The motif
For most of Earth's history, the Brocken had no guesthouse. This painting shows the oldest Brockenhaus. It was built in 1799 and, after several alterations, stood until it was destroyed in the Second World War — exactly where the Brockenhotel with its restaurant stands today. At 1,141 metres above sea level, the Brocken is home to the highest hotel and restaurant in Northern Germany.
Carl Gustav Carus painted the Brockenhaus in 1820 from a north-eastern angle. On the left-hand side you can see part of the "Wolkenhäuschen", which was built in 1736. This small stone weather hut with a wooden pointed roof, moss in the stone joints, and a bench inside was the only building up here when Goethe visited in 1777.
The painting reflects the artist’s very personal experience of the Brocken. It is early morning — the foreground is still cool and dark. On 30 August 1819, Carus signed the guestbook at the Brocken inn. Like the visitors at the viewing tower, he had stayed overnight in the Brockenhaus and must have been outside before five in the morning. As a keen observer, he was fascinated by the scattered rocks, which were glowing with a kind of halo in the backlight. Normally, painters try to capture the main façade of a building, where a levelled path already led to the entrance of the Brockenhaus. But there he would have had no backlight, fewer rocks, and no "Wolkenhaus" in the foreground. So Carus accepted showing the back of the building with its shed and garden, as well as the tower behind rather than in front of the inn, which he placed according to the golden ratio in his composition. He gave this painting to Goethe as a gift.
