The Area

The Harz provides a stunning diversity that few places on earth can match. Visit in winter and summer and you will enjoy the full range of guises that the Harz offers.

The Harz area received National Park status in 1990, following the re-unification of Germany, in order to protect some of the best unspoilt landscapes in the county. The Harz national park protects and develops a bio-diverse mountainous landscape of woodland, moors, rivers and streams.

The area was given special conservation status in 1994, because of its particularly valuable habitats, home to rare plants and animals. The cities of Quedlinburg and Goslar are now UNESCO world heritage sites.

In the middle of the Harz mountains lies the Hexenstieg – a bewitchingly beautiful and devilishly twisting 100-odd kilometre footpath right through the most northerly of Germany’s central mountain ranges and over the Brocken, rich in local legends. The footpath runs from Osterode in the West to Thale in the East (or vice versa) and is suitable for the whole family. The full beauty of the Harz mountains lies at your feet, bright mixed woods and thick pine woods, colourful mountain meadows and towering cliffs, bubbling streams and majestic reservoirs.

The spirit and culture of the Harz can seem to change from town to town with Roman and Gothic monuments sharing pride of place. There are so many places to discover; the UNESCO world heritage cities Quedlinburg and Goslar, the cathedral treasure in Halberstadt, castle and city hall in Wernigerode, the place in memory of Luther in Lutherstadt Eisleben. Walking through the cornered lanes of these medieval cities, countless further details wait to be discovered.