Harzer Witch Trail - Stage 2 - from Buntenbock to Torfhaus

Short description

Hiking at the UNESCO World Heritage Site: On this stage, the Harzer-Hexen-Stieg runs directly along ponds, ditches, and watercourses of the Upper Harz Water Management System.

Description

Do you know the “Sperberhaier Damm”? The imposing structure, built by hand, once served as the water supply for the Clausthal mines, as well as the numerous ponds, ditches, and watercourses (= underground channels) of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Upper Harz Water Management.
The entrances, exits, and water outflows into the underworld are partly still visible. Take a look at the “Dennert-Tanne”, the typical resin yellow signs shaped like a conifer tree, the building material of the miners. Passing by Altenau, we enter the Harz National Park. With luck, we might encounter a shy lynx - the king of the Harz forests, which is being reintroduced here. Get information at the Torfhaus National Park Visitor Center and join a hike with a National Park Ranger.

Route description

From now on, water determines our path. The UNESCO World Heritage Site Upper Harz Water Management today consists of over 90 ponds, almost 100 kilometers of water ditches, and numerous historical structures. Water used to power lifting wheels that transported the ore to the surface and drained the mines. It was distributed throughout the Upper Harz from the precipitation-rich Brocken. Clausthal and Altenau, as well as St. Andreasberg on the bypass of the Harzer-Hexen-Stieg, were free mining towns. They had market and grazing rights, and the residents were exempt from military service for their lord. The water rights described the right to divert and use water for mining purposes.

Huttaler Widerwaage, Polsterberger Hubhaus, Sperberhaier Damm, Grabenhaus Rose, Dammgraben … Many information boards along the way lovingly and faithfully describe the structures of the Upper Harz Water Management System. This brings the historic mining industry back to life, accompanying us at every step.

Behind Altenau, still within the mining area, we enter the Harz National Park. We will only leave it again at Drei Annen Hohne. The witch symbol on the impressive wooden signposts now guides our way. Where dense spruce forest stood just a few years ago, fallen tree giants with root plates over mans height now dominate. The forest is transforming into a natural mountain forest. Here, nature is allowed to be nature again, the forest remains untouched. We follow the Dammgraben to its beginning and then climb a bit steeper towards Torfhaus, the end of the stage.

Further information

The Harzer-Hexen-Stieg is supported by Harz Energie, the Savings Banks along the way, and Blankenburger Wiesenquell.