Editing Harz (section)

==History==
The Harz was first mentioned as ''Hartingowe'' in an 814 deed by the [[Carolingian]] King [[Louis the Pious]]. Settlement within the mountains began only 1000 years ago, as in ancient times dense forests made the region almost inaccessible. The suffix ''-rode'' (from {{langx|de|roden}}, to stub) denotes a place where woodland had been cleared to develop a settlement.

The year 968 saw the discovery of [[silver]] deposits near the town of [[Goslar]], and [[mining|mine]]s became established in the following centuries throughout the mountains. During the [[Middle Ages]], ore from this region was exported along trade routes to far-flung places, such as [[Mesopotamia]]. The wealth of the region declined after these mines became exhausted in the early 19th century. People abandoned the towns for a short time, but prosperity eventually returned with tourism. Between 1945 and 1990, the [[Inner German border]] ran through the Harz, the west belonging to the [[West Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]] (West Germany) and the east to the [[German Democratic Republic]] (East Germany). Today the Harz forms a popular tourist destination for summer hiking as well as winter sports.

=== Pre-history and early history ===
About 700,000 to 350,000 years ago ''[[Homo erectus]]'' hunted in and around the Harz near [[Bilzingsleben]] (Thuringia), [[Hildesheim]] and [[Schöningen]] (Lower Saxony). The [[Neanderthal]]s entered the stage about 250,000 years ago and hunted [[aurochs]], [[bison]], [[brown bear]] and [[cave bear]], [[mammoth]]s, [[Rhinoceros|rhinos]], [[horse]]s, [[reindeer]], [[forest elephant]]s and other animals in the Harz region. Tools used by Neanderthals were discovered ''inter alia'' in the Einhorn Cave in the southern Harz (100,000 years ago) and in the Rübeland Caves. Finds of [[birch pitch]] near Aschersleben on the northern edge of the Harz point to the use of this prehistoric [[adhesive]] by Neanderthals about 50,000 years ago. The [[Upper Palaeolithic Revolution]], about 40,000 years ago, saw ''Homo sapiens'' move from Africa into Europe, including to the Harz region, where they appear to have ousted the Neanderthals and subsequently settled here.

Many discoveries in the Harz, such as the bronze club of Thale, which was found by the ''[[Roßtrappe]]'', could indicate an earlier Celtic occupation of the Harz.<ref>Vgl. {{citation|surname1=Urte Dally|editor-surname1=Harald Meller|periodical=Der Geschmiedete Himmel|title=Heilige Waffen im Harz – die Keule von Thale und der Zinken von Welbsleben |publisher=Theiss|publication-place=Stuttgart|pages=108f|isbn=3-8062-1907-9|date=  2004|language=de}}</ref>

=== Middle Ages ===
[[File:Neuruppin1852.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Harz 1852]] 
The [[Harzgau]] itself was first mentioned in a deed by the Emperor, [[Louis the Pious]], from the year 814, in which it was referred to by its [[High German]] form, ''Hartingowe''. According to the [[Fulda]] annals of 852, the Harzgau was occupied by the [[Charudes|Harudes]] and after whom the ''Harudengau'' (''Harudorum pagus'') was named. ''Harud'', from which ''Hard'', ''Hart'' and ''Harz'' are derived, means forest or forested mountains, and the Harudes were the residents or dwellers in the Harud.

Of more recent origin are settlements whose names end in ''–rode'', a suffix that is first discernable in the Harzgau from the mid-9th century. Where the founders of these villages came from is unknown.

[[Charlemagne]] declared the Harz a restricted imperial forest or ''Reichsbannwald''. The ''Saxon Mirror'' (''[[Sachsenspiegel]]''), the oldest German [[law book]] (''Rechtsbuch''), probably published around 1220/30 at Falkenstein Castle in the Selke valley, later made the imperial restriction clear: "Whoever rides through the Harz Forest, must unstring his bow and crossbow and keep dogs on a line – only crowned royalty (''gekrönte Häupter'') are allowed to hunt here". Eike von Repkow's ''Sachsenspiegel'' which, for centuries, formed the basis on which German law was administered, described the Harz as a place ''where wild animals are guaranteed protection in the king's restricted forests''. There were three restricted forests, so described, in the state of Saxony, where there was no longer unfettered access for everyone.

This ban did not last forever. Mining, ironworks, water management, increasing settlement, woodland clearances, cattle driving, agriculture, and later tourism all undermined this imperial protection over the centuries.

As early as 1224, monks who had settled in Walkenried bought extensive tracts of forest in the western Harz, to secure economically the one quarter of the Rammelsberg ore profits promised to them by [[Frederick Barbarossa]] in 1129. From that it can be deduced that there was already a shortage of wood then. From the 12th to the 14th centuries, large parts of the Harz were managed economically by the [[Walkenried Abbey|Cistercian Abbey of Walkenried]]. As well as agriculture and fishing, they also controlled the silver mining industry in the Upper Harz and in Goslar.

In the middle of the 14th century, the settlements in the Harz became heavily depopulated as a result of the [[Black Death]], and a systematic resettlement of mining villages in the Upper Harz did not take place until the first half of the 16th century.
[[File:Prospecte_des_Hartzwalds_(View_of_the_Harz_Forest).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Prospecte des Hartzwalds (view of the Harz Forest)]]

=== 16th century until 1933===
In 1588, the Nordhausen doctor, Johannes Thal, published the first book on regional flora in the world, ''Silva hercynia'', in which he described the flowers specific to the Harz.

In 1668, [[Rudolph Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg]] granted the first conservation order for [[Baumann's Cave]]. The ducal decree stated, ''inter alia'', that the cave should be permanently preserved by all those responsible as a special, natural wonder. It also stated that nothing should be spoiled or destroyed, and that groups of ordinary strangers should not be allowed to enter without prior arrangement. A resident mine worker was entrusted to oversee the [[natural monument]]. Until the issue of this conservation order, there had only been an order for the protection of the forest, which had been issued by the ruling princes for real, practical considerations. But for the first time the 1668 cave order took ethical-aesthetic considerations into account. The year 1668 was the birth of classic nature conservation in the Harz. The order had been precipitated by the earlier, serious destruction of the cave's features by [[Vandals]]. The first Harz 'rangers' were formed.

In 1705, the last bear was killed in the Harz, on the Brocken.

The steadily increasing consumption of wood by the pits and smelting works led to [[overexploitation]] of the forests and, from about 1700, to their outright destruction. There were no less than 30,000 charcoal piles in the Harz. In 1707, an order by Count Ernst of Stolberg forbade Brocken guides to take strangers or local folk to the Brocken without special permission, and the lighting of fires was forbidden.
The first attempts at forest conservation in the Harz were centred on the Brocken, and began with a far-sighted nature conservation act over 275 years ago. In 1718, Count Christian Ernest of the [[House of Stolberg]] issued an ordinance in which destruction or damage to the forest on the Brocken would be severely punished. In 1736, Christian Ernest also built the ''Wolkenhäuschen'' ("Little House in the Clouds") on the Brocken.

As a young man, the famous German poet, [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]] visited the Harz several times and had a number of important lifetime experiences. These included his walks on the Brocken and his visit to the mines in Rammelsberg. Later, his observations of the rocks on the Brocken led to his geological research. His first visit to the Harz awakened in him a keen interest in science (see Goethes: ''Wahrheit und Dichtung''). In 1777, Goethe climbed the Brocken, departing from Torfhaus.
At that time, there was still no mass tourism on the Brocken; in the year 1779 only 421 walkers were recorded. Goethe described his feelings on the summit later, as follows: ''So lonely, I say to myself, while looking down at this peak, will it feel to the person, who only wants to open his soul to the oldest, first, deepest feelings of truth.''

On 23 March 1798, the last wolf was killed in the Harz near the Plessenburg.

The count's guest house on the Heinrichshöhe had become too small and suffered from overcrowding; in 1799 it burned down. In 1800, a new guest house was built on the Brocken to replace it.

Around 1800, large swathes of the Harz were deforested. The less resistant spruce monoculture, that arose as a consequence of the mining industry in the Upper Harz, was largely destroyed by a [[bark beetle]] outbreak and a storm of hurricane proportions in November 1800. This largest known bark beetle infestation in the Harz was known as the ''Große Wurmtrocknis'', and destroyed about {{convert|30000|ha|acre}} of spruce forest and lasted about for 20 years. The woods were largely reforested with spruce. Continuous problems with bark beetle and storms were the negative side effects of mining in the Harz Mountains.

In 1818, a mounted forester, Spellerberg, from Lautenthal, killed the last lynx in the Harz on the Teufelsberg.

At the start of the 19th century, the increasing changes to the natural landscape wrought by man and the extinction of large mammals like the bear, wolf and lynx raised awareness of the threat to nature.

In 1852, the district administrator of Quedlinburg placed the ''[[Teufelsmauer (Harz)|Teufelsmauer]]'', ''"a rock outcrop famous as an object of folklore and as a rare natural curiosity"'', near Thale under protection, because the inhabitants of neighbouring districts were using the rocks as a quarry. This protection order survived in spite of all protests from the local villages. Thus, a valuable natural monument was saved from destruction, and it is of note that the authorities felt that the 'romantic' reasons for its preservation were entirely justified.

Albert Peter laid out the [[Brocken Garden]] in 1890. This was the first Alpine flower garden to be established on German soil. And, in terms of its scientific concept and scope, the Brocken Garden was the first of its type worldwide.

The [[Brocken Railway]] began service in 1899, against the already strong concerns of [[conservation movement|conservationist]]s. For example, the botanist, Bley, wanted to prevent trains from climbing the Brocken, because it he felt it would threaten the Brocken's flora.

In 1907, [[Hermann Löns]] uttered his famous cry "More Protection for the Brocken" (''Mehr Schutz für den Brocken'') in light of the mass tourism that was beginning to affect the Brocken. By 1912, he effectively pressed for the establishment of a Harz national park, without calling it such, in ''Der Harzer Heimatspark'' (Verlag E. Appelhans u. Co., Braunschweig 1912), a brochure that has remained relatively unknown. The Harz played a special role in the life of the famous regional poet, naturalist and local patriot, undoubtedly not least because his second wife, Lisa Hausmann, came from Barbis in the South Harz.

Around 1920, the [[capercaillie]] population in the Harz died out.

The Wernigerode rector, W. Voigt, wrote, in 1926, in his famous ''Brockenbuch'': ''In America it has long become the business of the people, to create a sacrosanct haven for the native flora and fauna of the regions in national parks. North and South Germany have their heath and alpine parks. May the joint efforts of the royal authorities, the local police, the Wernigerode Nature Conservation Society and individual friends of the Brocken also succeed now in central Germany, through caring nurture across the board, in establishing and preserving the Brocken too, as a small, but unique, nature reserve for the German people.''

In the 1930s, national park planning in Germany became specific again. There were concrete plans for the national parks of the [[Lüneburg Heath]], Bavarian – Bohemian Forest, [[High Tauern]], Höllengebirge, [[Lake Neusiedl|Neusiedler See]] and [[Curonian Spit|Kurische Nehrung]]. The [[Second World War]] prevented these national park plans from being taken forward; nevertheless, in 1937, an Upper Harz Nature Reserve (''Naturschutzgebietes Oberharz'') was designated.

=== Nazi Germany and Second World War===
During the [[Nazi era]], the Harz area became an important production site for the armaments industry. Many factories, important to the war effort, were located there and, as the war neared its conclusion, they were increasingly staffed with slave labour. As a result, the Harz was the location of several hundred forced labour camps and KZs at that time. KZ Dora near Nordhausen in the South Harz became particularly infamous. This camp, ''[[Mittelbau-Dora]]'' (also ''Dora-Mittelbau'' and ''Nordhausen-Dora''), was a subcamp of [[Buchenwald concentration camp]]. Its prisoners were used by the [[SS]] mainly in the tunnel excavation and nearby underground stations of the [[Mittelwerk]] Ltd., in [[Kohnstein]], situated near [[Nordhausen, Thuringia|Nordhausen]], where the [[V-2 rocket]] and the flying bomb [[V-1 rocket]]  were produced. The slave labourers at the Dora camp were subjected to brutal conditions, which led to more than 20,000 deaths.

In February/March 1945 the SS Reichsführer, [[Heinrich Himmler]], established the Harz Fortress (''Harzfestung'') to defend [[central Germany (geography)|central Germany]] from the western allies. Its [[headquarters]] was at [[Blankenburg (Harz)|Blankenburg]]. Amongst the formations mobilised were divisions belonging to the [[11th Army (Wehrmacht)|11th Army]], divisions of the [[Waffen SS]] and the ''[[Volkssturm]]''. When the United States [[First Army (United States)|First Army]] reached [[Nordhausen, Thuringia|Nordhausen]] in the southern Harz, and went to advance northwards, it met with resistance, especially in the hills around the towns of [[Ilfeld]] and [[Ellrich]]. Not until 7&nbsp;May 1945 did the last formations of the 11th&nbsp;Army and Waffen SS in the Harz surrender. Several units of ''Volkssturm'' troops fought on against the Americans during May.

Shortly before his death in 2003, American Second World War veteran and organized crime figure, [[Frank Sheeran]], admitted to having participated in a massacre of German POWs in the Harz area. At the time, Sheeran was serving in the [[45th Infantry Division (United States)|45th U.S. Infantry Division]]. According to Sheeran, his unit was climbing the Harz when they came upon a mule train carrying supplies to German positions on the hillside. The Americans handed shovels to their prisoners, forced them to dig their own graves, then shot and buried them.<ref>Brandt, Charles (2004). "I Heard You Paint Houses": Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran and the Inside Story of the Mafia, the Teamsters, and the Last Ride of Jimmy Hoffa. Hanover, New Hampshire: Steerforth Press. [{{ISBN|978-1-58642-077-2}}. OCLC 54897800] Page 51.</ref>

[[Wernher von Braun]], one of the leading figures in the development of [[rocket]] technology in Germany during the Second World War and, subsequently, in the United States, reportedly ordered blueprints of his work to be hidden in an abandoned mine shaft in the Harz range.<ref name="Cadbury">{{cite book|last=Cadbury|first=Deborah|author-link=Deborah Cadbury|title=Space Race|year=2005|publisher=[[BBC Worldwide]]|isbn=0-00-721299-2}}</ref>

=== Former Inner German border ===
Until 1990, the [[Inner German border]] ran through the western third of the Harz. The Brocken plateau and other peaks near the border were part of a large military out-of-bounds area, which demonstrating walkers first entered on 3 December 1989. Tourism on the Brocken has since then become very intense – about 1.3 million people visit the summit of the Brocken annually. The former out-of-bounds area today has many habitats worth protecting and, as a result, it is being turned into a [[German Green Belt|green belt]].