{"id":7075,"date":"2016-03-04T02:03:40","date_gmt":"2016-03-04T02:03:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=7075"},"modified":"2017-11-30T15:19:06","modified_gmt":"2017-11-30T15:19:06","slug":"german-nationalparks-part-5-harz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/german-nationalparks-part-5-harz\/","title":{"rendered":"German Nationalparks \u2013 Part 5: Harz"},"content":{"rendered":"

Travel<\/a><\/p>\n

This is part 5 of the series here on the German Blog, the German\u00a0Nationalparks<\/em>, a series on the 16 National Parks of Germany. Last week, we went to the natural glory of the forests of the Eifel<\/a>. <\/em>The week before, I discussed\u00a0Park\u00a0M\u00fcritz<\/a><\/em>, and before that\u00a0park\u00a0Berchtesgaden<\/a>, <\/em>and the\u00a0mysterious\u00a0Schwarzwald<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0Today, we will travel to one of the central, and most well-known parks:\u00a0Der Harz!<\/em><\/p>\n

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The National Parks in Germany (Image by Lencer at Commons.wikimedia.org under license CC BY SA 3.0)<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Der Nationalpark Harz<\/a><\/em><\/h3>\n

The\u00a0Harz<\/em>, including its\u00a0Brocken<\/em>, was\u00a0part of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) or\u00a0DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik<\/em>) and from the 1960s until the 1990s it was closed off from tourists. This allowed nature to thrive here for all those decades. And after the\u00a0Nationalpark Harz\u00a0<\/em>was established in the final days of the\u00a0DDR<\/em>, this natural protection was even guaranteed and promoted. Later, the\u00a0Nationalpark\u00a0<\/em>Harz\u00a0<\/em>was also expanded to other parts to become the\u00a0Nationalpark\u00a0<\/em>it is now.<\/p>\n

What is special about the\u00a0Nationalpark\u00a0<\/em>Harz<\/em>?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Because the Harz\u00a0<\/em>was a\u00a0\u00a0Sperrgebiet\u00a0<\/em>(restricted area) during the\u00a0DDR\u00a0<\/em>time, the area around the\u00a0Brocken\u00a0<\/em>became a real “Brockenurwald” (Brocken jungle). Talking about the\u00a0Brocken<\/em>, it is the highest top in the\u00a0Harz\u00a0<\/em>and Northern Germany, with its 1141 m (approx. 3750 ft). I remember, when I was small, that I went up there with my family. And it looked much like on this picture back then! The way up was icy and cold… At least on the way down we could use our sleighs!<\/p>\n

But the\u00a0Brocken\u00a0<\/em>is not the only attraction of the park. There are old ore mines you can visit, many trails you can hike… But let images speak for itself! Below are some videos,\u00a0narrated by people that actually really want to go themselves too…<\/p>\n

See underneath each video a transcript of what they said.<\/p>\n