Scharfenstein (Ilsenburg)

Coordinates: 51°49′56″N 10°36′03″E / 51.83222°N 10.60083°E / 51.83222; 10.60083
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Scharfenstein
Harz district, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
Harz
(Upper Harz, High Harz)

The Scharfenstein is a mountain, 697.6 m above 

Harz in Saxony-Anhalt. It is part of the Harz National Park
.

Geographical location

Ecker Reservoir

The Scharfenstein lies southwest of

Ecker River, straddling the border between the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony. The mountain is topped by a tor, the Scharfensteinklippe; which has particularly good views of the Brocken, and in the direction of Torfhaus
and the Ecker Reservoir. Below the summit is the Scharfenstein ranger station of the national park with a self-service cafe.

Name

Its name is descriptive and comes from the German scharfer/spitzer ("sharp", "pointed") or schroffer ("rugged", "craggy") and Stein ("rock" or "stone"). The Scharfenstein's appearance as a solid, rocky crag is particularly evident when viewed from the south, for example, from the Ecker Reservoir.

History

The area around the Scharfenstein was used from 1420 as a cattle pasture by the settlement at Ilsenburg, for which the first herdsman's house was built. The cattle farm was still being managed in 1816 from

Otto of Stolberg-Wernigerode
has a forester's lodge built that, together with the forest settlement that emerged in the 1920s, developed into a popular stop for hikers en route to the Brocken as well as a restaurant and place to stay.

On 11/12 April 1945 US troops occupied the Scharfenstein without a fight. They were replaced in July that year by the Red Army.

Because of its location near the border of

Inner German Border. The old forester's lodge was demolished in 1960 and, in 1969, a new barracks was built for the East German border troops
. This, in turn, fell victim to the demolition ball in 1999 and the area was renaturalised as part of the National Park. In 2002 the present park ranger station with two log cabins was opened roughly where the former barracks had been.

Hiking

Ruins of the old cattle farm at the Scharfenstein

The Scharfenstein ranger station is part of the system of checkpoints (No. 2) in the Harzer Wandernadel walking trail network.

Immediately next to the ranger station, a narrow signposted path leads to the summit, the walk taking about 15 minutes. The same route must be used on the way down, because it is in the middle of the Harz National Park and visitors may not leave the paths. South of the Scharfenstein begins the Herdsman's Path (Hirtenstieg) which runs past the Kleiner Brocken on an old concrete road that was built to monitor the former inner German Border to the west and that leads up to the Brocken.

See also

References

  1. Federal Agency for Nature Conservation
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