The Harz – Brunswick Land – Eastphalia National Geopark (german: Nationaler Geopark Harz – Braunschweiger Land – Ostfalen) in central

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, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

extends from the

Flechtingen Hills The Flechtingen Hills (german: Flechtinger Höhenzug) are a wooded, hilly upland area up to 179 m high in the northwestern part of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, named after the town of Flechtingen. Location The Flechtingen Hills are bord ...

in the north to the

gypsum karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

region on the southern edge of the

Harz The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

and from east to west over the entire width of the mountain range on the territory of the three federal states 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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. It includes

nature park A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected natural area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscape ...

s and other natural

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 ...

s which are the reason why the Harz mountains, the

Elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

and the Drömling are destinations for tourists seeking to be close to nature.

History

The idea of establishing a national

geopark A geopark is a protected area with internationally significant geology within which sustainable development is sought and which includes tourism, conservation, education and research concerning not just geology but other relevant sciences. In 20 ...

emerged from the

Eastphalian Open-air and Experience Museum Eastphalian is: * a resident of Eastphalia (Ostfalen), a historic region of Germany; * the Eastphalian language (Ostfälisch) of West Low German Low Saxon, also known as West Low German ( nds, Nedersassisch, Nedersaksies; nl, Nedersaksisch) a ...

Königslutter Königslutter am Elm is a town in the district of Helmstedt in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography It is located on the northeastern slopes of the Elm hill range, within the Elm-Lappwald Nature Park, about east of Brunswick, west of the dis ...

. In 2002 the museum succeeded in engaging the

Harz Regional Association The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German w ...

and the GUf as partners. The Geopark has information centres in Königslutter, Quedlinburg and 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.

. In 2015 it became a UNESCO Global Geopark

External links

Website about the Harz - Brunswick Land - Eastphalia Geopark

UNESCO website about Harz, Braunschweiger Land UNESCO Global Geopark

Facebook page for Geopark Harz . Braunschweiger Land . Ostfalen
Harz Geography of Braunschweig Nature parks in Lower Saxony Regions of Lower Saxony Nature parks in Saxony-Anhalt Nature parks in Thuringia Geoparks in Germany {{SaxonyAnhalt-geo-stub