The Harz Witches Trail leads you from West to East, crossing the entire Harz Mountains. Such sightings on the Brocken Mountain have nourished the imagination of the Brocken Spectre. It carried the first television broadcast of the Olympic Games — from the 1936 Summer Games in Berlin. It offers free WiFi and rooms with traditional... Clean room, good restaurant, good breakfast. Atop the mountain the weather is usually unexpectedly harsh. It is not until we, all of a sudden, from the trail glance into a dark cave, which is closed off to the public with an iron gate, that it dawns on me that there have been cave bears inside the mountains here! The trail is really awesome, disclosing the weirdest, old tree trunks and labyrinthine roots, hidden, trickling mountain streams, as well as locks and dams of the Bode Lake and Rappbodetalsperre. The Lower Harz is characterised by deciduous forest and the valleys of the Ilse, Bode and Selke, which Heinrich Heine wrote about in his Harzreise travelogue. It is a big tourist attraction now. One of the most famous hiking trails of the Harz region is the Harz Witches Trail. There are many a myth and folklore surrounding the witches of the Harz mountains. Including the witches in Goethe's FAUST. Thank you for subscribing. According to the number of witches we see in front of houses and gardens in the Harz villages and towns, the Harz witches absolutely still thrive! I first became aware of the Harz mountains and the Brocken when reading the works of some of Germany's great writers, like Goethe and Heinrich Heine. Not only are we close to a present-day border, but also the historic border between the German Democratic Republic (Deutsche Demokratische Republik / DDR) and the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland / BRD), or simply East Germany and West Germany. 62 miles) and weaves through the Harz national park, is a powerful combination of geology, nature, culture, and history. The drains, channels and artificial ponds of this system can be explored on foot or by bike. 9. It is like treading into an adventure world with supernatural creatures. Quietly located on the edge of the Harz Mountains in the area of Wieda, this country-style hotel is set just 4.3 mi away from the Oderstausee lake. (Image thanks to ArtMechanic, CC-by-SA license.) It is an excellent location for hiking the Harz Mountains. One of the walking trails here is called the Have you checked if you need a visa for your trip? Brocken witches in the Harz Mountains. The services and products offered should therefore always be verified with the provider. For centuries the people of the Harz have been consumed with witches. The waterways and locks are all part of the Oberharzer Wasserwirtschaft, the hydropower system, formerly crucial to undertake and maintain the regional mining activities. The German writer and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe referred to the witches in his work Faust. There is no need to participate in activities like bungee jumping / gigaswing or trying the megazipline which are also available here for more adrenalin seeking people. In German folklore, Walpurgis Night was believed to be the night of a witches' meeting on the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz Mountains, a range of wooded hills in central Germany. A few streets to the side we find the Grenz-Imbiss and a signpost for the historic border from before the German reunification of the East and West Germany in 1990. 4. Cable car from Thale to the Hexentanzplatz / Witches' Dance Floor in the Harz mountains, Thale, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany Wernigerode, Germany - June 1,2017: A witch, traditional figures from the Harz mountains in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Future newsletters will then get through. Off we go on our broomsticks to the Brocken mountain… However, some winters, like this year’s winter, fail to deliver the required amount of snow, so there is unfortunately no ski guarantee! It has unquestionably been a very productive mining district. Harz Myths The stuff of legends. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. For centuries, tales have been woven around the Brocken, the highest mountain in the Harz. Most of the year the Harz inhabitants leave witch brooms, devil horns, horse feet and witch noses at home. Hikers may especially enjoy the Harzer Wandernadel (Harz Walking Badge), which involves collecting a stamp at a series of 222 signposted checkpoints to gain the Harzer Wanderkaiser (Hiking Emperor of the Harz) award. Visiting the witches hen travelers don't act as if the Harz Mountains are imbued with ancient magic, local tourist authorities are dismayed. It starts in the medieval half-timbered town of Osterode, which lies between the barrier lake "Sösestausee", the mountain formation "Südharzer Karstgebirge" and the sunny valley "Lerbachtal" in the southern part of the Harz. Cave bears in Rübeland Looking up the steeply sloping mountainside we then detect the rails continuing all the way up. Quality Tour "Wanderbares Deutschland" The hotel features a beer garden. The path takes hikers through green forests, rocky gorges and medieval towns with half-timbered houses, and brings them face to face with the 1,000 year-old mining history at every turn. The remarkable ‘Kolonneweg’ still esists. Daily breakfast buffet. Along the way, you will reach the highest peak in the area – the Brocken (1141 m). This is definitely one of the highlights of the hike: the Titan RT suspension bridge from 2017, which at the time of construction was the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the world with a suspended length of 458 m (1,502 ft)! Next morning we set off from Rübeland for a 20-kilometre (12 miles) hike through an astonishingly varied and alluring landscape. The Harz Mountains are as yet mostly undiscovered by English-language guidebooks, though Leipzig does get some coverage. Things to Do in Berlin City – What Attractions to Visit in 3 Days? Aug 4, 2017 - Explore Salem Witch House Witch's board "Brocken Witches", followed by 118 people on Pinterest. Intricate witch hands lie on the trail in the dead forest. This means that we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you click on the links. The enchanted, mystical world of the Harz mountains is best explored on the Harzer-Hexen-Stieg. In fact, in the Baumann’s Cave (Baumannshöhle) and Hermann’s Cave (Hermannshöhle) numerous bones of cave bears (as well as cave wolves) have been digged out since the first escavation in 1892. What to see in Göteborg? The mining has spanned widely throughout the years, finding both copper, galena (lead) and silver ores. The Harz Witches Trail leads you from West to East, crossing the entire Harz Mountains. Tweet. Back then the forest death across larger areas of Germany was believed to be due to acid rain and air pollution from the industries. On Walpurgis Night they ride on their broomsticks towards Brocken and the location of former heathen sacrifices, and this is where they, dancing around a bonfire, worship the Devil. The Harz Mountains Nature Park, located in Germany’s northernmost highlands, is a landscape of great diversity comprising broad upland plains and meadows, and wild and romantic wooded valleys. It is one of these small, pretty villages in the Harz Mountains surrounded by softly sloping valleys. Where to stay in the Harz Mountains? In the days leading up to Walpurgisnacht, shops do a brisk trade in Harzhexen, miniature felt witch puppets that ride straw broomsticks (hexen is the German word for witches). 'Walpurgisnacht,' or May Eve, is an occasion for revelry and excess in Germany's blustery Harz mountains. The path takes hikers through green forests, rocky gorges and medieval towns with half-timbered houses, and brings them face to face with the 1,000 year-old mining history at every turn. One of the spectacular Harz witches watches over her property. Happy to know that the weather forecast for the next couple of days definitely is in our favour, we ignore the few raindrops in the air. After a great hike through the light green forest and along refreshing streams, where we fill up our water bottles, we eventually reach the impressive dam. On Walpurgis Night in the Harz Mountains witches and devils are on their way. The Brocken, or Blocksberg, is the highest peak (1142 metres) in the Harz Mountains in Germany (located between the rivers Weser and Elbe) and also the highest peak of northern Germany.Although its altitude is below alpine dimensions, its … Allied forces bombed the Brocken on April 17, 1945, destroyin… Hiking in the Bavarian Alps at Salzbergwerk Berchtesgaden or for g-mail Even if it is a calm day, the bridge swings considerably when we walk over it, and we must hold firmly on to the railing! Here, Quedlinburg, a dazzling medieval town … ” Now to the Brocken the witches ride, the stubble is gold and the corn is green…”. It goes right across the network of visible roots among bare, upright trunks, sometimes broken and sometimes even completely turned over, displaying the enormous roots. You can get a gondola up to the Hexentanzplatz, which gives you incredible views of the mountains and valleys below. Straddling the former Iron Curtain border (now a green zone), the Harz National Park includes the fabled Brocken peak, highest point in northern Germany. The top of Brocken is historic since it in 1935 was the location of the first television tower in the world, broadcasting the Olympic Summer Games in Berlin in 1936. The Harz Mountains Nature Park, located in Germany’s northernmost highlands, is a landscape of great diversity comprising broad upland plains and meadows, and wild and romantic wooded valleys. A series of leaflets are available on particular themes, helping you to get your bearings and find out more about the area. Click here to check and apply for a visa. Legend has it that on the night of April 30 to May 1, witches fly their broomsticks to meet the devil at the top of the highest peak in the region – known as the Brocken. Would you like to get inspiration for 3 days in Berlin? Another fairy tale character who has her roots in the compelling Harz Mountains is the Wernigerode Castle’s famous Rapunzel. We are in the Harz National Park which was declared a united national park in 2006. During the walks, quaint medieval towns with timbered houses will make a … All views and opinions expressed on this website are entirely our own. 'Walpurgisnacht,' or May Eve, is an occasion for revelry and excess in Germany's blustery Harz mountains. Titan RT suspension bridge. The long-distance hiking trail, which is over 100 kilometers long (approx. It is not hard to follow the Witches’ Trail (Harzer-Hexen-Stieg), since eerie, witch-dressed figures holding on to solid broomsticks stare at us all along the small road out of town. Fortunately, with the abandoning of the mining, the underground perils of collapsing mining corridors finally came to an end. They do their utmost to evoke a sense of otherworldliness. Fascinating rocks pop up in the Harz Mountain forest. The highest mountain in the Harz is the Brocken, setting for one of the most famous scenes in Goethe's Faust. The Harz Mountains are also packed with signage for hikers and mountain bikers. The lower level hike around the romantic lake Oderteich with breathtaking views surprises us with astonishing sights of the dying forest. The length of the Harz Mountains is some 110 kilometers and the width is some 30 to 40 kilometers. Have you considered what you will do in the (unlikely) event of something unforeseen happening? The Harz Witches' Trail (German: Harzer Hexenstieg) is a footpath, just under 100 km long, in Germany that runs from Osterode through the Harz mountains and over its highest peak, the Brocken, to Thale. The trail leads you from West to East, crossing the entire Harz Mountains and winding 105 kilometres on old trade routes. Goethe, Heine, Herder, Klopstock and Fontane all walked along these paths and it inspired some of their writings. Being a nature loving personality, he hiked around the Harz Mountains and used his imagination to describe how the eerie witches came and danced on their broomsticks around Brocken on Walpurgis Night, April 30th. On this mountain the world’s first television tower was built in 1935; it began by broadcasting the “Deutsche Reichspost”. The majestic Brocken (or Blocksberg) has for many years been connected with fabled, creepy witches as well as unearthly and gruesome devils. Wurmbergseilbahn The Brocken Spectre Clues to the witch legend can be found everywhere in the area. The hotel is within walking distance of the historic town hall and the castle of Wernigerode. The devil takes Faust up on the Brocken on Walpurgis Night to tempt him, where he watches a wild night of revelry among the witches and other evil creatures. Harz Mountain Witches. The signposts for skiing tracks are not the only signposts we come across. From a hiker’s point of view the trail is very interesting, though. Three great legendary myths that have shaped the Harz: the days of medieval emperors and kings, the enchanted world of witches and devils, and the subterranean realm of mountain men and dwarves. Brocken witches in the Harz Mountains Witches in the Harz Mountains. The Harz Mountain Rescue (Bergwacht Harz) service also operates in summer, rescuing people involved in accidents on difficult terrain. Future newsletters will then get through. We are actually terribly near the border between the two German states Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt) and Lower Saxony (Nieder-Sachsen). Brocken with its enchanting hillsides, forests and rock formations is all ready for discovery. When is it held? The Harz Witches' Trail is an insanely varied 97 kilometre route through Harz National Park. The Hexentanzplatz (literally “Witches′ Dance Floor”) in the Harz mountains is a plateau (454 m above sea level (NN)) that lies high above the Bode Gorge, opposite the Rosstrappe in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It used to be the last, well-guarded East German road before the tempting freedom in West Germany. When witches and devils dance, then Walpurgis Night is in the Harz.. Walpurgis Night – to the witch party in the Harz. A journey through this world of myths, the old mining areas with their water art, the highest mountain in Northern Germany and the wild romantic beauty of the Harz forests await you on your hike over the Harzer-Hexen-Stieg. But if you’re looking for the supernatural side of Halloween, head for the Harz Mountains. Later, the East German secret police, Stasi, took over the place. Signs of the earth’s living history and of mining activity can be seen everywhere, including at the medieval Upper Harz Water Management System (now a UNESCO World Heritage site). But before you get even the full load of the Harz water art offered. Goethe is, maybe not surprisingly, just one out of a number of German writers who have used the Harz forests, quaint rocks and mysticism as a reference in their writing. Rappbode Dam opposite the Titan RT suspension bridge in the Harz. No need to register, buy now! It is derived from local myths and folklore, which have it that witches used to whisk on their broomsticks to the highest peak of the Harz Mountains (Brocken) on this night, and to other locations of pagan sacrifices, to have a get-together with other witches and devils to celebrate the retreat of winter and the arrival of spring. A new television tower was built here by East Germany and the area then came to serve the Red Army and was used for Russian listening posts. You will also have the chance to climb Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz mountain range. It was a phenomenon or syndrome known from the eighties. This trail leads you from West to East, crossing the entire Harz Mountains and winding 100 kilometres on old trading routes through the upper Harz region. The Brockenbahn The Hexentanzplatz (‘Witches’ Dance Floor’) is in a place called Thale, high up in the Harz mountains. The fairy tale legend about the Brocken witches absolutely still exists. We have no control over and assume no responsibility or guarantee for the services and products offered through affiliate links. Picturesquely located near the train station in the pedestrian zone of the old town. The enchanted, mystical world of the Harz mountains is best explored on the Harzer-Hexen-Stieg (Harz Witches' Trail). The Harz region in particular features several UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among others a couple of exceptional fairy tale towns. 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