NLP-Tour-06 - Around the Great Torfhaus Moor

The starting point for this circular trail is the TorfHaus National Park Visitor Center - where you can obtain information, brochures and hiking maps.

Large peat bog

The Goetheweg (hiking trail 10 F) takes us to the Großer Torfhausmoor, also known as Radauer Born-Moor, which we can cross on a boardwalk. A raised bog like this receives its nutrients exclusively from rainwater. It is therefore an extremely nutrient-poor habitat - only adapted animals and plants live here. The name "raised bog" comes from the high arch in the center of the bog. The diversity and dynamics of the moors in the Harz National Park are unique in Europe - a natural heritage of international importance. Please help to preserve this value by not entering the sensitive moorland areas.

Ditching: Cultural monument and environmental problem?

The Goetheweg is accompanied by an artificial watercourse - the Abbegraben. Goethe did not know it yet - it was only built in 1827. The 1.5 km long ditch is part of the "Oberharzer Wasserwirtschaft", the historic energy supply system of the Upper Harz mining industry. This cultural monument, consisting of 107 historic ponds, 310 kilometers of ditches and 31 kilometers of underground watercourses, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2010 by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. As important as the Abbegraben was for mining, it is just as detrimental to the moors. To supply it, there are numerous ditches that drain the upper areas of the Magdbettmoor. The national park has therefore renaturalized many of these ditches.

Kaiserweg

We follow the Goetheweg to the junction with the Kaiserweg. The Goetheweg continues to the right in the direction of Brocken. However, our hike takes us to the left - we now follow the Kaiserweg (hiking trail 35 E). This early trade route crosses the Harz Mountains from Harzburg and Königskrug to Nordhausen.

Bog spruce forest

We soon reach a bridge and cross the Abbe mountain stream. If we look to the left in the direction of Großes Torfhausmoor, we see a bog spruce forest. This natural forest community is a "combat zone" of the forest and forms at the edges of the moors. At the next crossroads, we leave the Kaiserweg and walk left and then left again towards Torfhaus (ski huts) on the Schubenstein (803 m). Here we meet the WaldWandelWeg trail. On a short detour here we can observe the forest in its own dynamic.

Old peat cutting

Shortly before the end of our hike, we pass an old peat cutting on the left. The spruce and dwarf shrub-covered walls in the background give an impressive impression of the thickness of the peat deposits in the Great Torfhaus Moor.