The Königsberg is a neighbouring peak 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. ...
and, at 1033.5 m above
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
the third highest elevation 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 ...
. It lies on a long ridge that runs from southeast to northwest about 1.5 km south of the Brocken's summit. Near its summit on the northwest side is the rock formation of ''Hirschhörner'' (max. ).
To the east the land descends to the
Schwarze Schluftwasser, a small tributary of the
Kalte Bode
The Kalte Bode is the left-hand headstream of the Bode in the High Harz Mountains in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is long.
Name
The names of the Warme and Kalte Bode ("Warm" and "Cold" Bode) come from their actual temperature differenc ...
which flows south of the mountain. To the east on the far side of the Schwarzer Schluftwasser is the
Heinrichshöhe
The Heinrichshöhe is a subsidiary peak of the highest mountain in the Harz, the Brocken, and, at , it is the second summit in the Harz Mountains.
Today, it may only be visited with permission from the national park authority for the purposes of ...
(), another subpeak of the Brocken.
Geography and former access
The mountain is located in the heart of the
national park
A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
and is out-of-bounds to walkers. Formerly two paths ran to the top:
* The Old Königsberg Way (''alte Königsbergweg'') began near
Eckerloch and ran uphill, alongside the old
Königsberg Quarry, and up to the ''Kanzelklippen'' crags. From there it ran over the ''Rabenklippe'', the old Eckerloch ski jump, towards the ''Kesselklippe'' and then through the Goethe Moor to the station at Goetheweg. It ran along the entire ridge to the ''
Hirschhornklippen''.
* The Old
Goethe Way (''alte Goetheweg'') began at
Goetheweg station and crossed the Königsberg between ''Hirschhornklippen'' and ''Gipfelklippe''. It then ran downhill alongside the Goethe Moor to the railway line at Neuen Goetheweg.
Crags
There are several prominent
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 ...
crags on the ridge. From east to west they are the:
*''Stangenklippe'',
*''Schluftkopf'',
*''Kanzelklippen'',
*several small unnamed crags,
*''Rabenklippe'',
*''Kesselklippe'',
*Summit of the Königsberg and the
*''Hirschhornklippen'' (''Hirschhörner'').
The ''Stangenklippe'' and the pillar-shaped ''Schluftkopf'' used to be popular destinations and lie between the Brocken road and
Brocken Railway
The Brocken Railway (german: Brockenbahn) 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 run ...
(''Brockenbahn''). The ''Kanzelklippen'' consists of a group of several granite crags, some of which are over 20 m high. On the ''Rabenklippe'' is a fireplace about 70 cm in diameter, that has been hewn out of the granite. Its age is unknown. The ''Gipfelklippe'' is only about 1.5 m high.
Gallery
File:weg-stangenklippe.jpg, Old path to the ''Stangenklippe'' crag
File:stangenklippe.jpg, The ''Stangenklippe''
File:weg-schluftkopf.jpg, Old path by the ''Schluftkopf''
File:schluftkopf.jpg, The ''Schluftkopf''
File:kanzelklippe1.jpg, The ''Kanzelklippen''
File:Rabenklippe1.jpg, Small unnamed crag
File:kesselklippe1.jpg, The ''Rabenklippe'' from the west
File:kesselklippe2.jpg, The ''Rabenklippe'' from the north
File:feuerstelle1.jpg, Fireplace on the ''Rabenklippe''
File:koenigsberg1.jpg, Königsberg, ''Gipfelklippe''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Konigsberg
Mountains of the Harz
Mountains and hills of Saxony-Anhalt
One-thousanders of Germany