Heinrichshöhe
Encyclopedia
The Heinrichshöhe is a subsidiary peak of the Brocken and, at , the second highest elevation in the Harz Mountains
. The summit lies about 1.4 km southeast of the top of the Brocken near the Brocken Road (Brockenstraße) in the Harz National Park
.
The mountain was named after Count Henry Ernest (Heinrich Ernst) of Stolberg-Wernigerode, who had a peatworks established on the Heinrichshöhe in 1747. The buildings of the peatworks, including visitors’ accommodation, burnt down in 1799.
The Heinrichshöhe Way is the oldest documented track to the Brocken. It was first mentioned in the records in 1591 and ran roughly parallel to the present day Brocken Road. From the top of the Heinrichshöhe it runs straight to the summit of the Brocken. In the First World War a Ski monument was built alongside the track.
At the highest point of the mountain there is a roughly 5 m high granite
tor. In 1936 an inscription was carved in the rock by the Brockenschutz ("Brocken Guard").
The name Brockentor stems from the 18th century when the first Brocken inn was built immediately next to the tor.
The Heinrichshöhe was a popular destination in the Harz until the 1960s. After the wall was built it ended up in the out-of-bounds area. Following the reunification of Germany the Heinrichshöhe Way was closed and may now only be used with the permission of the National Park authorities for research purposes and for monitoring the wild animals of the area.
See also: List of rock formations in the Harz
Harz
The Harz is the highest mountain range in northern Germany and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The name Harz derives from the Middle High German word Hardt or Hart , latinized as Hercynia. The legendary Brocken is the highest summit in the Harz...
. The summit lies about 1.4 km southeast of the top of the Brocken near the Brocken Road (Brockenstraße) in the Harz National Park
Harz National Park
The Harz National Park is a nature reserve in the German federal states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. It comprises large portions of the western Harz mountain range, extending from Herzberg and Bad Lauterberg at the southern edge to Bad Harzburg and Ilsenburg on the northern slopes...
.
The mountain was named after Count Henry Ernest (Heinrich Ernst) of Stolberg-Wernigerode, who had a peatworks established on the Heinrichshöhe in 1747. The buildings of the peatworks, including visitors’ accommodation, burnt down in 1799.
The Heinrichshöhe Way is the oldest documented track to the Brocken. It was first mentioned in the records in 1591 and ran roughly parallel to the present day Brocken Road. From the top of the Heinrichshöhe it runs straight to the summit of the Brocken. In the First World War a Ski monument was built alongside the track.
At the highest point of the mountain there is a roughly 5 m high 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...
tor. In 1936 an inscription was carved in the rock by the Brockenschutz ("Brocken Guard").
The name Brockentor stems from the 18th century when the first Brocken inn was built immediately next to the tor.
The Heinrichshöhe was a popular destination in the Harz until the 1960s. After the wall was built it ended up in the out-of-bounds area. Following the reunification of Germany the Heinrichshöhe Way was closed and may now only be used with the permission of the National Park authorities for research purposes and for monitoring the wild animals of the area.
See also: List of rock formations in the Harz