Jump to content

Portal:Harz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

PortalsGeographyGermany → Lower Saxony → Harz

Welcome!
Welcome to the Harz Portal, the home of Wikipedia information on the Harz, an important natural landscape and tourist destination in North Germany.

The portal gives a brief overview of the region, provides a road map for many of the articles about the Harz in English Wikipedia, and shows how you can get involved improving Wikipedia's coverage of the Harz.

Introduction
The Harz is the second highest mountain range in Germany's Central Uplands after the Ore Mountains and extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The name Harz derives from the Middle High German word Hardt or Hart (mountain forest). The Harz has the highest mountain in northwestern Germany, the legendary Brocken, which is 1,141 metres (3,743 ft) above sea level and was the site of a former Soviet listening post during the Cold War. The Harz also hosts the highest dam in Germany, the 106 m high Rappbode Dam. The region has a high level of snow and rainfall, and its network of lakes and dams provide drinking water to the surrounding towns and cities as well as flood protection. It is also a popular tourist destination with ski resorts such as Braunlage and Sankt Andreasberg and a major hiking trail network known as the Harzer Wandernadel. More...

The Upper Harz Water Regale (German: Oberharzer Wasserregal, pronounced [ˌoːbɐhaːɐ̯tsɐ ˈvasɐʁeɡaːl]) is a system of dams, reservoirs, ditches and other structures, much of which was built from the 16th to 19th centuries to divert and store the water that drove the water wheels of the mines in the Upper Harz region of Germany. The term regale, here, refers to the granting of royal privileges or rights (droit de régale) in this case to permit the use of water for mining operations in the Harz mountains of Germany.

The Upper Harz Water Regale is one of the largest and most important historic mining water management systems in the world. The facilities developed for the generation of water power have been placed under protection since 1978 as cultural monuments. The majority are still used, albeit nowadays their purpose is primarily to support rural conservation (the preservation of a historic cultural landscape), nature conservation, tourism and swimming. From a water management perspective, several of the reservoirs still play a role in flood protection and the supply of drinking water. On 31 July 2010 the Regale was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site affiliated with the Mines of Rammelsberg and the Historic Town of Goslar because of its importance in the development of mining techniques and testimony to the medieval history of ore mining. (Full article...)

List of selected articles
Geography and Nature

Culture

Towns and Villages

General images

The following are images from various Harz-related articles on Wikipedia.
Did you know

  • The Wurmberg in the Harz, near Braunlage, is the highest mountain in Lower Saxony?
  • An indication of the natural state of the beech woods in the Harz is the return of the black stork (pictured)?
  • The Harz Narrow Gauge Railways, an old fashioned, steam and diesel-powered railway network is a very popular mode of transport, especially with tourists ?
People

Related portals

Categories

Category puzzle
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories
Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Discover Wikipedia using portals