Harz National Park

The Dreieckige Pfahl ("Triangular Post") is a historic boundary stone, about 1.35 metres high and made of granite, located southwest of the Brocken, the highest mountain in the Harz Mountains of central Germany. The stone, erected before 1866, marked the border between the Kingdom of Hanover and the Duchy of Brunswick. Originally this spot was a tripoint. During the division of Germany the border between the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany ran past the Dreieckiger Pfahl. Today it marks the border between the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony, the post lying just within the Lower Saxon side. During the Cold War it was accessible from the west. The historic stone stands at an elevation of about 870 metres, around 2.5 kilometres east of a car park on the B 4 federal road between Torfhaus and Oderbrück. The first recorded mention of a boundary stone being located here dates to the year 1727. On a map of the Upper Forest of Braunlage (Oberforst Braunlage) is the note "drey Eckjer Pfahl anno 1698". From a description of the Harzburg Forest (Harzburger Forsten) the original stone is described thus: Solcher Pfahl ist auch nach Communion Seite zur linken Hand mit Nr. 1 und einer Wolfsangel, nach Braunlagischer Seite mit drey Hieben und auf Elbingeroder Seite mit Nr. 1 und einem Kreuz ingleichen mit der Jahreszahl 1698 gesetzt und hat dabei seinen Namen erhalten. ...which translates roughly as... Such a post was also erected with a No. 1 and a wolfsangel inscribed on the left hand side facing Communion, three gashes on the Elbingerode side, and a No. 1 and a cross with the year 1698 inscribed on the Braunlage side; hence its name. The boundary markers were subsequently replaced on a regular basis. In 1736 a wooden post was erected and, in 1791, one made of stone. In 1844 a new post was made in oakwood. The present triangular stone was erected before 1866. It bears the No. 1 and, on its northeastern and southwestern sides the letters KH for Kingdom of Hanover, and on the southeastern side the letters HB for the Duchy of Brunswick (Herzogtum Braunschweig). The original triangular shape was retained. In 1894 a railway station was planned at the site of the Dreieckiger Pfahl. Engineer Louis Degen, who had drawn up plans for a Harz railway running on the territory of Brunswick from Walkenried via Wieda to Braunlage (later called the South Harz Railway), envisaged an extension of the line to the most northerly point of this piece of Brunswick terrain – the district of Blankenburg. Previously, in 1892, the construction of a road requested by several parishes in the West Harz, which would have branched off at the Dreieckiger Pfahl from the road from Torfhaus/Oderbrück to Schierke and run to the Brocken Road, had been refused by the Chamber of the Principality of Stolberg-Wernigerode. The station was to have been equipped with a run-around loop. However the railway was only built as far as Braunlage. A goods track ran to the north of Braunlage to the granite quarry on the Wurmberg mountain, but it never reached the Dreieckiger Pfahl. Until 1945 there was a small restaurant at the Dreieckiger Pfahl, which was mainly frequented by hikers to the Brocken. The building was burnt down by American troops in April 1945, because SS and Wehrmacht soldiers as well as Hitler Youth had been hiding in huts in this area. The pub was never rebuilt. Today, there is a rest area for hikers and mountain bikers in the vicinity of the Dreieckiger Pfahl as well as box no. 168 on the Harzer Wandernadel network of hiking checkpoints.

The Kalte Bode is the left-hand headstream of the Bode in the High Harz Mountains in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is 17 kilometres (11 mi) long.

At 925 m above sea level (NN), the Achtermannshöhe (also just called the Achtermann) in the Harz National Park is the third highest mountain in Lower Saxony and the fourth highest in the Harz mountains. It lies in the unincorporated area of Harz between the Harz-Heide route (B 4) and the old Inner German Border about 6 km north of Braunlage. Its summit, covered with loose boulders, stands proud of the surrounding trees and offers a superb all-round view. Equally its characteristic rounded hilltop or Kuppe is visible in good weather from many other points in the Harz. The Achtermann may be accessed by paths leading from Oderbrück and Königskrug.

The Hirschhorn Rocks (German: Hirschhornklippen or Hirschhörner) are a natural monument in the Harz National Park in central Germany.

Radau is a river of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is right tributary of the Oker. It rises in the Harz range, leaves the mountains at Bad Harzburg, and discharges into the Oker near Vienenburg.

The Oderteich is an historic reservoir about seven kilometres northeast of Sankt Andreasberg in the Upper Harz in central Germany. It was built by miners from St. Andreasberg in the years 1715 to 1722 and, today, is an important component of the water supply network known as the Upper Harz Water Regale (Oberharzer Wasserregal). Moreover, for 170 years, from the time it was completed to the end of the 19th century, the Oderteich had the largest dam in Germany. The dam lies at a height of 725 m above NN by the B 242 federal highway, about a kilometre west of its intersection with the B 4.

The Königsberg is a neighbouring peak of the Brocken and, at 1033.5 m above sea level the third highest elevation in the Harz mountains. It lies on a long ridge that runs from southeast to northwest about 1.5 km south of the Brocken's summit. Near its summit on the northwest side is the rock formation of Hirschhörner (max. 1,023.2 m). To the east the land descends to the Schwarze Schluftwasser, a small tributary of the Kalte Bode which flows south of the mountain. To the east on the far side of the Schwarzer Schluftwasser is the Heinrichshöhe (1,039.5 m), another subpeak of the Brocken.

Ulrichswasser is a river of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Warme Bode in the town of Braunlage in the district of Goslar.

Torfhaus is a village in the borough of the mining town of Altenau in the Harz mountains of Germany and lies at a height of about 800 m above sea level (NN). It is the highest settlement in Lower Saxony. This small settlement consists mainly of restaurants, youth hostels, ski huts and large car parks. A resort area with hotel and cabins was built in 2012/2013. The B 4 federal road, which is a major traffic route, runs from Brunswick to the north via Torfhaus to Braunlage and on into the South and East Harz. Today Torfhaus is a popular start point for walks along the Goethe Way to the Brocken, but also to the historic Dreieckiger Pfahl boundary stone and on over the mountains of the Wurmberg or Achtermannshöhe to Braunlage.

The Kahle Klippe is a rock formation in the High Harz in central Germany on the eastern slope of the Brocken above the valley of the Ecker. It lies about halfway between the level crossing over the Hirtenweg path and the Ecker at a height of 1,011 metres above sea level. The rocks cannot be seen from the summit of the Brocken, the highest mountain in the Harz and the best view of them is from the village of Torfhaus. Because the rocks lie in the core zone of the Harz National Park, they may only be visited with the permission of the National Park management. It is one of the most difficult crags to reach in the High Harz. An old forest path runs past the rocks, passing within 100 metres. Below the Kahle Klippe lies the still inaccessible Brandklippe crag. See also: List of rock formations in the Harz

The Hahnenklee Crags (German: Hahnenkleeklippen) are a rock formation west of Braunlage in the district of Goslar in Lower Saxony, Germany. They consist of hornfels.

The Brocken Transmitter (German: Sender Brocken) is a facility for FM- and TV-transmitters on the Brocken, the highest mountain in Northern Germany. The facility includes two transmission towers. The old tower was built between 1936 and 1937. It is 53 metres high (including its antenna mast, which no longer exists, it had a height of 95 metres) and has an observation deck, which can be reached by elevator. This tower was intended to be used after 1939 for TV transmissions to central Germany, but due to the beginning of World War II, it was transformed into a radar facility. Unlike most modern TV towers, the old tower looks like a block of flats with a square cross section. The arrangement of the windows in the observation deck is similar to those in the restaurant in the Radio tower Berlin. In 1973 a new TV tower was built on Brocken. This 123-metre, freestanding steel-tube tower stands on three legs, which hold shafts for cable and stairways for personnel access. Above the legs are three decks for directional radio transmission aerials. The new TV tower is not accessible to the public. While Germany was divided into East and West, the Brocken transmitter was used for TV and FM-transmissions, even though it lay in the restricted area of the east-west frontier (on the Eastern Side). Its location so close to the border enabled it to be received in parts of the West. In the first half of the 1990s the transmitting aerial of the old tower was removed and replaced by a radome holding air traffic control radar equipment. The Brocken Transmitter is property of Deutsche Telekom.