Editing Harz (section)

=== 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.