The Harz, also called the Harz Mountains, 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 word Hardt or Hart. 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 is the highest summit in the Harz with an elevation of 1,141.1 metres (3,744 ft) above sea level. The Wurmberg is the highest peak located entirely within the state of Lower Saxony.
The Brocken, also sometimes referred to as the Blocksberg, is the highest peak in the Harz mountain range and also the highest peak in Northern Germany; it is near Schierke in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt between the rivers Weser and Elbe. Although its elevation of 1,141 metres (3,743 ft) is below alpine dimensions, its microclimate resembles that of mountains of about 2,000 m (6,600 ft). The peak above the tree line tends to have a snow cover from September to May, and mists and fogs shroud it up to 300 days of the year. The mean annual temperature is only 2.9 °C (37.2 °F). It is the easternmost mountain in northern Germany; travelling east in a straight line, the next prominent elevation would be in the Ural Mountains in Russia.
The Selke Valley Railway (Selketalbahn), Gernrode-Harzgerode Railway and the Anhalt Harz Railway were different names for the metre gauge railway in the Lower Harz, Germany, originally owned by the Gernrode-Harzgerode Railway Company.
Braunlage is a town and health resort in the Goslar district of Lower Saxony in Germany. Situated within the Harz mountain range, south of the Brocken massif, Braunlage's main business is tourism, particularly skiing. Nearby ski resorts include the Sonnenberg and the slopes on the Wurmberg.
The Harz Narrow Gauge Railways is a railway company that operates a 1,000 mmmetre gauge network in the Harz mountains, in central Germany. The company was formed after the Second World War as a merger of two earlier companies. It owns about 140 kilometres of track, connecting the principal towns of Wernigerode, Nordhausen and Quedlinburg and several smaller settlements in the area. Much of the network is steeply graded and picturesque, but its most popular destination is the Brocken, the highest mountain in the region. The company runs a significant number of its trains with steam haulage, mostly employing 1950s vintage 2-10-2 tank locomotives, hauling traditional open-platform bogie carriages. The company is mainly owned by the various local authorities whose territories it serves.
Hasselfelde is a town in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is in the eastern Harz, approximately 17 km south of Wernigerode. Since 1 January 2010 it has been part of the town of Oberharz am Brocken. Its population is 1,941 (2021).
Schierke is a village and a former municipality in the Harz district, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2009, it is part of the town Wernigerode. Situated within the Harz mountain range in the valley of the river Bode, at the rim of the Harz National Park, it is mainly a tourist resort, especially for hiking and all kinds of winter sports.
The Harz Railway or Trans-Harz Railway was formerly the main line of the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways and runs north to south right across the Harz Mountains from Wernigerode to Nordhausen. However, the tourist attraction of the Brocken, the highest mountain in the Harz, is so great that the Brocken Railway is effectively the main line today. The Trans-Harz Railway joins up with the Selke Valley Railway to Quedlinburg at Eisfelder Talmühle where all trains are organised to make good connections.
The Brocken Railway is one of three tourist metre gauge railways which together with the Harz Railway and Selke Valley Railway form the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways railway network in the Harz mountain range of Germany.
The Nordhausen-Wernigerode Railway Company or NWE was the second railway company to be founded in the Harz mountains in Germany, after the Gernrode-Harzgerode Railway Company. On 15 June 1896 the NWE was formed by the Vereinigten Eisenbahnbau- und Betriebs-Gesellschaft in Berlin, who also ran its operations. As early as 1896 the first section of this narrow gauge Harz Railway ('Harzquerbahn') was opened, followed in 1898 by the Brocken Railway (Brockenbahn), which was also narrow gauge. On 1 April 1908, the NWE took over operations from the Vereinigten Eisenbahnbau- und Betriebsgesellschaft.
The Harz Witches' Trail 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. It is a project by the Harz Transport Association and Harz Club and is part of the system of trails known as the Harzer Wandernadel.
Drei Annen Hohne is the name of a small settlement within the municipal area of Wernigerode in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
Goethe Way is the name given to a number of footpaths or trails that run through various regions in Germany and the Alps as well as a railway station on the Brocken Railway. They are all named after the German poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Hasserode has been a quarter in the town of Wernigerode in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt since 1907.
The present-day Heudeber-Danstedt–Vienenburg railway is a 32 kilometre long main line, that serves the northern edge of the Harz Mountains in central Germany. Its main role is the handling of tourist traffic in the Harz and the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways there, but it is also worked by goods trains to and from the rolling mills in Ilsenburg.
Schierke station is the railway station in the village of Schierke operated by the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways on the Brocken Railway in the Harz Mountains of central Germany. Schierke itself lies as the foot of the highest mountain in the Harz, the Brocken, and is located in the borough of Wernigerode in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt.
Goetheweg station is located between the stations of Schierke and Brocken on the Brocken Railway in the Harz Mountains of Central Germany at a height of 956 m above sea level. The track layout today consists, as in the past, of a horizontal reversing track (Rückdrückgleis) and just one turnout, whilst the running line maintains its continuous gradient of 33 permille.
The Frose–Quedlinburg railway, also called the Balkan ("Balkans") locally, was a standard gauge branch line on the northern rim of the Harz Mountains in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The line runs from Frose via Gernrode to Quedlinburg. It was closed in 2004. The Gernrode–Quedlinburg section was subsequently converted by the Harz Narrow Gauge Railway Company to metre gauge. Since 26 June 2006 the line has been re-opened as part of the Selke Valley Railway.
The Nordhausen-Wernigerode Railway Company incorporated twelve Mallet locomotives into its fleet as Numbers 11 to 22. In 1950 the remaining locomotives were renumbered as Class 99.590 by the Deutsche Reichsbahn.
Quedlinburg station is a station on the Magdeburg–Thale railway in Quedlinburg in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It was built in 1862 as a through station on the southern edge of the town. The Gothic Revival entrance building of 1862, together with the other parts of the nearly complete Gründerzeit ensemble, is heritage-protected.
