brocken, because it he felt it would threaten the Brocken's flora. In 1907, Hermann Löns uttered his famous cry "More Protection for the Brocken" (''Mehr Schutz für den Brocken'') in light of the mass tourism that was beginning to affect the Brocken. By 1912, he effectively pressed for the establishment of a Harz national park, without calling it such, in ''Der Harzer Heimatspark'' (Verlag E. Appelhans u. Co., Braunschweig 1912), a brochure that has remained relatively unknown. The Harz played a special role in the life of the famous regional poet, naturalist and local patriot, undoubtedly not least because his second wife, Lisa Hausmann, came from Barbis in the South Harz. Around 1920, the

population in the Harz died out. The Wernigerode rector, W. Voigt, wrote, in 1926, in his famous ''Brockenbuch'': ''In America it has long become the business of the people, to create a sacrosanct haven for the native flora and fauna of the regions in national parks. North and South Germany have their heath and alpine parks. May the joint efforts of the royal authorities, the local police, the Wernigerode Nature Conservation Society and individual friends of the Brocken also succeed now in central Germany, through caring nurture across the board, in establishing and preserving the Brocken too, as a small, but unique, nature reserve for the German people.'' In the 1930s, national park planning in Germany became specific again. There were concrete plans for the national parks of the

Lüneburg Heath Lüneburg Heath (german: Lüneburger Heide) is a large area of heath, geest, and woodland in the northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen a ...

, Bavarian – Bohemian Forest, High Tauern, Höllengebirge, Neusiedler See and

Kurische Nehrung The Curonian (Courish) Spit ( lt, Kuršių nerija; russian: Ку́ршская коса́ (Kurshskaya kosa); german: Kurische Nehrung, ; lv, Kuršu kāpas) is a long, thin, curved sand- dune spit that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Balt ...

. The Second World War prevented these national park plans from being taken forward; nevertheless, in 1937, an Upper Harz Nature Reserve (''Naturschutzgebietes Oberharz'') was designated.

Nazi Germany and Second World War

During the

Nazi era Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, the Harz area became an important production site for the armaments industry. Many factories, important to the war effort, were located there and, as the war neared its conclusion, they were increasingly staffed with slave labour. As a result, the Harz was the location of several hundred forced labour camps and KZs at that time. KZ Dora near Nordhausen in the South Harz became particularly infamous. This camp, ''

Mittelbau-Dora Mittelbau-Dora (also Dora-Mittelbau and Nordhausen-Dora) was a Nazi concentration camp located near Nordhausen in Thuringia, Germany. It was established in late summer 1943 as a subcamp of Buchenwald concentration camp, supplying slave labour ...

'' (also ''Dora-Mittelbau'' and ''Nordhausen-Dora''), was a subcamp of

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...

. Its prisoners were used by the SS mainly in the tunnel excavation and nearby underground stations of the

Mittelwerk Mittelwerk (; German for "Central Works") was a German World War II factory built underground in the Kohnstein to avoid Allied bombing. It used slave labor from the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp to produce V-2 ballistic missiles, V-1 flyin ...

Ltd., in

Kohnstein The Kohnstein is a hill in Thuringia, Germany, 2 kilometres southwest of the village of Niedersachswerfen and 3 kilometres northwest of the centre of the town of Nordhausen. Gypsum mining created tunnels in the hill that were later used as a fu ...

, situated near

, where the V-2 rocket and the flying bomb

V-1 rocket V1, V01 or V-1 can refer to version one (for anything) (e.g., see version control) V1, V01 or V-1 may also refer to: In aircraft * V-1 flying bomb, a World War II German weapon * V1 speed, V1 speed, the maximum speed at which an aircraft pilot m ...

were produced. The slave labourers at the Dora camp were subjected to brutal conditions, which led to more than 20,000 deaths. In the last weeks of the war, the so-called Harz Fortress (''Harzfestung'') is worth mentioning. In February/March 1945 the SS Reichsführer, Heinrich Himmler, established the Harz Fortress to defend central Germany from the western allies. Its

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

was at

Blankenburg Blankenburg may refer to: Places * Blankenburg am Harz, a German town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt * Blankenburg Castle (Harz), the castle in Blankenburg am Harz (see above) * Bad Blankenburg, a German town in the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt dis ...

. Amongst the formations mobilised were divisions belonging to the 11th Army, divisions of the Waffen SS and the '' Volkssturm''. When the United States First Army reached

in the southern Harz, and went to advance northwards, it met with resistance, especially in the hills around the towns of Ilfeld and

Ellrich Ellrich is a town in the district of Nordhausen, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated on the southern edge of the Harz, 13 km northwest of Nordhausen. It is the northernmost settlement in Thuringia. History Second World War Durin ...

. Not until 7 May 1945 did the last formations of the 11th Army and Waffen SS in the Harz surrender. Several units of ''Volkssturm'' troops fought on against the Americans during May. Shortly before his death in 2003, American Second World War veteran and organized crime figure,

Frank Sheeran Francis Joseph Sheeran (October 25, 1920 – December 14, 2003), also known as "The Irishman", was an American labor union official and enforcer for Jimmy Hoffa and Russell Bufalino. He was accused of having links to the Pittston crime family ...

, admitted to having participated in a massacre of German POWs in the Harz area. At the time, Sheeran was serving in the 45th U.S. Infantry Division. According to Sheeran, his unit was climbing the Harz when they came upon a mule train carrying supplies to German positions on the hillside. The Americans handed shovels to their prisoners, forced them to dig their own graves, then shot and buried them. Wernher von Braun, one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Germany during the Second World War and, subsequently, in the United States, reportedly ordered blueprints of his work to be hidden in an abandoned mine shaft in the Harz range.

Former Inner German border

Until 1990, the

ran through the western third of the Harz. The Brocken plateau and other peaks near the border were part of a large military out-of-bounds area, which demonstrating walkers first entered on 3 December 1989. Tourism on the Brocken has since then become very intense – about 1.3 million people visit the summit of the Brocken annually. The former out-of-bounds area today has many habitats worth protecting and, as a result, it is being turned into a green belt.

Economy

Clausthal-zellerfeld oberbergamt bergbauarchiv

Historic mining industry

The mining industry in the Harz has its origins about 3,000 years ago during the Bronze Age. The seven Upper Harz mining towns – Clausthal,

Zellerfeld Clausthal-Zellerfeld is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the southwestern part of the Harz mountains. Its population is approximately 15,000. The City is the location of the Clausthal University of Technology. The health resort ...

Bad Grund Bad Grund (Harz) is a town in the district of Göttingen, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western Harz, approx. 7 km west of Clausthal-Zellerfeld, and 10 km north of Osterode am Harz. Bad Grund is also the name of the ...

Lautenthal The formerly free mining town ('' Bergstadt'') of Lautenthal in Germany is a state-recognised, climatic spa with around 1,570 inhabitants and has been part of the borough of Langelsheim since 1972. Geography Lautenthal lies in the Innerst ...

Altenau Altenau () is a town and a former municipality in the district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the town Clausthal-Zellerfeld. It is situated in the middle of the Harz mountains, between Clausthal-Zellerf ...

and Wildemann – and around 30 other villages within and on the edge of the Harz can thank the Upper Harz mining and smelting industries for their boom. The former imperial town of Goslar, too, whose splendour depended on the ore treasures of the Rammelsberg, mined

argentiferous Silver mining is the extraction of silver from minerals, starting with mining. Because silver is often found in intimate combination with other metals, its extraction requires elaborate technologies. In 2008, ca.25,900 metric tons were consumed ...

lead ore for centuries. Mining heavily dominated the economic life of the Harz as well as its scenery. Miners created the famous engineering system for the management of water in the Upper Harz, the Upper Harz Water Regale, of which 70 kilometres of ditch and 68 'ponds' (with a volume of 8 million cubic metres) are still used today. Without using their considerable hydropower output, silver mining in the Harz would never have been able to attain its major economic significance. In the eastern Harz Foreland ( Mansfeld Land and Sangerhäuser Mulde) copper schist was mined until 1990. The early beginnings of this industry were first mentioned in 1199, and it was considered in its heyday, at the end of the 15th century, as the most important in Europe. In addition, at Ilfeld is the only

stone coal Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...

mine in the Harz, the former Rabenstein Gallery Mine (''Bergwerk Rabensteiner Stollen''). In the North Thuringian mining area, there were numerous potash mines and, in the vicinity of Röblingen, geological waxes were extracted by a mining concern. The last mine in the Upper Harz – the Wolkenhügel Pit in Bad Lauterberg – closed its operations in June 2007 for economic reasons. Having formerly had 1,000 workers, the mine employed just 14 people towards the end, using the most modern technology to extract

barite Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate ( Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...

. With the closure of this facility, mining operations that had begun in the Middle Ages and had continued unbroken since the 16th century, extracting silver, lead and zinc, came to an end. Bearing witness to the industry are cultural monuments as well as the negative consequences of mining for the environment such as e. g. pollution of the ecosystem with

heavy metals upright=1.2, Crystals of osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">lead.html" ;"title="osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead Heavy metals are generally defined as ...

.Friedhart Knolle: ''Bergbauinduzierte Schwermetallkontaminationen und Bodenplanung in der Harzregion'
online
/ref>

Economy today

The booming mining industry of bygone centuries in the Harz region – especially for silver, iron, copper, lead and zinc – has declined markedly. However, the heavy metal residues in the soils of the Upper Harz, which in some cases are significant, represent a serious environmental hazard today. Copper workings are still important today in the area of Mansfeld. The last centres of mining were the Rammelsberg near Goslar (closed 1988) and the Hilfe Gottes Pit near

(closed 1992). In Bad Lauterberg,

– used today primarily for the manufacture of paint and in sound insulation – was extracted until July 2007 at the Wolkenhügel Pit, the last mine in the entire Harz. Furthermore, limestone is still mined at Elbingerode in three large open pits (''Werk

Rübeland Rübeland is a village in the district of Harz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 2004, it has been given the additional description of ''Höhlenort'' ("cave site"). The sub-districts of Rübeland are Susenburg, Kaltes Tal, Kreuztal and ...

'', ''Werk Kaltes Tal'' and ''Werk Hornberg''). Another important employer is the Clausthal University of Technology. In addition to the classical disciplines of mining and metallurgy, many engineering and science subjects, as well as

business studies Business studies, often simply called business, is a field of study that deals with the principles of business, management, and economics. It combines elements of accountancy, finance, marketing, organizational studies, human resource management, a ...

courses, are taught and researched. The extensive woods of the Harz mean that forestry plays an important economic role, as do the associated wood-working industries. In the first millennium AD,

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

trees (mainly

) were predominant on the higher ground – typical of a natural highland forest. Hence one spoke of going ''in die Harten'' ("into the hardwood forest"), a term which gave the ''Harz'' its name. Today, however, the commercially managed areas are mainly monocultures of

Norway spruce ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very close ...

. A cause of this development was the mining history in the Harz region, with its high demand for wood and the consequent overuse and devastation of the stands of forest. In addition, there were the

climatic change ''Climatic Change'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media covering cross-disciplinary work on all aspects of climate change and variability. It was established in 1978 and the editors-in-chief ...

s of the so-called

Little Ice Age The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of regional cooling, particularly pronounced in the North Atlantic region. It was not a true ice age of global extent. The term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939. Ma ...

. The reforestation with relatively easily managed and undemanding spruce trees since the middle of the 18th century was mainly due to the proposals of the Senior Forester and Master Hunter, Johann Georg von Langen.

Tourism

Tourism is very important to the Harz, although the prevalence of cheap air travel has led to a decline in recent years. There are many spa towns, and almost every village in the Harz and Harz Foreland caters to tourists. Well-known destinations are the Harz National Park and the Brocken, as well as the historic towns on the edge of the Harz. Concepts like the Western town, Pullman City Harz, or the rock operas on the Brocken are intended to also be particularly attractive to foreign tourists. The ''Harzer Verkehrsverband'' (HVV) is responsible for the marketing of the Harz to tourists.

Winter sports

Although winter sport in the Harz does not have the significance of other mountain areas, such as the Thuringian Forest, Ore Mountains, Black Forest or even the Alps, there are plenty of winter sport facilities. Of particular note are the villages and towns of Altenau (including Torfhaus),

Benneckenstein Benneckenstein () is a town in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it has been part of the town of Oberharz am Brocken. Benneckenstein is in the eastern Harz, 14 km southeast of Braunlage, and 24 km so ...

, Braunlage (including

Hohegeiß Hohegeiss (german: Hohegeiß) is a health resort and winter sports village in the Harz mountains range in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 July 1972 Hohegeiss has been part of the town of Braunlage, in the district of Goslar. Geography Hohegeis ...

), Goslar- Hahnenklee,

Hasselfelde Hasselfelde is a town in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated in the eastern Harz, approximately 17 km south of Wernigerode. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Oberharz am Brocken. Hasselfelde has 2,390 i ...

, Sankt Andreasberg (including

Sonnenberg Sonnenberg is a municipality in the Oberhavel district, in Brandenburg, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, a ...

and Oderbrück) and Schierke. Due to the high altitude and length of their runs,

Nordic skiing Nordic skiing encompasses the various types of skiing in which the toe of the ski boot is fixed to the Ski binding, binding in a manner that allows the heel to rise off the ski, unlike alpine skiing, where the boot is attached to the ski from toe ...

is very popular. International winter sport competitions take place on the

ski jump near Braunlage and the biathlon facility at Sonnenberg. Also worth mentioning are the many

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

runs (''Loipen'') in the Harz. Their quality and features are ensured by the land owners, particularly in the Harz National Park, where snow is still relatively guaranteed during the winter months, and also by individual communities and societies. The ''Förderverein Loipenverbund Harz'', for example, is well known in this regard. It was founded in 1996 on the initiative of the Harz National Park, Harz winter sport parishes, the cable car and lift operators, hotels and transport companies, and has the aim of promoting ski tourism in the Harz and looking after the interests of nature conservation. The mountain rescue service on the cross-country routes, the toboggan slopes, footpaths, alpine ski pistes and rough terrain is provided by the ''

Bergwacht The Bergwacht is an organisation that is part of the German Red Cross (DRK-Bergwacht), whose primary functions are mountain rescue and nature conservation. The voluntary organisation provides over 90% of the emergency services in the impassable t ...

Harz''.

Summer sports

In summer, the main activity in the Harz, by far, is walking. In recent years

Nordic walking Nordic walking is a Finnish-origin total-body version of walking that can be done both by non-athletes as a health-promoting physical activity and by athletes as a sport. The activity is performed with specially designed walking poles similar to s ...

has become increasingly popular. On several

reservoirs in the Harz In the Harz mountains, there is a higher than average number of dams with their associated reservoirs. The reason is that the Harz is one of the regions with the heaviest rainfall in Germany and so its water power was utilised very early on. The ...

, a variety of water sports is permitted and, on a number of rivers originating in the Harz, there are opportunities for

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...

and other sports on white water sections. International canoe and

kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...

competitions take place on the Oker below the Oker Dam. The white water on this stretch of river is partly a result of the raised levels of discharge from the Oker Reservoir and so is largely independent of the weather. Several hills provide a base for airborne activities, such as

gliding Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word ''soaring'' is al ...

and hang-gliding, notably the Rammelsberg near Goslar. The Harz offers a range of climbing areas like, the Oker valley, with its rock outcrops (''Klippen''); the ''Adlerklippen'' being especially popular. The Harz has also developed in recent years into a popular

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling. Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, which ...

region, with 62 signed mountain bike routes and four bike parks with lift facilities in Braunlage, Hahnenklee, Schulenberg and Thale. The bike parks offer freeride,

downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

and

fourcross Fourcross is a form of four-wheeled downhill mountain biking, which has the benefit of being suitable for disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equita ...

routes. Both the signed cycle paths and the bike parks are suitable for every level of cyclist. Roads in the Harz are used by racing bikes and

touring bike A touring bicycle is a bicycle designed or modified to handle bicycle touring. To make the bikes sufficiently robust, comfortable and capable of carrying heavy loads, special features may include a long wheelbase (for ride comfort and to avoid pe ...

s, despite their sometimes heavy use by lorries, because in the whole of North Germany there is no other region with such long, and in places very steep, descents and ascents. In addition, there are a large number of railway connections on the edge of the Harz which allow bicycles to be taken on trains. The Harz Mountain Rescue (''Bergwacht Harz'') service also operates in summer, rescuing people involved in accidents on difficult terrain.

Walking and climbing

The mountains of the Harz were used in former times for long walks (e. g. by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...

and

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

). An extensive network of footpaths is maintained today, especially by the Harz Club. In addition, there are several long-distance paths (the

Harz Witches' Trail The Harz Witches' Trail (german: Harzer Hexenstieg) is a footpath, just under 100 km long, in Germany that runs from Osterode through the Harz mountains and over its highest peak, the Brocken, to Thale. It is a project by the Harz Transpo ...

Kaiser Way The Kaiser Way (german: Kaiserweg), literally "Emperor Way", is a thematic long distance footpath in the Harz mountains of Germany, which is about 110 km long and crosses both the Harz and the Kyffhäuser hills. From Goslar and Bad Harzbur ...

Karst Trail The Karst Trail (german: Karstwanderweg) is a marked and signed footpath that runs for over 250 kilometres between Förste in Lower Saxony and Pölsfeld in Saxony-Anhalt through the karst landscape of the Harz, South Harz in Germany. The path ru ...

and

Selke Valley Trail The Selke Valley TrailDuda, Anka and Witschaß, Martin (xxxx). ''Harz County Trail Guides'', map and guide brochure, Dept of Economic Affairs, Harz County, Quelinburg Druck. (german: Selketalstieg) is a 67 km long footpath in the Harz mountains of ...

), as well as a trans-regional project, the '' Harzer Wandernadel'', with 222 checkpoints and a range of walking badges that may be earned for various levels of achievement. The Harz is also home to Germany's first naturist hiking trail, the ''Harzer Naturistenstieg''. In the Oker Valley and at ''Roßtrappe'' near Thale, there are rocks on the ''

Hohneklippen The ''Hohnekamm'' or ''Hohne Kamm'' is a mountain ridge up to high in the Harz mountains of central Germany. It is located in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, and is well known for its rock towers or tors, the ''Hohneklippen''. Location and surrou ...

'' (the ''Höllenklippe'' or the Feuerstein near Schierke, among several) that are used by climbers.

Running

The

Harz Run The Harz Run (german: Harzquerung) is a fun run and walking event in the Harz mountains of Germany that has been organised since the 1970s by the Wernigerode Skiing Club (''Skiklub Wernigerode 1911'') and takes place on the last Saturday of April. T ...

(german: Harzquerung) is a fun run and walking event in the Harz mountains of Germany organised by the Wernigerode Skiing Club (''Skiklub Wernigerode 1911'') which takes place on the last Saturday of April. The main run is an

ultra marathon An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

which is long and crosses the Harz between Wernigerode and

in a north–south direction. There is also a 25 km route from Wernigerode to

and a 28 km course from Benneckenstein to Nordhausen.

Dialects of the Harz

The main dialects of the Harz region are Eastphalian and Thuringian. A feature of the Upper Harz is, or was, the Upper Harz dialect (''Oberharzer Mundart''). Unlike the Lower Saxon, Eastphalian and Thuringian dialects of the surrounding region, this was an Ore Mountain dialect from Saxony and Bohemia, that went back to the settlement of mining folk from that area in the 16th century. The Upper Harz dialect was used only in a few places. The best known are Altenau, Sankt Andreasberg, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Lautenthal and Hahnenklee. Today the dialect is heard only rarely in the Upper Harz in everyday life and it is mainly members of the older generations who still use it, so occasional articles in the local papers are printed in "Upper Harz", which helps to preserve it.

Tourist attractions

Mines and caves

Geomorphological Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...

processes have led to the formation of caves in the gypsum,

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

and limestone layers of the Harz. These dripstone caves include

, the

Unicorn Cave The Unicorn Cave (german: Einhornhöhle) is the largest show cave in the West Harz, about kilometres northwest of Scharzfeld in the borough of Herzberg am Harz in central Germany.

Hermann's Cave Hermann's Cave (german: Hermannshöhle), together with Baumann's Cave, is one of two show caves in the village of Rübeland near the town of Wernigerode, in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The cave was formed out of the Devonian li ...

, the

Iberg Dripstone Cave The Iberg Dripstone Cave (german: Iberger Tropfsteinhöhle) is a public cave and geology museum in southern Lower Saxony near Bad Grund, Germany. It is located on the western edge of the Harz mountains in the Iberg mountain at a height of abo ...

and, on the southern edge of the Harz, the

Heimkehle The Heimkehle is one of two great gypsum caves in Germany that are accessible as show caves. It lies on the southern edge of the Harz Mountains between Rottleberode and Uftrungen, east of Nordhausen, right on the state border between Thuringia an ...

. Because the older formations contained many mineral deposits, they were explored very early on by the mining industry. The mines have often been turned into

show mine A mine, i.e. an industrial facility for the underground extraction of mineral commodities, has three operating phases: it may be open or running, or closed or it may be a working museum. Most mines are simply closed once they are no longer producti ...

s. For example, the

Samson Pit The Samson Pit or Samson Mine (german: Grube Samson) is an historic silver mine in Sankt Andreasberg in the Upper Harz region of central Germany.Drei Kronen & Ehrt'', the ''

Röhrigschacht The Röhrigschacht ("Röhrig Shaft") is an old copper slate mine which is now is a mining museum and show mine in the village of Wettelrode in the county of Mansfeld-Südharz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Location The ''Röhrigschacht' ...

'' show mine, the ''Lange Wand'' show mine in Ilfeld and the ''Rabensteiner Stollen'' show mine in Netzkater. Others have been turned into mining museums, like the

Upper Harz Mining Museum The Upper Harz Mining Museum (german: Oberharzer Bergwerksmuseum, ) is a museum of technological and cultural history in Clausthal-Zellerfeld in the Harz mountains of central Germany. It is one of the oldest technological museums in Germany and ...

in Clausthal-Zellerfeld, the

Mining Museum with its pit railway or the Rammelsberg Mining Museum near Goslar, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. The

Roter Bär Pit The Roter Bär Pit (german: Grube Roter Bär) in Sankt Andreasberg in the Upper Harz is an iron ore mine that was worked from about 1800 until the 1860s. Today it is operated as a show mine under the name of Roter Bär Pit Educational Mine by the ...

in St. Andreasberg also served as a training mine until the 20th century and is today, preserved true to the original, as a

visitor mine A mine, i.e. an industrial facility for the underground extraction of mineral commodities, has three operating phases: it may be open or running, or closed or it may be a working museum. Most mines are simply closed once they are no longer product ...

Towns and villages

The following towns and villages are found in or around the Harz region:

Towns in the Harz Foreland

*Lower Saxony: Alfeld, Bad Gandersheim, Bad Salzdetfurth,

Bockenem Bockenem (; Eastphalian: ''Bokeln'') is a town in the district of Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, Germany that was founded in 1154. It is located on the German Timber-Frame Road. Surrounding villages *Jerze *Königsdahlum *Bornum *Mahlum *Schlewecke ...

Duderstadt Duderstadt () is a city in southern Lower Saxony, Germany, located in the district of Göttingen. It is the center and capital of the northern part of the Eichsfeld ("Untereichsfeld"). In earlier times it was the private wealth of the Roman Cat ...

Einbeck Einbeck (; Eastphalian: ''Aimbeck'') is a town in the district Northeim, in southern Lower Saxony, Germany, on the German Timber-Frame Road. History Prehistory The area of the current city of Einbeck is inhabited since prehistoric times. Vario ...

, Göttingen, Hildesheim, Northeim, Salzgitter, Vienenburg and Wolfenbüttel. *Saxony-Anhalt: Aschersleben, Derenburg, Eisleben, Halberstadt,

Hettstedt Hettstedt is a town in Mansfeld-Südharz district, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, on the Wipper. It consists of Hettstedt proper and the ''Ortschaften'' (municipal divisions) Ritterode and Walbeck.Oschersleben, Osterwieck, Quedlinburg, Sangerhausen and Staßfurt. *Thuringia: Bleicherode, Heringen/Helme,

and

Sondershausen Sondershausen is a town in Thuringia, central Germany, capital of the Kyffhäuserkreis district, situated about 50 km north of Erfurt. On 1 December 2007, the former municipality Schernberg was incorporated by Sondershausen. Until 1918 it ...

Abbeys and churches

The medieval abbeys of

Drübeck Drübeck is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2009, it is part of the town Ilsenburg. Abbey It is the site of a former monastery of nuns of the Order of Saint Benedict, first ...

, Ilsenburg, Michaelstein, Quedlinburg and

Walkenried Walkenried () is a municipality in the district of Göttingen, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the southern Harz, approx. 15 km south of Braunlage, and 15 km northwest of Nordhausen. Walkenried was the seat of the ''Samtgeme ...

are found mainly on the edge of the Harz. In Hahnenklee there is a wooden stave church, the

Gustav Adolf Stave Church The Lutheran Gustav Adolf Stave Church (german: Gustav-Adolf-Stabkirche) is a stave church situated in Hahnenklee, a borough of Goslar in the Harz mountains, Germany. Construction of the church began in 1907 and it was consecrated on 28 June 1908. ...

which was consecrated in 1908.

Towers, palaces and castles

The high elevation of many places in the Harz has been used to advantage to erect

transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission *** ...

or observation towers. These include the

Carlshaushöhe The Carlshaushöhe (or Karlshaushöhe) is a mountain, 626.3 m, in the Harz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Geographical location It is located southwest of Hasselfelde between Trautenstein to the north, Benneckenstein to the west and ...

near

Trautenstein Trautenstein is a village in the borough of Oberharz am Brocken in the district of Harz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Trautenstein has 493 inhabitants . Formerly an independent municipality, it was merged into the town Hasselfelde in 2002, ...

, the observation tower on 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 ...

or the Josephskreuz. In historical times, high ridges and spurs were used as sites for fortified castles (''Burgen''). In the Harz these include Falkenstein Castle, where Eike von Repkow probably drew up the '' Sachsenspiegel'', the most important

legal code A code of law, also called a law code or legal code, is a systematic collection of statutes. It is a type of legislation that purports to exhaustively cover a complete system of laws or a particular area of law as it existed at the time the cod ...

of the

German Middle Ages The Kingdom of Germany or German Kingdom ( la, regnum Teutonicorum "kingdom of the Germans", "German kingdom", "kingdom of Germany") was the mostly Germanic-speaking East Frankish kingdom, which was formed by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, especi ...

Hohnstein Castle Hohnstein Castle (german: Burg Hohnstein) is one of the largest and best-preserved castle ruins in Germany and is located near Neustadt in the vicinity of Nordhausen in Thuringia. Location The ruins are located on a high, rocky spur which t ...

near Neustadt/Harz,

Lauenburg Castle The Lauenburg is a ruined medieval castle in the East Harz in central Germany situated on an elevation southwest of the village of Stecklenberg (in the borough of Thale) in Harz district in the state of Saxony-Anhalt in the former German Democr ...

near Stecklenberg, Plessenburg and

Stecklenburg The Stecklenburg is a ruined medieval castle in the East Harz in Germany, located on a small rise only a few hundred metres away from the village of Stecklenberg (in the borough of Thale) in the district of Harz in Saxony-Anhalt. The castle was ...

, as well as the ruined castles of

Harzburg The Harzburg, also called Große Harzburg ("Great Harz Castle"), is a former imperial castle, situated on the northwestern edge of the Harz mountain range overlooking the spa resort of Bad Harzburg in Goslar District in the state of Lower Saxony ...

, Anhalt,

Königsburg The Königsburg is a ruined medieval castle southeast of Königshütte, a village in the borough of Oberharz am Brocken, in Harz district in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Site The ruins are located above the confluence of the Warme Bod ...

, Scharzfels. In addition to these defensive structures, palatial castles ('' Schlösser'') were also built, such as

Herzberg Castle Herzberg Castle (german: Schloss Herzberg) is a German ''schloss'' in Herzberg am Harz in the district of Göttingen in the state of Lower Saxony. The present-day, quadrangular building has its origins in the 11th century as a medieval '' castl ...

, Blankenburg Castle,

Stolberg Castle Stolberg Castle (german: Schloss Stolberg) is a palace in the town of Stolberg in the Harz Mountains of Germany. It dates to the 13th century and stands above the town on a hill with steep drops on three sides. Since 2003 it has been completely ...

and Wernigerode Castle.

Transport

Rail

Harzquerbahn near Drei Annen Hohne - 2007-09-19

The ''Harzer Schmalspurbahnen'' (

Harz Narrow Gauge Railways The Harz Narrow Gauge Railways (German: ''Harzer Schmalspurbahnen'' or HSB) is a railway company that operates a network in the Harz mountains, in central Germany (formerly East Germany). The company was formed after the Second World War as a me ...

), colloquially known as the ''Harzquerbahn'' (

Trans-Harz Railway The Harz Railway or Trans-Harz Railway (german: Harzquerbahn) was formerly the main line of the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways (''Harzer Schmalspurbahnen'' or ''HSB'') and runs north to south right across the Harz Mountains from Wernigerode to Nordhau ...

), a narrow (metre)-gauge steam and diesel-powered railway network is a very popular mode of transport, especially with tourists. The railways link Wernigerode,

, Quedlinburg and the Brocken. Prior to the closure of the

the present-day network was joined at

Sorge Sorge may refer to: Places * Sorge, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, a village and former municipality * Sorge (Eider) in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, a tributary of the Eider River * Sorge (Lake Geneva) in Lausanne, a tributary of Lake Geneva * Germ ...

to the ''Südharzbahn'' ( South Harz Railway), which ran from Walkenried to Braunlage and Tanne. Main line railways serve the major towns around the Harz including Halberstadt, Wernigerode, Thale, Quedlinburg and Nordhausen. The Harz used to be served by a number of branch lines, some of which are still open. Those operating regular passenger services are the Halberstadt–Blankenburg, Quedlinburg–Thale, Klostermansfeld–Wippra and Berga-Kelbra–Stolberg lines. All the branch lines in Lower Saxony (the Innerste Valley Railway and

Oder Valley Railway The Oder Valley Railway (german: Odertalbahn) was a railway line from Scharzfeld via Bad Lauterberg to St. Andreasberg- Silberhütte. It follows the upper course of the river Oder in the West Harz mountains, and was commonly named after it. Geog ...

) have been closed. The

Rübeland Railway The Rübeland Railway (german: Rübelandbahn) is a railway link from Blankenburg via Rübeland and Königshütte to Tanne in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It was built by the Halberstadt-Blankenburg railway (HBE) between 1880 and 1886 ...

is only used by goods traffic at present, but there are plans to run it as a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

. Around the Harz a number of railway lines form a ring. They are, clockwise from the north, the Heudeber–Danstedt–Vienenburg, the Halberstadt–Vienenburg railway, the Halle–Halberstadt railway, the

Berlin-Blankenheim Railway The Berlin-Blankenheim railway or Wetzlarer Bahn ("Wetzlar Railway") is a railway line in the German states of Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt. It is a section of the Kanonenbahn (''Cannons Railway'') between Berlin and Metz, built between ...

, the Halle-Kassel Railway, the

South Harz Line The South Harz Railway (german: Südharzstrecke or ''Südharzbahn'') is a railway line through the German states of Lower Saxony and Thuringia. It runs from Northeim to Nordhausen, via Herzberg am Harz, Bad Lauterberg-Barbis, Bad Sachsa, Walkenri ...

, the

Herzberg–Seesen railway The Herzberg–Seesen railway, also known as the West Harz Line (german: Westharzstrecke), is a 32 km long railway line, that runs along the western edge of the Harz mountains and serves the town and the district of Osterode am Harz. It is the ...

, the Goslar–Seesen railway and the

Vienenburg–Goslar railway The Vienenburg–Goslar railway is a main line between Vienenburg and Goslar on the northern edge of the Harz mountains in Germany. It was opened in 1866. Route The 12.8 kilometre long route is single-tracked between Vienenburg and Oker. ...

Road

The Harz is grazed by the A 7 motorway in the west and the A 38 in the south. A four-lane motor road, the B 243 runs along the southwestern perimeter of the Harz via Osterode to Bad Lauterberg. In addition there is a good federal road (the B 6, B 4) from Goslar to Braunlage. The North Harz Foreland benefits from the newly built B 6n. Both the B 4 and the B 6n have been upgraded almost to motorway standard. The B 4 crosses the Harz from Bad Harzburg on a north–south axis running through Torfhaus and Braunlage as far as Ilfeld on the edge of the South Harz. The rest of the Harz is also well served by federal roads. Important ones include the Harz high road (''Harzhochstraße'', the B 242), which crosses the Harz in an east–west direction (from Seesen to Mansfeld) and the B 241, which runs from Goslar in the north over the Upper Harz (Clausthal-Zellerfeld) as far as Osterode in the south.

References

External links

* *
Harz at Encyclopædia Britannica

Homepage of the Harz Regional Association (''Regionalverband Harz e.V.'')

Official tourist homepage

Harz National Park

Harzer Schmalspurbahnen (Harz Narrow Gauge Railways)
*
Blog on the Harz region

Adventure Harz - (tourist homepage for the Harz region)
{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2017 Mountain ranges of Germany Mountain ranges of Thuringia Mountains of Lower Saxony Mountains and hills of Saxony-Anhalt Central Uplands Natural regions of Germany Regions of Saxony-Anhalt Regions of Lower Saxony Regions of Thuringia Forests and woodlands of Lower Saxony Forests and woodlands of Saxony-Anhalt Forests and woodlands of Thuringia Carboniferous Germany Cretaceous Germany Climbing areas of Germany Horsts (geology)

Geography

Location and extent

Rivers and lakes

Hills

Climate

Geology and pedology

Origins

Nature

Flora

Types of woods

= Beech woods

= Mixed woods

= Spruce woods

Raised bogs

Fauna

History

Pre-history and early history

Middle Ages

16th century until 1933

Nazi Germany and Second World War

Former Inner German border

Economy

Historic mining industry

Economy today

Tourism

Winter sports

Summer sports

Walking and climbing

Running

Dialects of the Harz

Tourist attractions

Mines and caves

Towns and villages

Towns in the Harz Foreland

Abbeys and churches

Towers, palaces and castles

Transport

Rail

Road

See also

References

External links