The Harz Club is club dedicated to maintaining the traditions of the Harz mountains in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 and looking after the walking trails in the Harz. It was founded in 1886 in Seesen

Seesen

Seesen is a town and municipality in the district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the northwestern edge of the Harz mountain range, approx...

 and, today, has about 16,000 members in some 90 branches.

History

The Harz Club was founded on 8 August 1886 in Seesen. The railway director, Albert Schneider, was its first chairman. One of the co-founders was Carl Reuß. Its first task was to open up the Harz to walkers and tourists. Later, numerous local history groups were started and it took on the maintenance of Harz traditions. Nature conservation was added to its articles as an important aim in 1907. Before the outbreak of the Second World War membership stood at almost 20,000 in 120 branches.

Following the division of the Harz, the development of the Harz Nature Park became the priority within the western zone. In East Germany the Harz Club was banned as an organisation, similar functions were entrusted to the subordinate levels of the Cultural Association of the GDR.

After German reunification

German reunification

German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...

 over 40 branches were founded in the Harz region of the new federal states of 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...

 and Thuringia

Thuringia

The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....

. In 1994 the club's name was changed into the Local History, Walking and Nature Conservation Association (Heimat-, Wander- und Naturschutzbund).

Its main chairman is Michael Ermrich, chief executive of the district of Harz. The Harz Club maintains an office in Clausthal-Zellerfeld

Clausthal-Zellerfeld

Clausthal-Zellerfeld is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the southwestern part of the Harz mountains. Its population is approximately 15,000, Clausthal-Zellerfeld is also the seat of the Samtgemeinde Oberharz....

 and is a member of the Federation of German Mountain and Walking Clubs (Verband Deutscher Gebirgs- und Wandervereine).

Tasks

The Harz Club sets itself the following tasks:

• Nature conservation and preservation of the countryside
• Promotion of walking; guided walks
• Publication of walking maps and walking information
• Maintenance of outdoor walking facilities (benches, huts, etc.)
• Signing of walking trails
• Local history: customs, traditional costume, dialects, folk music, yodelling
• Youth work
• Publication of the local history and members magazine Der Harz
• Promotion of local history research and archiving
• Preservation of cultural objects (loca history booths, cultural monuments in the countryside)
• Training courses and workshops
• Advertising of Harz local history and public relations

Walking hostels

The Harz Club maintains four walking hostels in the Harz with overnight accommodation for families and groups in:

• Wildemann
  Wildemann
  Wildemann is a town in the district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the west of the Harz, northwest of Clausthal-Zellerfeld. It is part of the Samtgemeinde Oberharz....
  
  
• Bad Lauterberg
  Bad Lauterberg
  Bad Lauterberg is a town in the district of Osterode, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the southern Harz, approx. 15 km southwest of Braunlage, and 20 km southeast of Osterode am Harz....
  
   – Lönsweg 12
• Torfhaus
  Torfhaus
  Torfhaus is a village in the borough of the mining town of Altenau in the Harz mountains of Germany and lies at a height of about .This small settlement consists mainly of restaurants, youth hostels, ski huts and large car parks. It is the highest settlement in Lower Saxony...
  
   – Goetheweg
• Sonnenberg
  Sonnenberg (Harz)
  The Sonnenberg is a ski resort in the Upper Harz surrounded by the Harz National Park. The settlement of the same name located there is part of the borough of Sankt Andreasberg.- Topography :...