Why I like the Harz.

I have pretty much always lived on the Foothills of the Harz, but until pretty much just last Year, I never really appreciated its natural Beauty.

Then I started to collect to more actively Collect Wandernadel Stempel. With that, I learned many Things and saw even more. My Love for the Harz was reborn.

That does not mean that I did not like the Harz in between those Years though. There were Areas that I liked and others that I just never had heard of.

And there are still several Places I have yet to Explore for myself. Like the Teufelsmauer. Or the Hamburger Wappen and the Sandsteinhöhlen near Blankenburg.

I will get to them in the Future. There are also a few Places that I am not the biggest Fan of, but that is also perfectly Normal.

Over Time, I also found out that I like the normal, everyday Harz where there are no Stempelstellen is great as well. I learned to like those Places I had not liked in the Past because I thought they were overrated.

Off Course I found other Places that I am not that Fond of. But maybe that will also Change over Time.

I learned a lot about History and Heritage. There is just so much fascinating Stuff to be learned and seen.

Some of the History is quite Dark. Like Werk Tanne, where the Nazis made Explosives and filled Bombs and other nasty Things with it. They also heavily Polluted the Area in the Process.

Other Parts show true Levels of Human Ingenuity. Like the Teiche of the Oberharzer Wasserregal and the old Mines that are everywhere in the Harz. We bent the Area to our Needs, and it worked out very well. In Fact, those Teiche are now a Part of the Harzes Ecosystem.

That Mining History also led to massive Spruce Monocultures being planted in the Harz. And that kinda bites us nowadays. Mostly because Years of Draught and Bark Beetles kinda decimate those Trees.

The Process has started to Reforest the hardest affected Areas by now though, even though most Areas are still Planted with Evergreens, mostly Douglas Firs. But there are also a few Mixed Forests being Regrown.

We will see where that leads the Harz in the Future. Maybe it will Work out, maybe it will not. I am not an Expert in Forestry, so I can not really tell.

My Love of the Harz is just as diverse as the Area itself. Not everything is Bad here in Germany’s Northernmost Mountains though.

I still believe that we have, at least in some Areas, have learned from Past Mistakes and have moved on from the old Ways.

Off Course not everything is well though. But I believe with a little old fashioned Human Ingenuity, we can get through pretty much anything. I believe in us.

I do not Like the Harz. I love it!