Bode Gorge
Encyclopedia
Treseburg
Treseburg is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2009, it is part of the town Thale.- Geography :...
and Thale
Thale
Thale is a town in the Harz district in Saxony-Anhalt in central Germany.-Geography:It is situated on the river Bode, approximately 8 km west of Quedlinburg. It is the terminus of the Magdeburg–Thale railway.- History :...
in the Harz Mountains of central Germany. The German term, Bodetal (literally "Bode Valley"), is also used in a wider sense to refer to the valleys of the Warme
Warme Bode
The Warme Bode is the right-hand headstream of the River Bode in the High Harz mountains of central Germany in the states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt...
and Kalte Bode
Kalte Bode
The Kalte Bode is the left-hand headstream of the River Bode in the High Harz Mountains in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is long.-Name:...
rivers that feed the River Bode.
At the Bode Gorge, the River Bode, which rises on the highest mountain in the Harz, the Brocken, has cut deeply into the hard Ramberg granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
rock. The ravine
Ravine
A ravine is a landform narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streamcutting erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. A ravine is generally a fluvial slope landform of relatively steep sides, on the order of twenty to...
is about 140 m deep at Treseburg and some 280 m deep at Thale where it breaks out into the Harz Foreland. The Bode Gorge was designated a nature reserve
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
as early as 5 March 1937; its boundaries being subsequently expanded. With an area of, currently 473.78 hectares (1,170.7 acre), it is one of the largest nature reserves in Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...
.
Geology
Apart from intrusions of Ramberg granite, which rose to the surface and solidified 300 million years ago in the Upper Carboniferous Period, and their associated veinsVein (geology)
In geology, a vein is a distinct sheetlike body of crystallized minerals within a rock. Veins form when mineral constituents carried by an aqueous solution within the rock mass are deposited through precipitation...
of quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
, the ravine of the Bode also cuts through hornfels
Hornfels
Hornfels is the group designation for a series of contact metamorphic rocks that have been baked and indurated by the heat of intrusive igneous masses and have been rendered...
and knotenschiefer
Knotenschiefer
Knotenschiefer is a variety of spotted slate characterized by conspicuous subspherical or polyhedral clots that are often individual minerals such as cordierite, biotite, chlorite, andalusite and others....
(a type of slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
), as well as argillite
Argillite
An argillite is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed predominantly of indurated clay particles. Argillaceous rocks are basically lithified muds and oozes. They contain variable amounts of silt-sized particles. The argillites grade into shale when the fissile layering typical of shale is...
and graywacke with quartz elements and diabase
Diabase
Diabase or dolerite is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. In North American usage, the term diabase refers to the fresh rock, whilst elsewhere the term dolerite is used for the fresh rock and diabase refers to altered material...
dikes
Dike (geology)
A dike or dyke in geology is a type of sheet intrusion referring to any geologic body that cuts discordantly across* planar wall rock structures, such as bedding or foliation...
from the Devonian
Devonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
Period, 400 to 370 million years ago. Ramberg granite predominantly forms the front section of the ravine and characterises its highest rocks. It appears light-coloured due to the high proportion of white feldspar
Feldspar
Feldspars are a group of rock-forming tectosilicate minerals which make up as much as 60% of the Earth's crust....
. The quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
lends it a grey shade. The proportion of black mica
Mica
The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in chemical composition...
(biotite
Biotite
Biotite is a common phyllosilicate mineral within the mica group, with the approximate chemical formula . More generally, it refers to the dark mica series, primarily a solid-solution series between the iron-endmember annite, and the magnesium-endmember phlogopite; more aluminous endmembers...
) is low and carries no weight in terms of colouring. The light-coloured granite stands out from the dark to black coloured rocks of hornfels and argillite. As a result, the front section of the ravine and the river bed of the Bode in this area appear clearly lighter than the rear section. The argillite at the rear of the gorge shows bands of colour in places that evinces the former strata of the marine sediment
Sediment
Sediment is naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of fluids such as wind, water, or ice, and/or by the force of gravity acting on the particle itself....
s. The stratified slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
was only slightly metamorphosed.
Climate
Soils
The most common soil types are silicate leptosols, that belong to the thin stony soils around areas of rock and scree. In flatter areas with less rearrangement of the soil particles are stony Ranker leptosols of various thickness. One particular soil type, brown Ranker occurs above argillite rock. PodsolPodsol
In soil science, podzols are the typical soils of coniferous, or boreal forests. They are also the typical soils of eucalypt forests and heathlands in southern Australia...
ised brown earth
Brown earth
Brown earth is a type of soil. Brown earths are mostly located between 35° and 55° north of the Equator. The largest expanses cover western and central Europe, large areas of western and trans-Uralian Russia, the east coast of America and eastern Asia. Here, areas of brown earth soil types are...
soils are found around the edges of the gorge.
Rivers and streams
In the area of the ravine the Bode has a width of 7 to 25 metres and descends 100 metres in 17 kilometres. Its river course and bed are very much in their natural state inside the ravine. Kettle-holes, rapidRapid
A rapid is a section of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. A rapid is a hydrological feature between a run and a cascade. A rapid is characterised by the river becoming shallower and having some rocks exposed above the...
s and scouring in the rock alternate with islands of gravel and flat river banks. The most notable rapids on the Bode, the Bodekessel, not far southwest of the Königsruhe tavern, is shrouded in legend. It was a low waterfall
Waterfall
A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...
before its explosive demolition in 1798. Stones and boulders occupy the river bed. Slow-moving stretches of water occur, especially in the area of the Hornfels
Hornfels
Hornfels is the group designation for a series of contact metamorphic rocks that have been baked and indurated by the heat of intrusive igneous masses and have been rendered...
(Zahme Bode); rapids (Wilde Bode) are found particularly in the lower part of the ravine and formed by the incision of the river into the blocks of Ramberg granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
. The water regime inside the ravine is affected, however, by the dams owned by the Bodewerk in the upper reaches of the river. The discharge can vary sharply: during the devastating New Year floods of 1925 a discharge of 350 m³/s was recorded; in the summer of 1926 the Bode almost ran dry (0.,35 m³/s). Other major floods occurred in 1667, 1730 and in the April of 1984. There was a plan to impound the Bode in the ravine as well in 1891 with a 150 m high dam at the Bodekessel. The plan was scrapped.
Only a few streams enter the Bode, on the right-hand side of the ravine. The Luppbode
Luppbode
The Luppbode is one of the few right-hand tributary streams, that flow into the Bode Gorge in the Harz mountains of Germany in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is a lively, babbling brook that rises in the vicinity of Allrode and discharges into the River Bode at Treseburg.In spring, the Luppbode...
is a lively, bubbling brook coming from the direction of Allrode which joins the Bode near Treseburg. Another tributary stream is the Dambach, which empties into the Bode from a side ravine below the Rabenstein.
Vegetation
There is a rapid succession of habitats in the Bode Gorge that produces a tightly woven mosaic of vegetation, characterised by an especially rich variety of plant species.- On the steeper slopes, small clumps of ravine and scree forest (Blockschutt) alternate with dry broad-leaved woods, scree slopes, silicate rock outcrops with rock vegetation, crags and xerothermous grass.
- Meadows of cheddar pinkDianthusDianthus is a genus of about 300 species of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae, native mainly to Europe and Asia, with a few species extending south to north Africa, and one species in arctic North America. Common names include carnation , pink and sweet William Dianthus is a genus of...
and Alpine aster and AnthericumAnthericumAnthericum is a genus of about 300 species, rhizomatous perennial plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. It was formerly placed in its own family, Anthericeae. The species have rhizomatous or tuberous roots, long narrow leaves and branched stems carrying starry white flowers...
heath in the Bode Gorge have been classified as rock meadows. - The most widespread dry forests are the birch-oak woods and the catchfly-sessile oak woods.
- In places, extensive and very near-natural lime-sycamore ravine woods and scree woods have developed on the lower mountainsides (Tilio-Acerion) on shaded slopes.
- On small areas of the lower slopes on acidophilous soil, copper beech woods occur (Luzulo-Fageten).
- The banks of the Bode, in places where the water velocity is slow, have favoured the formation of reed beds of reed canary grassReed canary grassReed canarygrass, Phalaris arundinacea, is a tall, perennial bunchgrass that commonly forms extensive single-species stands along the margins of lakes and streams and in wet open areas, with a wide distribution in Europe, Asia, northern Africa and North America.-Description:The stems can reach 2.5...
(Phalaridetum arundinaceae) and ground elder-butterburButterburThe plants commonly referred to as Butterbur are found in the daisy family Asteraceae in the genus Petasites. They are mostly quite robust plants with thick, creeping underground rhizomes and large Rhubarb-like leaves during the growing season...
meadows (Aegopodio podagrariae-Petisetum albae).
The most common trees in the woods are sessile oak
Sessile Oak
Quercus petraea , the Sessile Oak, also known as the Durmast Oak, is a species of oak native to most of Europe, and into Anatolia.-Description:...
(Quercus petraea), large-leaved lime (Tilia platyphyllos), sycamore
Sycamore
Sycamore is a name which is applied at various times and places to three very different types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms....
(Acer pseudoplatanus), silver birch
Silver Birch
Betula pendula is a widespread European birch, though in southern Europe it is only found at higher altitudes. Its range extends into southwest Asia in the mountains of northern Turkey and the Caucasus...
(Betula pendula) and rowan
Rowan
The rowans or mountain-ashes are shrubs or small trees in genus Sorbus of family Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the mountains of western China and the Himalaya, where numerous apomictic microspecies...
(Sorbus aucuparia). Also worth mentioning is the |yew (Taxus baccata
Taxus baccata
Taxus baccata is a conifer native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, northern Iran and southwest Asia. It is the tree originally known as yew, though with other related trees becoming known, it may be now known as the English yew, or European yew.-Description:It is a small-...
).
Dominating the ground cover are plants like the wood bluegrass (Poa nemoralis), wavy hair-grass (Avenella flexuosa; especially in dry oak woods), white wood-rush
Luzula
Luzula is a genus of about 80 species of flowering plants the family Juncaceae, with a cosmopolitan distribution, the highest species diversity being in temperate Asia and Europe....
(Luzula luzuloides), male fern (Dryopteris filix-mas), limestone oak fern
Gymnocarpium
Gymnocarpium is a small genus of ferns once placed with various other groups, including the dryopteroid ferns and the athyrioid ferns. Cladistic analysis has demonstrated that Gymnocarpium and Cystopteris form a natural but relatively primitive clade that is basal to the asplenoid, thelypterioid,...
(Gymnocarpium robertianum), wall hawkweed
Hieracium
Hieracium known by its common name Hawkweed and long ago by its classical name hierakion which comes from the ancient Greek hierax, "a hawk"...
(Hieracium murorum), baneberry (Actaea spicata), small balsam (Impatiens parviflora), Herb Robert
Herb Robert
Geranium robertianum, commonly known as Herb Robert, Red Robin, Death come quickly, or Robert Geranium, is a common species of cranesbill in Europe, Asia, North America, and North Africa.Geranium robertianum can grow at altitudes of up to...
(Geranium robertianum), dog's mercury
Dog's Mercury
Mercurialis perennis, commonly known as dog's mercury, is a woodland plant found in much of Europe, but almost absent from Ireland, Orkney and Shetland. A member of the spurge family , it is a herbaceous, downy perennial with erect stems bearing simple, serrate leaves. The dioecious inflorescences...
(Mercurialis perennis).
A special plant community has grown on the granite rocks
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
. Plants such as the snowy mespilus (Amelanchier ovalis), dyer’s greenweed (Genista tinctoria), browntop bent (Agrostis capillaris), sticky catchfly
Sticky Catchfly
Lychnis viscaria, the sticky catchfly, is a flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae.It is an upright perennial, growing to 60 cm in height. It gets its English name from the stickiness of its stem. It grows on cliffs and in rocky places. It has a purple flower.Lychnis viscaria is said to...
(Lychnis viscaria), blue stonecrop (Sedum reflexum) are particularly common.
The scenery in spring is graced by wood anemone
Wood Anemone
Wood anemone is a common name for three closely related species of woodland anemone.In Europe: Anemone nemorosaIn North America: Anemone quinquefoliaThe Yellow wood anemone is Anemone ranunculoides....
s (Anemone nemorosa) and yellow anemones (Anemone ranunculoides), hollowroot
Corydalis
Corydalis is a genus of about 470 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the fumewort family , native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere and the high mountains of tropical eastern Africa...
(Corydalis cava), spring vetchling (Lathyrus vernus), kidneywort (Hepatica nobilis) and alternate-leaved golden saxifrage (Chrysosplenium alternifolium), which grows on stream banks, but also covers scree slopes like a carpet. Common toothwort (Lathraea squamaria) and spring snowflake (Leucojum vernum) also occur here and there.
Perennial honesty
Perennial honesty
Perennial Honesty is a tall , hairy-stemmed perennial found throughout Europe in damp woods, and on lime. It has large, pointed oval leaves with marked serrations...
(Lunaria rediviva) and large white buttercup
Ranunculus
Ranunculus is a large genus of about 600 species of plants in the Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus include the buttercups, spearworts, water crowfoots and the lesser celandine....
(Ranunculus platanifolius) may be found in places in the woods.
Species
The Bode Gorge ist also a habitatHabitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
and refuge for many types of rare animal. Such rarities include the wildcat
Wildcat
Wildcat is a small felid native to Europe, the western part of Asia, and Africa.-Animals:Wildcat may also refer to members of the genus Lynx:...
, Bechstein's bat
Bechstein's Bat
Bechstein's Bat is a species of vesper bat in the Vespertilionidae family.It can be found in the following countries: Austria, Armenia, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Liechtenstein, Republic of Macedonia,...
, peregrine falcon
Peregrine Falcon
The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...
, black stork
Black Stork
The Black Stork Ciconia nigra is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It is a widespread, but rare, species that breeds in the warmer parts of Europe, predominantly in central and eastern regions. This is a shy and wary species, unlike the closely related White Stork. It is seen in...
, middle spotted woodpecker
Middle Spotted Woodpecker
The Middle Spotted Woodpecker is a European woodpecker belonging to the genus Dendrocopos.The Middle Spotted Woodpecker is 20–22 cm long and has plumage similar to the Great Spotted Woodpecker. As with that species the upperparts are predominantly black with white oval wing patches and white...
. The insect fauna is particularly varied.
The white-throated dipper
White-throated Dipper
The White-throated Dipper , also known as the European Dipper or just Dipper is an aquatic passerine bird found in Europe, Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. The species is divided into several subspecies, based primarily on colour differences, particularly of the pectoral band...
and grey wagtail
Grey Wagtail
The Grey Wagtail is a small member of the wagtail family, Motacillidae. The species looks similar to the Yellow Wagtail but has the yellow on its underside restricted to the throat and vent. Breeding males have a black throat...
can be observed hunting for insects on the stream beds. Mallard
Mallard
The Mallard , or Wild Duck , is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia....
breed here and there in the reed beds on on remote gravel beds.
In spring fire salamander
Fire Salamander
The fire salamander is probably the best-known salamander species in Europe. It is black with yellow spots or stripes to a varying degree; some specimens can be nearly completely black while on others the yellow is dominant. Shades of red and orange may sometimes appear, either replacing or mixing...
s can be seen splashing about in the Bode Gorge during the spawning season. Care must be taken when walking not to disturb them.
Where it flows through the gorge, the Bode, is characterised by fast-flowing, clean, shady stretches of river. In addition to brown trout
Brown trout
The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....
it ish also home to loach, bullhead
European bullhead
The bullhead is a freshwater fish that is widely distributed in Europe, mainly in rivers. It is a member of the Cottidae family, a type of sculpin...
, three-spined stickleback
Three-spined stickleback
The three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, is a fish native to much of northern Europe, northern Asia and North America. It has been introduced into parts of southern and central Europe.-Distribution and morphological variation:...
and minnow.
Rare visitors include pike
Esox
Esox is a genus of freshwater fish, the only living genus in the family Esocidae — the esocids which were endemic to North America, Europe and Eurasia during the Paleogene through present.The type species is E. lucius, the northern pike...
, dace
Common dace
The common dace , also known as the dace or the Eurasian dace, is a fresh- or brackish-water fish belonging to the family Cyprinidae. It is an inhabitant of the rivers and streams of Europe north of the Alps as well as in Asia. It is most abundant in France and Germany, and has also spread to...
and perch
European perch
The European perch, Perca fluviatilis, is a predatory species of perch found in Europe and Asia. In some areas it is known as the redfin perch or English perch, and it is often known simply as perch. The species is a popular quarry for anglers and has been widely introduced beyond its native area,...
. Rainbow trout
Rainbow trout
The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....
have been introduced by anglers.
Tourism
The Bode Gorge may only be passed through on foot. A cycle path or bridleway is not feasible due to the narrowness of the ravine. Climbing and walking off the path, mountain biking, canyoning, water walking and whitewater canoeing or raftingRafting
Rafting or white water rafting is a challenging recreational outdoor activity using an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other bodies of water. This is usually done on white water or different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers. The development of this...
are banned in order to protect the wildlife and biotope
Biotope
Biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of plants and animals. Biotope is almost synonymous with the term habitat, but while the subject of a habitat is a species or a population, the subject of a biotope is a biological community.It...
. Tourist facilities, restaurants and overnight accommodation are located at Thale by the entrance to the Bode Gorge.
A ten kilometre long footpath runs through the Bode Gorge between Thale and Treseburg. At pinch points the path is routed in steep zigzags and walkways over the rocks. From them there are superb views into the ravine. Paths lead down into the gorge from the observation rocks at Rosstrappe and the Hexentanzplatz
Hexentanzplatz (Harz)
The Hexentanzplatz in the Harz mountains is a plateau , which lies high above the Bode Gorge, opposite the Rosstrappe in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.- History :...
("Witches' Dance Floor"). From the latter there is also a ridgeway
Ridgeway (track)
Ridgeways are a particular type of ancient road that exploits the hard surface of hilltop ridges for use as unpaved, zero-maintenance roads, though they often have the disadvantage of steeper gradients along their courses, and sometimes quite narrow widths. Before the advent of turnpikes or toll...
to Treseburg.
The Bode Gorge receives hundreds of thousands of visitors per year and is one of the leading tourist destinations in Saxony-Anhalt.
Places of interest
The following places of interest are listed in the order they occur along the Bode Gorge from Thale to Treseburg.- Katersteg: a bridge by the youth hostel (a former hotel dating to 1845) and the WaldkaterHotel WaldkaterThe Hotel Waldkater was a famous hotel in the Bode Gorge in the Harz Mountains of Germany.- History :The first establishment called Waldkater was built in 1845 and subsequently altered many times. The name goes back to a story, according to which a wine adulterator had been changed into a cat as a...
Café. LegendLegendA legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
has it that this was the spot where a hunter spared a wine adulterer who had been turned into a tomcat by a spell. As a reward he received a hoard of treasure which he used to build the inn. - Schallhöhle: in 1760 a walkway, roughly 20 metres long, was hewn out of the rock and the local innkeeper amused his guests by firing gun salutes into it to create echoes. Spring water from the cave was sold as Lebenswasser. Today it is sealed by a grille. A memorial plaque next to the old entrance commemorates Heinrich Reckleben, who owned the inn for many years and eventually lost his hearing as a result of the firing. He died when he was run over by a beer coach.
- Siebenbrüder or Goethefelsen (Seven Brothers or Goethe Rocks): a granite rock formation with a number of pinnacles. According to legend, seven brothers from the Bohemian ForestBohemian ForestThe Bohemian Forest, also known in Czech as Šumava , is a low mountain range in Central Europe. Geographically, the mountains extend from South Bohemia in the Czech Republic to Austria and Bavaria in Germany...
had been spurned by a woman, so they wanted to rape her on this spot at the entrance to the gorge. As a punishment they were turned into the seven-headed rock formation. The rocks were renamed the Goethe Rocks on the occasion of the 200th anniversay of the birthday of Johann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
on 28 August 1949. During his visit to the Bode Gorge, Goethe had studied the jointing of the rock on a granite block in the river below the rock formation. - Kronensumpf: a kettle hole in the Bode. According to the Rosstrappe legend this is the spot where the hound, Bodo, guards the crown of Princess Brunhilde.
- Jungfrau, or Großer Kurfürst, and Mönch (Virgin, or Great Elector, and Monk): rock formations in front of the Jungfern Bridge. According to the Rosstrappe legend, a monkMonkA monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
turned to stoneSTONeis a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Sin-Ichi Hiromoto. Kodansha released the two bound volumes of the manga on April 23, 2002 and August 23, 2002, respectively.The manga is licensed for an English-languague released in North America be Tokyopop...
in fright when he saw Bodo fall into the ravine. - Jungfern Bridge: a stone bridge by the Gasthof Königsruhe. A legend maintains that only virgins may cross it so that it does not collapse. Later the publican had a bell ring whenever a virgin crossed the bridge.
- KönigsruheKönigsruheKönigsruhe is a small settlement in the Bode Gorge in the Harz Mountains of Germany, south of the town of Thale in Saxony-Anhalt.- Location :...
: a pub with beer garden and guesthouse in the Hirschgrund in the middle of the Bode ravine. This is where the Jungfern Trail (Jungfernstieg) crosses the Bode and where the narrow section of the gorge begins. There is a view of the Bode rushing over the rocks from the terrace. The group of houses includes the Harz Mountain Rescue hut which is occupied during peak visitor periods. Refreshments were being sold in the Hirschgrund as early as 1820. In 1860 a stone building was erected that initially housed a KonditoreiKonditoreiKonditorei is the German word for a pâtisserie and confectionery shop. A Konditorei typically offers a wide variety of pastries and is like a little café. In Germany and Austria it is a very popular custom to go to a Konditorei to have a cake and some coffee or hot chocolate mid-afternoon...
or cake shop. The Hirschgrund is No. 178 the Harzer WandernadelHarzer WandernadelThe Harzer Wandernadel is a network of checkpoints for walkers in the Harz mountains in North Germany. It includes a system whereby the hiker can earn badges at different levels by walking to the various checkpoints in the network and recording them...
hiking network. - Steinerne Kirche: the "Stone Church", a rock formation above the Hirschgrund in the shape of a church tower with adjoining nave. A cross has been erected on the top of the rocks.
- SchurreSchurreThe Schurre is a stone run in the Bode Gorge in the Lower Harz near Thale in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The stone run is slowly slipping downhill, the sliding of its boulders being audible especially during periods of heavy rain....
: a former hunting path that was expanded in 1850, and climbs steeply through 18 hairpin bends up a stone runStone runA stone run is a conspicuous rock landform, result of the erosion of particular rock varieties caused by myriad freezing-thawing cycles taking place in periglacial conditions during the last Ice Age.The actual formation of stone runs involved no less than five processes: weathering, solifluction,...
made of granite, hornfels and diabaseDiabaseDiabase or dolerite is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. In North American usage, the term diabase refers to the fresh rock, whilst elsewhere the term dolerite is used for the fresh rock and diabase refers to altered material...
to the Rosstrappe. - Teufelskanzel: "Devil's Pulpit". Rocks above the Bode gorge by the Teufelsbrücke ("Devil's Bridge") above the Blauer Sumpf, the narrowest part of the Bode Gorge. It was from here, according to legend, the devilDevilThe Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
spoke to witches. - Bodekessel: a kettle hole in the Bode by the Teufelsbrücke. Legend has it that it was formed as follows: the Germanic god, Wasur (eternal circulation of the waters), broke through the rock wall that once linked the Hexentanzplatz and the Rosstrappe, in order to save WotanOdinOdin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....
from the wrath of his father, Hodir. He paved the way for the Bode and created the Bodekessel. Wotan was consequently placed on the throne of the gods. In fact the kettle hole had been scoured out by a low waterfall that was explosively demolished in 1784 to enable timber rafts to use the Bode. - Langer Hals: "Long Neck". A river loop on the Bode that extends some distance to the north. The Langer Hals takes the Bode around a hard rock mass made of hornfels and diabase. In the knotenschiefer region the valley widens again.
- Prinzensicht: "Prince's View", a rock formation with a stone run above the Bode Gorge, that can only be reached along the plateau trail. The viewing point is No. 70 in the Harzer WandernadelHarzer WandernadelThe Harzer Wandernadel is a network of checkpoints for walkers in the Harz mountains in North Germany. It includes a system whereby the hiker can earn badges at different levels by walking to the various checkpoints in the network and recording them...
. - La Vieres Höhe: A viewing point near the Hexentanzplatz and zoo (Tierpark) that is No. 72 in the Harzer WandernadelHarzer WandernadelThe Harzer Wandernadel is a network of checkpoints for walkers in the Harz mountains in North Germany. It includes a system whereby the hiker can earn badges at different levels by walking to the various checkpoints in the network and recording them...
. - Gewitterklippen: a rock outcrop of hard, lime silicate hornfels and diabase, which forces the Bode to describe a further loop.
- Bodegang: several quartz-porphyryQuartz-porphyryQuartz-porphyry, in petrology, is the name given to a group of hemi-crystalline acid rocks containing porphyritic crystals of quartz in a fine-grained matrix, usually of micro-crystalline or felsitic structure...
lodes 3 to 8 metres wide cross the valley in various places. First described by the geologistGeologistA geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
, K. A. Lossen. - Kästental: ("Box Valley") A small side valleySide valleyThe terms side valley and tributary valley refer to valleys whose brook or river is confluent to a greater one.Upstream, the valleys can be classified in an increasing order which is equivalent to the usual orographic order: the tributaries are ordered from those nearest to the source of the river...
of the Bode with a little waterfall that was named after the old yew trees (Old High German: Kästen ~ "boxes") that occur there. - Pfeil Monument: near the Dambachhaus, not far from the Bode Gorge, is a monument that commemorates the forestry scientist, Friedrich Wilhelm Leopold Pfeil. The monument is No. 68 in the Harzer WandernadelHarzer WandernadelThe Harzer Wandernadel is a network of checkpoints for walkers in the Harz mountains in North Germany. It includes a system whereby the hiker can earn badges at different levels by walking to the various checkpoints in the network and recording them...
.
Notable visitors
- Friedrich Gottlieb KlopstockFriedrich Gottlieb KlopstockFriedrich Gottlieb Klopstock was a German poet.-Biography:Klopstock was born at Quedlinburg, the eldest son of a lawyer.Both in his birthplace and on the estate of Friedeburg on the Saale, which his father later rented, young Klopstock passed a happy childhood; and more attention having been given...
(1771) - Johann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
(1784) - Alexander von HumboldtAlexander von HumboldtFriedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
(1790) - Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg, named "Novalis" (1797)
- Joseph von Eichendorff (1805)
- Theodor FontaneTheodor FontaneTheodor Fontane was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist writer.-Youth:Fontane was born in Neuruppin into a Huguenot family. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to an apothecary, his father's profession. He became an...
(1848 and 1868)
Sources
- Kirsch, Falko: Führer durch das Bodetal. Geschichte, Geologie, Sagen, Flora, Fauna. Thale
- Oelsner, Manfred: Bodetal. 5. Auflage. Tourist-Verlag, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-350-00225-0