Wernigerode is a town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the district of Wernigerode. Its population was 32,181 in 2020.
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.
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.
At 971 m above sea level (NN) the Wurmberg is the second highest mountain in the Harz and the highest in Lower Saxony (Germany).
The Heinrichshöhe is a subsidiary peak of the highest mountain in the Harz, the Brocken, and, at 1,040 m above NN, it is the second summit in the Harz Mountains.
The Hohnekamm or Hohne Kamm is a mountain ridge up to 900 m above sea level high in the Harz mountains of central Germany. It is located in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, and is well known for its rock towers or tors, the Hohneklippen.
Drei Annen Hohne is the name of a small settlement within the municipal area of Wernigerode in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
The Renneckenberg is a mountain, roughly 933 metres (3,061 ft) high, in the High Harz part of the Harz mountain range of central Germany within the borough of Wernigerode in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.
Brocken station is the terminus on the summit of the Brocken, the highest mountain in the Harz, in central Germany. It lies in the state of Saxony-Anhalt and is the end point of the Brocken Railway, operated by the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways.
Hasserode has been a quarter in the town of Wernigerode in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt since 1907.
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 Eckerloch is a forested mountain valley, 845 metres above sea level near the village of Schierke in the Harz Mountains of central Germany.
The Ahrensklint or Ahrentsklint in the Harz Mountains is a granite rock formation, 822.4 m above sea level (NN), on the Erdbeerkopf in Harz district in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.
The Barenberg, also called the Bärenberg or Bärenkopf, is a mountain, 695.5 m above sea level (NN), in the Harz Mountains of Germany near the village of Schierke, Harz county, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.
