The Hubertus Spring (german: Hubertusquelle) is a "healing spring" (''Heilquelle'') in the

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

of central Germany whose waters contain

radon Radon is a chemical element with the symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive, colourless, odourless, tasteless noble gas. It occurs naturally in minute quantities as an intermediate step in the normal radioactive decay chains through ...

. It rises on Hubertus Island (''Hubertusinsel'' or ''Große Salzstrominsel''), which is about 2 hectares in area, near

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

, immediately at the exit of the

River Bode The Bode is a river in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, a left tributary of the Saale. It rises in the Harz mountains and drains them in a northerly direction. After it discharges into the Saale at Nienburg. The river is named after a legend ...

from the

. It has been well known for about 500 years and, according to

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...

, was first noticed by foresters and hunters, because

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 ...

satisfied their hunger for salt here.

History

The first recorded mention of the spring was in 1584. That year the local landlord, Count Martin of Regenstein, granted the right to Augsburg citizens and a ''Sudmeister'' ("brine master"), Balthasar Becker, to establish a

saltworks A saltern is an area or installation for making salt. Salterns include modern salt-making works (saltworks), as well as hypersaline waters that usually contain high concentrations of halophilic microorganisms, primarily haloarchaea but also oth ...

on the site of the former Hubertus Baths. However, a combination of annual flooding and ice on the River Bode periodically damaged the works. As a result, salt production in the old parish (''Gemarkung'') of Behrensdorf (the territory between the present-day Wolfsburgstrasse and Roßtrappenstrasse) was moved and the brine was transported to the new site over wooden pipes. This saltworks initially prospered, but deteriorated after the death of ''Sudmeister'' Becker (he was sentenced to death in

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 d ...

, because he had killed a smelter in the course of a dispute) and the brine remained untapped.

References

{{Coord, 51, 44, 32, N, 11, 01, 40, E, type:waterbody_region:DE-ST, display=title Harz Thale Roe deer Springs of Germany