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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 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 i ...
, 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 lar ...
. The name ''Harz'' derives from the
Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. Hig ...
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 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 Elb ...
is the highest summit in the Harz with an elevation of 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 standardis ...
. The Wurmberg () 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 Eisleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as both the hometown of the influential theologian Martin Luther and the place where he died; hence, its official name is Lutherstadt Eisleben. First mentioned in the late 10th century, ...
in the east, and a width of . It occupies an area of , and is divided into the
Upper Harz The Upper Harz (german: Oberharz, ) refers to the northwestern and higher part of the Harz mountain range in Germany. The exact boundaries of this geographical region may be defined differently depending on the context. In its traditional sense, ...
(''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 Goslar (; Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mi ...
and
Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...
in the west, Harz and
Mansfeld-Südharz Mansfeld-Südharz is a district in Saxony-Anhalt, 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 me ...
in the north and east, and Nordhausen 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 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 The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...
(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 Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...
(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 more ...
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 Wurmberg (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 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 ind ...
. 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 Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, ...
, 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, 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. Th ...
'' 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 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 downriv ...
and its tributaries are the Nette 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 runnin ...
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 shales, slaty (''geschieferte'') greywackes and
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 un ...
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 Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...
deposits around Elbingerode and the
Gabbro Gabbro () is a phaneritic (coarse-grained), mafic intrusive igneous rock formed from the slow cooling of magnesium-rich and iron-rich magma into a holocrystalline mass deep beneath the Earth's surface. Slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro is ...
of Bad Harzburg. The landscapes of the Harz are characterised by steep mountain ridges, stone runs, relatively flat plateaus with many
raised bog Raised bogs, also called ombrotrophic bogs, are acidic, wet habitats that are poor in mineral salts and are home to flora and fauna that can cope with such extreme conditions. Raised bogs, unlike fens, are exclusively fed by precipitation ( omb ...
s 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 ...
, 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 near the car park (see photo). The formation and geological folding of the Harz hills began during a prominent phase of the Palaeozoic era, in the course of the Hercynian mountain building of the
Carboniferous period The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonif ...
, 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. They were, however, heavily eroded due to their height (up to 4 km) and were later covered over by
Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretace ...
rocks. From the Early Cretaceous and into
Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...
times the Harz was uplifted in a single block by tectonic movements and, particularly during the
Tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...
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), when the northern edge was steeply tilted. This formed a fault zone on the northern border of the Harz (the Northern Harz Boundary Fault 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 The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleo ...
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: Brocken summit, over * Altimontane zone: highest areas (except the Brocken summit) between 850 and * Mean montane zone: higher areas between 750 and * Montane zone: 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 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 standardis ...
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 tr ...
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'') 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 (''Sorbus aucuparia''),
silver birch ''Betula pendula'', commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in southern Europe, it is only found ...
(''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 Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grain ...
and
gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures a ...
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 reache ...
(''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 (''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 Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...
and downy birches (''Betula pendula'' and ''Betula pubescens'') and willows (''Salix spec.''). Conditions of high humidity foster an environment rich in mosses and lichens. In spite of the near-natural habitat there are only a few, indigenous, genetically adapted ( 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 (''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 occur in the areas of weather-resistant rock in the high (alti-)montane and montane zones – these are extreme habitats for vegetation. Due to the lack of soil material, only weak, straggly, very open spruce woods thrive here. They have an especially high variety of trees and allow more room of light-loving species such as silver birch, rowan, sycamore, willow and dwarf bushes such as the blueberry (''Vaccinium myrtillus''). Mosses and ferns are also common here. One unusual species is the Carpathian
birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' cont ...
(''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 moss ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, peat moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store wa ...
es (''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, gro ...
(''Tilia platyphyllos''), Scots elm or ash. The herbaceous layer 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''), perennial honesty (''Lunaria rediviva''), hard shield fern (''Polystichum aculeatum'') and long beech fern (''Phegopteris connectilis'').


Raised bogs

The
raised bog Raised bogs, also called ombrotrophic bogs, are acidic, wet habitats that are poor in mineral salts and are home to flora and fauna that can cope with such extreme conditions. Raised bogs, unlike fens, are exclusively fed by precipitation ( omb ...
s 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 moss ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, peat moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store wa ...
es (''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. 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 sedge in the family Cyperaceae native to Holarctic wetlands. The specific epithet ''pauciflora'', refers to the Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language bel ...
(''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 (''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 distributi ...
(''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 nativ ...
(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
springtail Springtails (Collembola) form the largest of the three lineages of modern hexapods that are no longer considered insects (the other two are the Protura and Diplura). Although the three orders are sometimes grouped together in a class called ...
s, oribatid mites, woodlice, roundworms, millipedes,
earthworm An earthworm is a terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. They exhibit a tube-within-a-tube body plan; they are externally segmented with corresponding internal segmentation; and they usually have setae on all segments. T ...
s and
snail A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class ...
s. 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 (''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 The European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') is a small wildcat species native to continental Europe, Scotland, Turkey and the Caucasus. It inhabits forests from the Iberian Peninsula, Italy, Central and Eastern Europe to the Caucasus. Its ...
(''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 hi ...
(''Tetrao urogallus''). The Tengmalm's owl (''Aegolius funereus'') may also be found here. It breeds almost exclusively in
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 ...
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 bog Raised bogs, also called ombrotrophic bogs, are acidic, wet habitats that are poor in mineral salts and are home to flora and fauna that can cope with such extreme conditions. Raised bogs, unlike fens, are exclusively fed by precipitation ( omb ...
s. 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''), a damselfly which is threatened with extinction. Rocks and stone runs are important habitat components for the peregrine falcon (''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 bog Raised bogs, also called ombrotrophic bogs, are acidic, wet habitats that are poor in mineral salts and are home to flora and fauna that can cope with such extreme conditions. Raised bogs, unlike fens, are exclusively fed by precipitation ( omb ...
s and
forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
s. 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 (''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 protozoons, 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 mo ...
'') 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 mos ...
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 amphipods. 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 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 The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of ...
,
roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...
, wild boar and mouflon.


History

The Harz was first mentioned as ''Hartingowe'' in an 814 deed by the Carolingian King
Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqu ...
. 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 Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...
deposits near the town of
Goslar Goslar (; Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mi ...
, and mines became established in the following centuries throughout the mountains. During the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, ore from this region was exported along trade routes to far-flung places, such as
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
. 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 ran through the Harz, the west belonging to the
Federal Republic of 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 between ...
(West Germany) and the east to the
German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...
(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'' hunted in and around the Harz near Bilzingsleben (Thuringia),
Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the ...
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 cur ...
(Lower Saxony). The
Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an Extinction, extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ag ...
s entered the stage about 250,000 years ago and hunted aurochs,
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 A ...
,
brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is k ...
and
cave bear The cave bear (''Ursus spelaeus'') is a prehistoric species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 24,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum. Both the word "cave" and the scientific name ...
,
mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks an ...
s, rhinos,
horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...
s,
reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subs ...
, 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 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'', 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 Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqu ...
, from the year 814, in which it was referred to by its High German form, ''Hartingowe''. According to the Fulda 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 Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...
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 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, and a systematic resettlement of mining villages in the Upper Harz did not take place until the first half of the 16th century.


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 leas ...
. 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 Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The ...
. 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 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 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 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...
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 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 to ...
'', ''"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 ...
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
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 hi ...
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, 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 Balti ...
. The
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
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, 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'' (also ''Dora-Mittelbau'' and ''Nordhausen-Dora''), was a subcamp of Buchenwald concentration camp. Its prisoners were used by the SS mainly in the tunnel excavation and nearby underground stations of the Mittelwerk Ltd., in Kohnstein, situated near Nordhausen, 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, the maximum speed at which an aircraft pilot may abort ...
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 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 Nordhausen in the southern Harz, and went to advance northwards, it met with resistance, especially in the hills around the towns of Ilfeld and Ellrich. 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, 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 A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entir ...
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 Inner German border 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 A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which h ...
.


Economy


Historic mining industry

The
mining industry Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
in the Harz has its origins about 3,000 years ago during the
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
. The seven Upper Harz mining towns – Clausthal, Zellerfeld,
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 ...
, Sankt Andreasberg,
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 Inners ...
,
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-Zeller ...
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 Goslar (; Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mi ...
, 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 Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of ...
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 Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...
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 high ...
mine in the Harz, the former Rabenstein Gallery Mine (''Bergwerk Rabensteiner Stollen''). In the North Thuringian mining area, there were numerous
potash Potash () includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water- soluble form.
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 In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
and had continued unbroken since the 16th century, extracting
silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...
,
lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...
and
zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
, 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 An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...
with heavy metals.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 Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...
,
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 ...
,
copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...
,
lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...
and
zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
– 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
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 ...
(closed 1992). In Bad Lauterberg,
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), ...
– 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 courses, are taught and researched. The extensive woods of the Harz mean that
forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...
plays an important economic role, as do the associated wood-working industries. In the first millennium AD, hardwood trees (mainly
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 ...
) 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. 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
reforestation Reforestation (occasionally, reafforestation) is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands ( forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation, but also after clearcutting. Management A de ...
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 Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
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 town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, B ...
s, and almost every village in the Harz and Harz Foreland caters to tourists. Well-known destinations are the Harz National Park and 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 Elb ...
, 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 The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is ...
or even the
Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
, 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 s ...
, 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 Hohegei ...
), Goslar- Hahnenklee, Hasselfelde, Sankt Andreasberg (including
Sonnenberg Sonnenberg is a municipality in the Oberhavel district, in Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, a ...
and Oderbrück) and Schierke. Due to the high altitude and length of their runs, Nordic skiing is very popular. International winter sport competitions take place on the Wurmberg ski jump near Braunlage and the biathlon facility at Sonnenberg. Also worth mentioning are the many cross-country skiing 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 Harz''.


Summer sports

In summer, the main activity in the Harz, by far, is walking. In recent years Nordic walking 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. Th ...
, a variety of water sports is permitted and, on a number of rivers originating in the Harz, there are opportunities for canoeing and other sports on white water sections. International canoe and kayak 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 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 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 and
fourcross Fourcross is a form of four-wheeled downhill mountain biking, which has the benefit of being suitable for disabled riders. It is a gravity sport, there's no propulsion. The rider has to actively use their body to corner bends and to prepair for ...
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 bike A racing bicycle, also known as a road bike is a bicycle designed for competitive road cycling, a sport governed by and according to the rules of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). Racing bicycles are designed for maximum performance wh ...
s 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 and Hans Christian Andersen). An extensive network of footpaths is maintained today, especially by the Harz Club. In addition, there are several
long-distance path A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exce ...
s (the Harz Witches' Trail,
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 Harzb ...
,
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 Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of s ...
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 ''Höllenklippe'' or the Feuerstein near Schierke, among several) that are used by climbers.


Running

The Harz Run (german: Harzquerung) is a fun run and walking event 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 Germ ...
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 Nordhausen in a north–south direction. There is also a 25 km route from Wernigerode to
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 s ...
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 processes have led to the formation of caves in the
gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywa ...
,
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 Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...
layers of the Harz. These dripstone caves include
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 leas ...
, the Unicorn Cave,
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 ...
, 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 a ...
and, on the southern edge of the Harz, the Heimkehle. 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 product ...
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'' 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
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 Inners ...
Mining Museum with its pit railway or the Rammelsberg Mining Museum near Goslar, which is a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
world heritage site. The Roter Bär Pit 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 In economics, a commodity is an economic good, usually a resource, that has full or substantial fungibility: that is, the market treats instances of th ...
.


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 *Schlewec ...
,
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. Vari ...
,
Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...
,
Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the ...
,
Northeim Northeim (; nds, Nuurten) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, seat of the district of Northeim, with, in 2011, a population of 29,000. It lies on the German Half-Timbered House Road. History Northeim is first mentioned in 800 in a document ...
, Salzgitter, Vienenburg and Wolfenbüttel. *Saxony-Anhalt: Aschersleben, Derenburg,
Eisleben Eisleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as both the hometown of the influential theologian Martin Luther and the place where he died; hence, its official name is Lutherstadt Eisleben. First mentioned in the late 10th century, ...
,
Halberstadt Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bomb ...
, Hettstedt, Oschersleben, Osterwieck, Quedlinburg, Sangerhausen and Staßfurt. *Thuringia: Bleicherode, Heringen/Helme, Nordhausen and Sondershausen.


Abbeys and churches

The
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
abbeys of Drübeck, 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 ''Samtge ...
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 19 ...
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 or observation towers. These include the Carlshaushöhe 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 20 ...
, the observation tower on the Großer Knollen 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, espec ...
, Hohnstein Castle 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 wa ...
, as well as the ruined castles of Harzburg,
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 i ...
,
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 ''cas ...
, 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

The ''Harzer Schmalspurbahnen'' ( Harz Narrow Gauge Railways), 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, Nordhausen, Quedlinburg and the Brocken. Prior to the closure of the Inner German border the present-day network was joined at Sorge 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 Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bomb ...
, 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 188 ...
is only used by goods traffic at present, but there are plans to run it as a heritage railway. 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 betwee ...
, 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, Walk ...
, 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.


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.


See also

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Hiking trails in Germany Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histo ...


References


External links

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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)
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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)