The Steinerne Renne is a waterfall and natural monument near the town of Wernigerode in the Harz mountains of central Germany.
The Steinerne Renne is a waterfall and natural monument near the town of Wernigerode in the Harz mountains of central Germany.
The Steinerne Renne is east of the Harz National Park in the Harz/Saxony-Anhalt Nature Park. It lies southwest of Hasserode in the borough of Wernigerode in a forested stretch of the valley formed by the upper reaches of the Holtemme river between the hill of Renneckenberg (eastern neighbour of the Brocken) some distance away to the southwest, between the Bielstein (ca. 525 m above sea level (NN) ) to the north and the ridge of Hippeln and the Kontorberg (556.1 m) to the south. [1]
In the gorge, numerous small waterfalls and rapids alternate with quieter stretches of water in the Holtemme's rock and boulder-strewn riverbed. The entrance to the gorge below the Hannekenbruch lies at a height of about 550 m above NN [2] and the exit is below Steinerne Renne railway station at around 300 m above NN, [2] a height difference of about 250 metres. At 395.0 m the Kleine Renne empties into the Steinerne Renne from the left.
The Steinerne Renne forest inn and hotel is perched above the point in river where it is 519.5 m high. In addition, there used to be a footbridge over the Holtemme somewhat further east (346.0 m [2] ) and a restaurant, Am Silbernern Mann, below the rocks known as the Silberner Mann.
This natural feature was already described as the Steinrenne or steinerne Rinne by the Early Modern Period. With the rise of tourism in the middle of the 19th century the Steinerne Renne became one of the most popular beauty spots in the Harz. When the Harz and Brocken Railways were built a small station was even built for the Steinerne Renne which still exists today. In 1869 a log cabin was built immediately next to the waterfall, the predecessor of the present-day hotel.
During the post-war period the spot ended up in East Germany and the hotel building was operated until the mid-1970s as a Handelsorganisation pub. Later it was converted and used as a works holiday home for the VEB Elektroaaparatewerke Berlin-Treptow, a German electrical machinery combine. The holiday home also had a public restaurant . When the building was converted, the romantic woodland path to the pub, which ran along the northern side of the Holtemme and past the waterfall, was blocked. Today the footpath runs along the southern bank of the river.
The Steinerne Renne Hotel (Gasthaus Steinerne Renne) is No. 28 in the system of checkpoints in the Harzer Wandernadel.
Near Steinerne Renne station there is a hydropower plant, opened in 1899, which was used to power the gravel and granite works operating in those days. In 1943 it went into the possession of the town of Wernigerode, which used it to supply power to the district of Hasserode. From 1945 it was run by the VEB Energiekombinat Magdeburg, later the VEB Instandsetzungsbetrieb für Batterien und Flurfördergeräte. After its privatization as WERBAT GmbH, the hydroelectric plant was sold in 1995 to a private owner. In 2002 it was sold back to the town, who operate it today as a technical monument.
The water taken from a weir below the inn along a 1.7-kilometre enclosed channel to the screen house, where suspended solids are filtered out. Behind that, it drops over a 160 metre long penstock to the hydroelectric power plant. The current is generated by two Pelton turbines.
On the site of the former granite and gravel plant, which has been used since 1944 as the Steinerne Renne Brickworks and for the construction of parts for aircraft engines, a subcamp of the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp was built. Initially French, Belgian and Italian forced labourers worked in the subcamp. Later 500 prisoners from the former subcamp on Veckenstedter Way in Wernigerode worked here. One day before the occupation of the camp by American troops on 10 April 1945 they were sent on a death march to Leitmeritz.
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 35,041 in 2012.
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 word Hardt or Hart, Latinized as Hercynia. 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 of the Harz mountain range and also the highest peak of Northern Germany; it is located 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 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 169 kilometres (105 mi) it discharges into the Saale at Nienburg. The river is named after a legendary giant, the wild, rampaging, Bohemian, Prince Bodo, who, according to the Rosstrappe legend changed into a marauding dog that guarded the crown of Princess Brunhilde in the Kronensumpf in the present-day Bode Gorge. The gorge is the narrow section of the Bode valley between Treseburg and Thale.
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 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 Holtemme is a 47-kilometre (29 mi) long tributary of the river Bode in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
The Wolfsklippen, also called the Wolfsklippe, is a granite mountain in the Harz mountains in Central Germany with an observation platform on the summit. Its height is frequently given as about 723 m above sea level (NN), but occasionally also as only around 710 m above NN.
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.
The Ottofels, named after Prince Otto of Stolberg-Wernigerode, is a tor and natural monument near Wernigerode in the Harz mountains of central 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.
Hasserode has been a quarter in the town of Wernigerode since 1907, a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.
The Trudenstein is a rock formation and popular hiker's destination in the Harz Mountains of central Germany. It is located in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt.
The Molkenhaus is a historic house near Wernigerode, Harz, Germany, located on the Jägerkopf hill above the Steinerne Renne waterfall and the source region of the Holtemme river. The timber-framed building, which was built by order of the Senior Master Hunter (Oberjägermeister) of the counts of Stolberg, von Meseberg, at the beginning of the 18th century, belonged to the Ilsenburger Marienhof and was used for hunting purposes and the production of butter. Nowadays it is used by the Harz National Park.
The Ilse valley is the ravine of the Ilse stream in the northern boundary of the Harz mountain range in Germany. Part of the Harz National Park, it runs from the town of Ilsenburg at the foot of the mountain range up to the source region near the summit of the Brocken massif, the highest mountain of the range. The scenic valley is a popular hiking area.
The Kleine Renne is a cascading mountain stream and officially designated natural monument near the town of Wernigerode in the Harz Mountains of 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 Elversstein in the Harz Mountains of Germany is a granite rock formation with a maximum elevation of 499 m above sea level (NN) on the Steinberg near Hasserode in the county of Harz in Saxony-Anhalt.
