The Wolfsklippen, also called the Wolfsklippe, is a

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

mountain in the

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

in Central Germany with an observation platform on the summit. Its height is frequently given as about , but occasionally also as only around .

Location

The mountain lies northeast of the

Brocken The Brocken, also sometimes referred to as the Blocksberg, is the highest peak in the Harz mountain range and also the highest peak in Northern Germany; it is near Schierke in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt between the rivers Weser and Elbe. ...

, the highest elevation in the Harz, about 200 m east of the road way from

Drei Annen Hohne Drei Annen Hohne is the name of a small settlement within the municipal area of Wernigerode in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The place is located about southwest of the town within the Harz mountains, on the northeastern edge of the Harz National Park. ...

Plessenburg Plessenburg is a village in the town of Ilsenburg in the Harz National Park, in the district of Harz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Location and establishment In the years 1775-76 Count Henry Ernest of Stolberg-Wernigerode had a grand h ...

History

Over 100 years ago the

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

erected on the summit of the Wolfsklippen one of four

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

observation platforms in the Harz that still exist. At that time it had a good view of the Brocken and towards

Ilsenburg Ilsenburg () is a town in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. It is situated under the north foot of the Harz Mountains, at the entrance to the Ilse valley with its little river, the Ilse, a tributary of the Oker, about six north ...

and

Wernigerode Wernigerode () is a town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the district of Wernigerode. Its population was 35,041 in 2012. Wernigerode is located southwest of Halberstadt, and is picturesquely s ...

. Today this outlook is no longer visible due to the tall

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 ...

trees that block the view.

Name and legend

AT the Wolfsklippen the last wolf in the area is supposed to have been killed, which is where the name of the mountain comes from. According to another

legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

, the name of the crags comes from the

witch hunting A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern per ...

period, when a girl accused of witchcraft hid here with a she-wolf.

Walking

The Wolfsklippen is check point no. 24 on the walking trail network known as the

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

.Harzer Wandernadel: at harzer-wandernadel.de

References

Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie, Landesamt für Vermessung und Geoinformation Sachsen-Anhalt: Digitale Topographische Karte 1:50.000
Saxony-Anhalt viewer
retrieved 25 November 2010 {{citation, editor-surname1=Harzklub. Zweigverein Wernigerode, title=Auskunft über Wernigerode am Harz ?, pages=102, date=c. 1890s , language=German Mountains and hills of Saxony-Anhalt Mountains of the Harz Mountains under 1000 metres Wernigerode

Location

History

Name and legend

Walking

See also

References