The Harz Witches' Trail () is a footpath, just under 100 km long, in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

that runs from Osterode through the

Harz mountains The Harz (), also called the Harz Mountains, is a Mittelgebirge, 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 nam ...

and over its highest peak, the

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

, to

Thale Thale () is a town in the Harz (district), Harz district in Saxony-Anhalt in central Germany. Located at the steep northeastern rim of the Harz mountain range, it is known for the scenic Bode Gorge stretching above the town centre. Geography The ...

. It is a project by the Harz Transport Association and

Harz Club The Harz Club () 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 as of 2022 the club has about 16,000 members in approximately ...

and is part of the system of trails known as the ''

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

''.

Footpath

The trail runs from Osterode via Lerbach to Buntenbock, which is in the borough of

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 town hosts the Clausthal University of Technology. The health resort is locate ...

and surrounded by the Upper Harz Ponds. The ponds are part of a cultural monument to the former mining industry of the Harz, known as the

Upper Harz Water Regale The Upper Harz Water Regale (, ) is a system of dams, reservoirs, ditches and other structures, much of which was built from the 16th to 19th centuries to divert and store the water that drove the water wheels of the mines in the Upper Harz region ...

and to which the Dyke Ditch belongs. Following the Dyke Ditch, the path passes the Dam House as well as the Grabenhaus Rose which belongs to the town of

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 ...

. Passing the Förster Ludwig Platz and Naben Valley Waterfall the path reaches

Torfhaus Torfhaus is a village in the borough of the mining town of Altenau in the Harz mountains of Germany and lies at a height of about . It is the highest settlement in Lower Saxony. This small settlement consists mainly of restaurants, youth hostels, ...

via the ''Steile Wand'' ("Steep Wall"). In Torfhaus the Witches' Trail splits into two routes. The main route runs along the

Goethe Way Goethe Way () is the name given to a number of footpaths or trails that run through various regions in Germany and the Alps (e.g. through the Harz mountains, Thuringian Forest, Alps) as well as a railway station ( Goetheweg station) on the Brocken R ...

to the Brocken, in places parallel to the

Brocken Railway The Brocken Railway () is one of three tourist metre gauge railways which together with the Harz Railway and Selke Valley Railway form the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways railway network in the Harz mountain range of Germany. It runs from the station ...

, and from there to

Königshütte Königshütte may refer to: * Königshütte (Silesia) Königshütte may refer to: * Königshütte (Silesia), German name for Chorzów, Poland * Königshütte (Harz), a village in Germany {{geodis ..., German name for Chorzów, Poland * Königsh� ...

. An alternative route bypasses the Brocken and runs to other features of the Upper Harz Water Regale such as the

Oderteich The Oderteich is an historic reservoir about seven kilometres northeast of Sankt Andreasberg in the Upper Harz in central Germany (geography), central Germany. It was built by miners from St. Andreasberg in the years 1715 to 1722 and, today, is a ...

and the Rehberg Ditch. After passing

Sankt Andreasberg Sankt Andreasberg () is a former independent city in the Goslar (district), district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 November 2011, it has formed part of the town Braunlage. It is situated in the Harz, approximately west of Braunlage ...

and

Braunlage Braunlage () is a town and health resort in the Goslar district of Lower Saxony in Germany. Situated within the Harz mountain range, south of the Brocken massif, Braunlage's main business is tourism, particularly skiing. Nearby ski resorts inclu ...

this path rejoins the main route. From Königshütte two alternative routes go to

Altenbrak Altenbrak is a village and a former municipality in the Harz (district), district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography The village is strung out for about along the River Bode in an east–west valley. It is from the Wendefurth R ...

. One way runs through

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 ...

along the

Rübeland Railway The Rübeland Railway (, ) 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. The route leng ...

, the other past the Rappbode Reservoir. From

the path continues to

, where the Harz Witches' Trail ends. The name of the footpath is derived from the association of a number of sites with witches, including the Brocken and the '' Hexentanzplatz'' ("Witches' Dance Floor") in Thale and other sites such as the

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 more ...

and

Accommodation

The trail cannot be walked in one day, and in any case there are many points of interest en route, including unspoiled areas of nature as well as cultural landscapes and quaint villages. There are several hostels and shelters where walkers may overnight: * Osterode * Buntenbock * Altenau * Torfhaus ** Brocken ** Drei Annen Hohne * or ** Sankt Andreasberg ** Braunlage ** Elend * Königshütte * Thale

Walking badge

There is a walking badge called the ''Harzer Hexenstieg'' for the total of 11 check points of the ''

'' network of paths that may be found along the path.http://www.zukunft-harz.de/wandernadel/home/spielregeln.php ''Harzer Wandernadel''

References

Walking maps and literature

* ''Harzer Hexen-Stieg, Offizielle Karte zum thematischen Wanderweg durch den Harz'' – walking map (1 : 30.000), Schmidt-Buch-Verlag, Wernigerode 2007, * Bauer, Hans & Krooß, Stefan, ''KartoGuide Harzer Hexen-Stieg, Der offizielle Führer mit Karte zum Wanderweg durch den Harz (inkl. Hexen-Stieg-Wanderkarte von 2007)'', Schmidt-Buch-Verlag, Wernigerode 2006, * ''Harzer-Hexen-Stieg'' – walking map (1 : 25.000), Publicpress, Geseke 2006, *Stein, Conrad: ''Harz: Hexenstieg, Outdoor-Handbuch Band 163'', Conrad Stein Verlag 2005,

External links

Official Hexenstieg website
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Private Homepage on the ''Harzer Hexen-Stieg''

�� {{Authority control Harz (district) Goslar (district) Hiking trails in Germany