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78-542: The origin of the name Stöberhai is not documented. It may have been that a charcoal burner named Stöber had his Hai here, which in the Harz Mountains referred to the charcoal burner's site in the forest. The term is derived from Hain ( grove , which also coincides with the previously attested use of the Stöberhai as a forest clearing. A guide of the climatic health resort of Wieda in 1931 still recognises an "Upper Hai" on

156-562: A "National Geotope". The Brocken is a place of extreme weather conditions. Due to its exposed location in the north of Germany its peak lies above the natural tree line . The climate on the Brocken is like that of the alpine 1,600–2,200-metre (5,200–7,200 ft) zone or even that of Iceland . This is due to its short summers and very long winters, with many months of continuous snow cover, strong storms and low temperatures even in summer. The summit, however, does not have an alpine climate , as

234-467: A French operations building and four French lattice towers for electronic intelligence gathering which still carry eastwards-facing antennas. In the years after its closure the out-of-bounds area grew into a popular (illegal) adventure playground for various leisure sports. It gained a legendary reputation for geocaching . After years of dispute between the district and the Federal Government over

312-548: A climber's shadow cast upon fog creates eerie optical effects. Today the Brocken is part of the Harz National Park and hosts a historic botanical garden of about 1,600 alpine mountain plants. A narrow gauge steam railway, the Brocken Railway , takes visitors to the railway station at the top on 1,125 m (3,691 ft). FM-radio and television broadcasting make major use of the Brocken. The old television tower,

390-619: A former surveillance installation for the Ministry for State Security . The historic antenna equipment in the dome may be visited. Behind the building is checkpoint No.  9 on the Harzer Wandernadel hiking trail network. The extreme weather conditions of the Brocken are of special meteorological interest. From 1836 the Brockenwirt , who also ran the guest house and restaurant, kept meteorological records. The first weather station on

468-594: A geological point of view the Brocken and its surrounding terrain, the Brocken massif, consists mainly of granite (called Brocken granite), an igneous rock. The granitic plutons of the Harz – the Brocken, Ramberg and Oker plutons – emerged towards the end of the Harz mountain-building phase of the Upper Carboniferous , about 300 million years ago. First, alkaline magma intruded into the overlying sediments, crystallized out and formed gabbro and diorite massifs, such as

546-651: A large contraption of beechwood boards, used as alarm and signal device. This is commemorated in the name of a mountain ridge in the Harz, called Hillebille . Today the tradition of this old craft is mainly preserved in clubs and societies. These include the European Charcoal Burners' Society ( Europäische Köhlerverein ) and the Glasofen Charcoal Burners' Society ( Köhlerverein Glasofen ). In 2014, charcoal burning and tar distilling were incorporated into

624-523: A large portion of territory. In 1987, the goods traffic on the Brocken Railway ceased due to poor track conditions. The Brocken was extensively used for surveillance and espionage purposes. On the summit were two large and powerful listening stations , which could capture radio traffic in almost all of Western Europe. One belonged to Soviet military intelligence, the GRU , and was also the westernmost outpost of

702-568: A number of paths. Its main access route is the tarmac road, closed to the public, that runs from Wieda up to the Stöberhai. At one time another metalled road ran from Bad Lauterberg to the summit. However, the financial means that had actually been set aside for the demolition of the observation tower were enough to completely destroy this road as well. The old tarmac surface was replaced by a very rough ballast covering that even mountain bikes have difficulty negotiating. Considerably easier for bicycles

780-411: A temperature of between 300 and 350 °C, the carbonization process began. The process took six to eight days - in large kilns several weeks - during which time the charcoal burner had to control the draught (by piercing small holes and resealing them), being careful neither to allow the pile to go out nor let it go up in flames. By observing the smoke exiting the kiln, the charcoal burner could assess

858-622: Is first introduced, his father the charcoal burner is in prison for assault, something Hugo attributes to him trying to live in a town instead of alone in the forest. Brocken 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

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936-578: Is managed by the Harz National Park . In addition there are restaurants and the Brocken Hotel, which is run by the Brocken publican ( Brockenwirt ), Hans Steinhoff. Important publicans in the past included Johann Friedrich Gerlach from 1801 to 1834, Carl Eduard Nehse between 1834 and 1850, who brought out a map of the Brocken in 1849 and the Brocken Register ( Brockenstammbuch ) in 1850, as well as Rudolf Schade from 1908 to 1927, who considerably increased

1014-484: Is nevertheless visible from Sankt Andreasberg and the surrounding mountains. On 23 September 2006 –exactly a year after the demolition of the concrete tower –Lower Saxony's Finance Minister, Hartmut Möllring, opened a monument commemorating the tower and electronic warfare in general. With the exception of the northern side, which is closed off by the Oder Reservoir, the Stöberhai is easily accessible on all sides by

1092-498: Is someone whose occupation is to manufacture charcoal . Traditionally this is achieved by carbonising wood in a charcoal pile or kiln. Charcoal burning is one of the oldest human crafts. Since the Iron Age , high temperatures have had to be produced for iron smelting , for glassmaking , and for the working of precious metals . Charcoal has been used to do this for centuries and, in order to produce it, entire forests were felled. With

1170-658: Is still carried out commercially in parts of the world. It is rare in Europe, but still practised in Romania, Poland, the UK, Slovenia, and Switzerland. Other places where it is still common are the tropical rain forests of South America and Africa. Even in the 20th century, charcoal burners in remote areas like the Harz Mountains and the Thuringian Forest , still used a illebille ,

1248-729: Is the bearer of the Badge of Honour of Saxony-Anhalt, Benno Schmidt (born 1932) – also known as Brocken Benno – of Wernigerode, who has climbed the mountain since 1989, almost daily, with more than 8,888 ascents (as of September 2020) and whose feat has been registered in the Guinness Book of World Records . Two well-known running events pass over the Brocken: the Ilsenburg Brocken Run (beginning of September, 26 kilometres or 16 miles, of which 12 kilometres or 7.5 miles uphill, has taken place since

1326-511: 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 Brocken has always played a role in legends and has been connected with witches and devils ; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe took up the legends in his play Faust . The Brocken spectre is a common phenomenon on this misty mountain, where

1404-535: Is the long, slow path along the Steina , a stream that rises on the southern side of the summit. A much steeper trail runs from Weinglastal near the former Stöberhai station up to the summit. The higher access paths are crisscrossed and linked by numerous equally negotiable branching routes. The Stöberhai is checkpoint no. 159 in the Harzer Wandernadel hiking network. Charcoal burner A charcoal burner

1482-478: The Sender Brocken , is now used as hotel and restaurant. It also has an observation deck, open to tourists. The Brocken rises over the Harz National Park in the district of Harz , whose main town of Wernigerode lies about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) east-northeast of the mountain. The state boundary with Lower Saxony runs past the Brocken some 2 km (1.2 mi) to the west. At the southeastern foot of

1560-572: The Alps . The Brocken is the only mountain in Germany's Central Uplands whose summit lies above the treeline , so that only very small spruce grow there and much of it is covered by a dwarf shrub heathland . In the Brocken Garden , established in 1890, flora are nurtured by national park employees; visitors are allowed to view it as part of regular guided tours. The garden does not just display plants from

1638-634: The Brogken and Brockin , in 1531 the Brogken , in 1540 the Brokenberg and, in 1589, the Brackenberg . In Old Saxon-Germanic times, a large portrait of Wodin is supposed to have been found on the Brocken. In addition, animal and human sacrifices were offered by the Saxons to their supreme god, Odin, on the blockfields of the summit until they renounced them as part of their baptismal vows when Christianity spread to

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1716-518: The Eurasian lynx , wildcats and capercaillies . The Brocken was therefore declared part of a national park in 1990. The widespread use of the name "Brocken" did not occur until towards the end of the Middle Ages . Hitherto the region had just been described as the Harz. This was primarily because, until then, the focus had been mining. The first record of a placename that resembles the present name of

1794-479: The Heinrichshöhe (1,040 m or 3,410 ft), Königsberg (1,034 m or 3,392 ft) and Kleiner Brocken ("Little Brocken") (1,018 m or 3,340 ft). Before 1989 the height of the Brocken was recorded in almost all the relevant maps and books as 1,142 m above NN (3,747 ft). A survey of the summit at the beginning of the 1990s based on the current reference system, however, gave

1872-635: The Oder Reservoir on the Oder river in the west and north-west and the village of Wieda on the Wieda stream in the southeast. A little west-southwest of the summit, the Steina stream (also Steinaer Bach ) has its source where the mountain transitions to the Jagdkopf ( 701.2 m ). The lower part of the mountain is mainly covered with beech forest, the upper part with dark stands of spruce . In older literature,

1950-596: The Soviet occupation zone . Before the Americans left the Brocken in 1947, however, they disabled the rebuilt weather station and the television tower. The ruins of the Brocken Hotel were blown up in 1949. From 1948 to 1959 part of the Brocken was reopened to tourists. Although a pass was required, these were freely issued. From August 1961 the Brocken, which lay in East Germany 's border zone, immediately adjacent to West Germany ,

2028-732: The Stasi and Soviet Union on the Brocken . Initially the Bundeswehr built the Wieda outpost ( Dienststelle Wieda ) in 1957. Six years later the French Armed Forces followed. The installations were continually expanded. With the completion of the 75 metres (246 ft) high concrete tower in 1967 the complex was formally transferred to the Luftwaffe 's Communication Sector C ( Fernmeldesektor C ). The tower,

2106-488: The ice age , including the northern bat ( Eptesicus nils soni ), the alpine shrew ( Sorex alpinus ) and the ring ouzel . The first documented ascent of the Brocken was in 1572 by the physician and botanist, Johannes Thal from Stolberg , who in his book Sylva Hercynia described the flora of the mountain area. In 1736 Count Christian Ernst of Stolberg-Wernigerode had the Wolkenhäuschen ("Clouds Cabin") erected at

2184-539: The 1920s) and the Brocken Marathon which is part of the Harz Mountain Run with its start and finish south of Wernigerode. Both start in the valley, climb the Brocken and return. The most challenging part in each case is the last four kilometres to the Brocken summit, for which in both races, a separate mountains classification is given. This section is a concrete slab track with a steady incline of about 20% and

2262-584: The Brocken eastwards to Thale and westwards via Torfhaus and Altenau to Osterode . The "Bad Harzburg Devil's Path" runs from the Brocken to Bad Harzburg . Mountain bikers also use the trails. From Schierke a metalled road leads to the summit, which is used by horse-drawn wagons, as well as touring and racing cyclists. Because of the situation in the national park, vehicles with internal combustion engines are only allowed with special permission. There are also hiking paths to Brocken from Schierke , Wernigerode and Ilsenburg . Worthy of special mention

2340-399: The Brocken hawkweed ( Hieracium negrescens ) and the alpine hawkweed ( Hieracium alpinum ), vernal grasses ( Anthoxanthum ), the lady's mantle ( Alchemilla ), the tormentil ( Potentilla tormentilla ), the alpine clubmoss ( Diphasiastrum alpinum ), the lichens, Iceland moss ( Cetraria islandica ) and reindeer lichen ( Cladonia rangiferina ). The crowberry is also referred to here as

2418-445: The Brocken in a unique, dark-colored variant, Lacerta vivipara aberr. negra . The common frog ( Rana temporaria ) can also be found here. Insects are very numerous. There are many beetles including ground beetles such as Amara erratica , and hundreds of species of butterfly . The cabbage white here produces only one generation per year compared with two in the lowlands. Some mammal and bird species that occur here are relics of

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2496-537: The Brocken lies the spa resort of Schierke . Somewhat to the north below the summit of the Brocken is a reservoir, the Brockenteich , constructed in 1744. On or near the mountain are the source areas of the rivers Bode , Ecker , Ilse and Oder . The rounded summit of the Brocken is treeless, but vegetated with dwarf shrubs . The highest point on the Brocken reaches an elevation of 1,141.1 m above  sea level (NN) (3,744 ft). Its subpeaks include

2574-404: The Brocken myrtle ( Brockenmyrte ). On the raised bogs around the summit of the Brocken there are e.g. cottongrasses , sundews and the dwarf birch ( Betula nana ). Several animal species have adapted to the conditions of life on the Brocken. For example, the water pipit ( Anthus aquaticus ) and the ring ouzel both breed in the area around the summit. The viviparous lizard occurs on

2652-472: The Brocken on 30 March 1994. The Brocken summit was renaturalised at a cost of millions of euros. It is now a popular tourist destination for visitors to the Harz. As a protected area since 1939 and due to the decades of restricted access the unique climate of the Brocken provided outstanding conditions. The massif is partly still covered with primary forest extremely rare in Germany. It provides perfect conditions for endangered and nearly extinct species like

2730-613: The Brocken using a mobile transmitter and, in the following year, the first television tower in the world was built on the mountain; carrying the first live television broadcast of the Summer Olympics in Berlin . The tower continued functioning until September 1939, when the authorities suspended broadcasting on the outbreak of World War II . In 1937 the Brocken, together with the Wurmberg , Achtermann and Acker-Bruchberg were designated as

2808-565: The Brocken was built in 1895. Technically poor and too small, it was partially demolished in 1912 and replaced with a large stone construction, the Hellman Observatory , that was not completed until the First World War . In 1917 the academic and nature lover George Grobe took over running the observation post, his daughter supporting him until his death in 1935. Today's weather station started life in 1939. Measurements were interrupted at

2886-461: The Brocken, but also high mountain flora from other regions and countries. Amongst the typical species of the Brocken that are rarely if ever found elsewhere in North Germany and which occur above about 1,050 m above NN (3,440 ft) are the variant of the alpine pasqueflower known as the Brocken flower or Brocken anemone ( Pulsatilla alpina subsp. alba ), hawkweeds like

2964-515: The Brocken, overnight in Schierke and run back again the next day. Overall, it is therefore a 150-kilometre (93 mi) race. Since the 1930s various radio and television transmitters have been erected on the Brocken, see Brocken Transmitter . Brocken House ( Brockenhaus ), the modern information centre for the Harz National Park, is located in the converted " Stasi Mosque" ( Stasi-Moschee ),

3042-409: The German word block (as in block of wood) in witchcraft. Another theory holds that the name "Brocken" is derived from bruch , a word used in northern Germany for bog or moor , which commonly used to be spelt as bruoch or brok . It is however doubtful that this fact was primarily responsible for its name. Another possibility is that its name is derived from the fields of boulders strewn over

3120-511: The Harzburg gabbro. A little later, silica -rich granitic magma rose, some intruding into voids and gaps in the older rocks, but most being created by the melting of existing sediments. On the boundary between granite and host rock, the so-called contact zone, a great variety of transitions may be seen. For example, the summit of the Achtermannshöhe consists of contact-metamorphosed hornfels of

3198-500: The Oder valley and the mountains of Achtermann , Wurmberg and Brocken . The Stöberhai gained a degree of fame as a result of the electronic surveillance tower built as a NATO listening post . This signals intelligence facility was used during the Cold War to listen into military radio traffic in East Germany . The facilities installed here were the equivalent of the station operated by

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3276-648: The Soviets in Germany; the other was Department III of the Ministry for State Security in the GDR . The listening posts were codenamed "Yenisei" and "Urian". Between 1973 and 1976 a new modern television tower was built for the second channel of the GDR's television service, the Deutscher Fernsehfunk . Today it is used by the public Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) television network. The Stasi (East German secret police) used

3354-442: The Stöberhai. At the hotel was a small animal park with native wild animals. In 1980 the now empty hotel was the victim of a major fire and was never rebuilt. Its floor plate and a few old chairs were still around as evidence of the former hotel until the mid-1980s. The area was finally cleared up and a signpost erected in the middle. A small refuge hut was also built on the edge of the summit plateau - with views of Sankt Andreasberg ,

3432-592: The Upper Harz ( Oberharz ) nature reserve . During an air attack by the United States Army Air Forces on 17 April 1945 the Brocken Hotel and the weather station were destroyed by bombing. The television tower, however, survived. From 1945 until April 1947, the Brocken was occupied by US troops. As part of the exchange of territory (specified at the Yalta Conference ) the mountain was transferred to

3510-420: The average summer temperature is above 10 °C (50 °F). Due to its significant height difference compared with the surrounding terrain the Brocken has the highest precipitation of any point in northern central Europe, with an average annual precipitation (1961–1990) of 1,814 millimetres (71.4 in). Its average annual temperature is 2.9 °C (37.2 °F). The Brocken weather station has recorded

3588-519: The contact zone that, here, lies over the Brocken granite. The subsequent erosion of the Harz mountains that followed the uplifting of the Harz during the Upper Cretaceous saw the disappearance of the protective hornfels summit, thus exposing the granite that had crystallized underground during the Upper Carboniferous. The alleged hardness of Brocken granite is not the reason for the height of

3666-584: The course of the geodesic survey of the Kingdom of Hanover . A measurement carried out by the military staff of Prussia in 1850 found the Brocken's height to be at its present level of 1,141.1 metres (3,744 ft). After the first Brocken lodge had been destroyed by a fire, a new hotel opened in 1862. The Brocken Garden , a botanical garden , was laid out in 1890 by Professor Albert Peter of Göttingen University on an area of 4,600 m (50,000 sq ft) granted by Count Otto of Stolberg-Wernigerode. It

3744-515: The course of the ice ages , and their retreat. Today's blockfields of Brocken granite, as well as other rocks in the Harz National Park, particularly in the Oker valley, are therefore at least 10,000 years old. Physical weathering, such as frost shattering , has played a key role in their formation, resulting in giant piles of loosely stacked rocks. In 2006, the granite blockfields of the Brocken, together with 76 other interesting geotopes, were designated as

3822-469: The demolition costs of 3.5 million euros the Government had to bear the costs. The tower was brought down in a controlled demolition on 23 September 2005 with 38 kilograms (84 lb) of explosive (Gelamon 30 U) placed in 380 demolition holes. The massive surveillance tower once made the Stöberhai a very prominent feature with the Harz mountains. All that is left is a relatively puny transmission tower, which

3900-556: The domes of their listening posts. Today the old tower beside the lodge again is home to a weather station of the Deutscher Wetterdienst . Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, beginning on 3 December 1989 the Brocken was again open to the public during a demonstration walk. With German reunification there was a gradual reduction in border security facilities and military installations from 1990. The last Russian soldier left

3978-416: The following extreme values: The Brocken also holds the record for the greatest number of days of mist and fog in a single calendar year in Germany, 330 days in 1958, and has an average of 120 days of snowfall per year. The harsh climate of the Brocken makes it a habitat for rare species. The mountain's summit is a subalpine zone with flora and fauna almost comparable to those of north Scandinavia and

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4056-441: The forest, alone in the forest; he sits in the forest, alone in the forest. And the sun comes slanting between the trees In Swedish children's author Maria Gripe's Hugo and Josephine trilogy (the middle book of which was made into the film Hugo and Josephine in 1967 ), the character Hugo's father is a charcoal burner. Both father and son are portrayed as independent, unmaterialistic people with forest craft skills. When Hugo

4134-424: The heart of the complex, had sixteen floors and a floor area of 750 square metres (8,100 sq ft) as well as antenna mountings, intelligence-gathering rooms and service rooms, but also offices, accommodation and a mess. The tower was linked to other buildings and an underground nuclear bomb shelter with alternate command post by a tunnel, which prevented observation as well as icing. Although 14 million DM

4212-402: The height as just 1,141.1 m (3,744 ft). In order to provide a reference point for the old data, in the mid-1990s granite boulders were set on the highest point of the Brocken, which not only matched the old given height, but exceeded it by about a metre. A bench mark of "1142 m" was recorded on the summit stone. This height on the upper plate refers to the line on the lower plate. From

4290-609: The height is given as 731 m ; and sometimes as 718 m . In fact the height of the East Top ( 51°39′22.82″N 10°33′16.1″E  /  51.6563389°N 10.554472°E  / 51.6563389; 10.554472  ( Location: Stöberhai summit; East Top ) ) is 714 m and that of the West Top ( 51°39′27.5″N 10°32′50.5″E  /  51.657639°N 10.547361°E  / 51.657639; 10.547361  ( Location: Stöberhai-West Top ) ), about 500m WNW of

4368-407: The increasing use of stone coal from the 18th century, the charcoal burning industry declined. Even in ancient times , charcoal was manufactured in kilns. Logs were arranged in a conical heap (a charcoal kiln or pile) around posts, a fire shaft was made using brushwood and wood chips and covered with an airtight layer of grass, moss and earth. The pile was ignited inside the firing shaft and, at

4446-530: The main summit, is 699 m . The latter refers to an eminence along a trail to the east below the summit. A signpost on summit (East Top) give the height as 720 m . In 1872 the first tavern was built by a publican from Wieda on the mountain top, but it was destroyed thereafter by a fire. In 1889 the Berghotel Stöberhai was built along with an observation tower. During the Second World War it

4524-590: The mountain goes back, however, to the year 1176 when it is referred to as broke in the Saxon World Chronicle ( Sächsische Weltchronik ). Another early written reference to the mountain, this time as the Brackenberg , appears in 1490 in a letter from Count Henry of Stolberg. Other early documented names of the Brocken were, in 1401, the Brockenberg , in 1424 the Brocberg , in 1495 mons ruptus (Latin), in 1511

4602-494: The mountain with a view of Hohegeiss . Attempts were made by the former master forester ( Forstmeister ) of Wieda, Stein, to prove the existence of a charcoal burner called Stöber, based on old documents and researching the neighbouring Prussian forestry departments, were unsuccessful. The Stöberhai is located in the Harz Mountains, the highest mountain range in Northern Germany , and in the Harz Nature Park . It rises between

4680-500: The mountain, but the geological fact that it was well protected by its weather-resistant hornfels crest for a long time before erosion set in. Only in recent geological times, since the tertiary period, did the typical, rounded, spheroidal weathering of granite outcrops and granite boulders of the Brocken take place. Such blockfields are very rare in Central Europe outside the Alps and are subject to conservation measures. They originated mainly under periglacial conditions, i.e. during

4758-400: The name comes from the shape of the mountain as a whole. A brocken in German is a large, shapeless mass. The size of the Brocken may thus have given it its name. Since the term "block" has a similar meaning, this could also be the derivation of its alternative name, the Blocksberg. The true origin of the name Blocksberg, however, should not be seen as "block" in the sense of "mass", but rather

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4836-406: The old tower until 1985, when they moved to a new building – now a museum. To seal the area, the entire Brocken plateau was then surrounded by a concrete wall, built from 2,318 sections, each one 2.4 tonnes (2.6 short tons) in weight and 3.60 metres (11.8 ft) high. The whole area was not publicly accessible until 3 December 1989. The wall has since been dismantled, as have the Russian barracks and

4914-411: The one hand, this explanation of its meaning can be attributed to the fact that the two mountains, "Kleiner Brocken" and "Großer Brocken", were formed by the breakup of a single massif. On the other hand, its meaning may refer to the serious erosion of the mountain. In other words, it refers to the fact that the Brocken was eroded or "broken down" to its present size. But the most likely derivation of

4992-438: The region under Charles the Great . As far as the origin of the name is concerned, there are several interpretations: In the town records ( Stadtbuch ) of Osterwieck an entry for the Brocken was found in the year 1495 under the Latin name of mons ruptus , which means "broken hill". Its Low German name, broken , as the mountain had become named in 1176 in the Saxon World Chronicle and also in English , means "broken". On

5070-429: The register of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Germany by the Kultusministerkonferenz . Saint Alexander of Comana (died c. 251) is known as "the charcoal burner". He is said to have taken up the job of the charcoal burner to avoid worldly acclaim. A. A. Milne 's poem "The Charcoal Burner" appeared in Now We Are Six , a collection of verse. It begins: The Charcoal Burner has tales to tell. He lives in

5148-468: The repute and the size of guest facilities on the Brocken. The area around the Brocken is especially popular with hikers. The Goethe Way ( Goetheweg ) is a well known trail that leads to the summit of the Brocken. It is named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who more-or-less followed this route in 1777. Many paths lead to the local towns of Schierke, Braunlage and Sankt Andreasberg . The 100-kilometre-long (62 mi) Harz Witches' Path also runs from

5226-412: 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

5304-418: The rules of the national park. The 87-kilometre-long (54 mi) "Brocken Climb" from Göttingen to the Brocken has taken place annually since 2003. More than 300 people take part in these two-day hikes in June. In early May each year the Braunschweig-Brocken Ultra Run takes place with 2 × 75 km (46.5 mi) legs spread over two days. The participants run from Braunschweig to Schierke, cross

5382-437: The runners are exposed above the tree line, often to a sharp, icy wind. Of the just under 1,000 people who usually achieve it, only 50 negotiate this section without stopping to walk. Since 2004, the Brocken Challenge, an ultra marathon 84-kilometre-long (52 mi) from Göttingen to the Brocken summit, has been staged in February each year. The proceeds from this event go to charity. The runs are conducted in accordance with

5460-419: The state of the carbonization process. If the smoke was thick and gray, the wood was still raw; thin, blue smoke indicated good carbonization. In earlier times, charcoal burners led an austere, lonely life. They had to live near the kiln, usually in a charcoal burner's hut ( Köhlerhütte or Köte in Germany, Austria and Switzerland). During the Middle Ages, charcoal burners were ostracised. Their profession

5538-432: The suggestion that this referred to old, unusable timber, which was called bracken , is disputed. Today a narrow gauge railway, the Brocken Railway , once more shuttles between Wernigerode , Drei Annen Hohne , Schierke and the Brocken. The trains are regularly hauled by steam locomotives . At the summit is the Brockenhaus with a museum on the history of the mountain and the Brocken Garden (a botanical garden), which

5616-423: The summit and the slopes of the mountain. This derivation for the name "Brocken" is, however, unlikely because such blockfields are also found on other mountains in the Harz. Moreover, the regions concerned were hardly known at the time when the term was used. Another presumption is based on the reference in a letter written in 1490 by Count Henry of Stolberg-Wernigerode, where he uses the term Brackenberg . However

5694-539: The summit, a small refuge that is still preserved. He also had a mountain lodge built on the southern slope, named Heinrichshöhe after his son Henry ( Heinrich ) Ernest. The first inn on the Brocken summit was built around 1800. Between 1821 and 1825 Carl Friedrich Gauss used the line of sight to the Großer Inselsberg in the Thuringian Forest and the Hoher Hagen mountain near Göttingen for triangulation in

5772-466: Was Germany's first Alpine garden . The narrow gauge Brocken Railway was opened on 27 March 1899. Brocken station is one of the highest railway stations in Germany lying at a height of 1,125 m above NN (3,691 ft). Its gauge is 1,000 mm ( 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in ). In 1935 the Deutsche Reichspost made the first television broadcast from

5850-456: Was considered dishonourable and they were frequently accused of evil practices. Even today there is a certain denigration of this former occupation. In the German language to have a charcoal burner's faith ( Köhlerglauben ) is to have blind faith in something. That aside, the continuing requirement to keep the kiln at the right temperature in all weathers meant that the job must have been arduous, lonely and, at times, dangerous. Charcoal burning

5928-417: Was declared a military exclusion zone and was therefore no longer open to public access. Extensive military installations were built on and around the summit. The security of the area was the responsibility of the border guards of the 7th Schierke Border Company , which was stationed in platoon strength on the summit. For accommodation, they used the Brocken railway station. The Soviet Red Army also used

6006-471: Was hit by five bombs in 1943 during an air raid. In the winter of 1943/44 the German Wehrmacht troops seized it for use as a ski training centre and in the following summer it was made available for those blinded in both world wars together with their families. After the war the inter-zone bus company of P. Kühn from Berlin bought the hotel and established a regular shuttle bus service between Berlin and

6084-401: Was invested in a never-completed upgrade during the time of German reunification , the military finally pulled out in 1992. On the summit plateau, which has an area of 28 hectares (69 acres), there is at present, in addition to the tower and ruins, an entrance building, a German accommodation block with its own nuclear bunker in the cellars, several garages and workshops, two French quarters,

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