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In Braunlage, Harz National Park. Photo by Georgia Johnson –

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Harz National Park with Mount Brocken

The Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt federal states of Germany each have a nature reserve called the Harz National Park. From Herzberg and Bad Lauterberg at the southern edge to Bad Harzburg and Ilsenburg on the northern slopes, it is made up of pieces of the western Harz mountain range.

95 percent of the region is covered with forests, mostly made up of spruce and beech trees, with some bogs, granite boulders, and rivers thrown in for good measure.

The park is a part of the European Union’s Natural 2000 network.

The Brocken (1,141/3,743 feet) is the tallest mountain in Northern Germany’s Harz Mountains. In the Harz Mountains, it is also the top that hikers prefer to reach.

Here are top 10 interesting facts about Harz National Park with Mount Broken;

1.Harz national park is known for its rare animal sightings 

The European wildcat, black stork, peregrine falcon, white-throated dipper, and Eurasian lynx are just a few of the rare wildlife found in the Harz National Park.

A initiative to reintroduce lynx was initiated in 1999 after the last one in the Harz Mountains was shot in 1818. Numerous wild lynx have given birth since 2002.

The capercaillie (Auerhuhn) was attempted to be returned, but was unsuccessful.

2.Several rivers have their sources in Harz national park

About 10% of the entire area of the Harz is made up of the 24,700 hectares of the Harz National Park. The park is located in the western Harz (see Upper Harz) and extends from Herzberg and Bad Lauterberg in the south to Wernigerode and Ilsenburg in the north.

Near its edge, the park terrain rises to 1,141.1 m above NN at the peak of the Brocken, which is 1,230 m above sea level (NN) in the north and 270 m above NN in the south.

3.The European umbrella group EUROPARC Federation includes the Harz National Park in its membership

The Harz National Park is a member of the EUROPARC Federation, an umbrella organization for national parks, biosphere reserves, and natural parks in Europe. It addresses issues including advanced education, public relations, and ustausch, or information exchange.

Numerous significant German conservation areas were merged by this umbrella organization’s German division, EUROPARC Deutschland.The European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas was adopted in 2005, and the national park was included. 

Currently, there are 188 employees working for the national park, 59 of them are employed by either the Wernigerode headquarters or the Sankt Andreasberg OT Oderhaus outpost.

4.The Harz National Park flora mainly contains Norway Spruce

A photo of a body  of water, around greenery. Photo by Andreas Krause-

Norway spruce (Picea abies) and rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) dominate the High Harz’s natural forests; deciduous trees only predominate below 600 m above sea level (NN).

Hans Dietrich von Zanthier, the count’s head forester, created the idea of reforestation using swift-growing spruce trees because the Harz was partially deforested in the 19th century due to ore mining.

Due to this, monocultures of spruce have become very common. In contrast to “Harz pine,” transplanted pines from other places do less well in the Harz’s snow and ice conditions and are thus more vulnerable to bark beetle infestation.

5.The Harz National Park is known for its wild cat habitats

The Harz is currently one of the most significant wild cat habitats in Germany. In the Federal Republic of Germany, it is categorized as seriously endangered. It is believed that the wild cat population in the Harz is stable.

It is common across the entire region, favouring the locations that are warmer, richer, more diversified, and better supplied with nutrients (lower lying deciduous forest with greater food availability).

6.Ecological problems faced at Harz National Park

In Braunlage, Harz National Park. Photo by Georgia Johnson –

Recent bark beetle outbreaks, acid rain, and other environmental issues have all affected the Harz National Park. Climate change and global warming have led to an increase in the bark beetle in this area.

Gradation of the bark beetle has grown since 2006. In the area, Hurricane Kyrill also left behind significant devastation. Over large areas, stands of trees, particularly spruce, were felled.

The local community criticized the National Park management for the subsequent bark beetle control efforts that were required. The National Park community in Ilsenburg, in particular, protested the usage of technology (e.g. harvesters).

7.The Harz National Park zoning 

The IUCN (World Conservation Union) recognizes the Harz National Park as a national park (a Category II protected area in the IUCN system). The regulations stipulate that in order to accomplish that, a natural biodiversity zone must be established on at least 75% of the area (core zone).

The natural world must be left alone in this area. If it is determined that the area meets these requirements within 30 years but this proportion is not reached, the area can be categorized as a so-called developing national park.

8.In Harz National Park, has its the best hikes

The park has a hiking system called the Harzer Wandernadel that lets you collect stamps from over 220 locations and awards badges for finishing various treks. Before visiting the park, think about purchasing a copy of the Harzer Wandernadel book if you’re interested in taking on this trekking adventure.

9.The Harz National Park is a key spot for botanist

Botanists have long been quite interested in the Brocken’s top. On the Brocken peak, a botanical garden known as the Brocken Garden (Brockengarten) was established in the late nineteenth century. Approximately 1,500 plants from throughout the world are currently present in the garden.

10.Mount Brocken and The Harz National Park is known for human history 

A photo of a body  of water, around greenery. Photo by Andreas Krause-

Homo erectus, who hunted in the area’s alpine woods, first appeared some 700,000 years ago, marking the beginning of human habitation in the Harz Mountains.

In the Unicorn Cave (Einhornhöhle) in the southern Harz, archaeologists found artifacts made by Neanderthals that were approximately 100,000 years old.

Despite the fact that Homo sapiens arrived in the area around 47,000 years ago, archaeologists think that the Harz Mountains did not have any permanent communities until about 1,000 years ago.