Geopark LM 3 Englisch 2007.indd - Geopark Harz

Selected Hotels
1
1 Ringhotel Goldener Löwe
Seesen
www.loewe-seesen.de
+49 53 81- 9 33 - 0
2
2
Hotel Winterberg
Bad Harzburg
www.solehotels.de
+49 53 22 - 92 86 92
3
3
Hotel Tannenhof
Bad Harzburg
www.solehotels.de
+ 49 53 22 - 9 68 80
®
Geopark Harz . Braunschweiger Land . Ostfalen was founded
in 2002. Regionalverband Harz e.V. has assumed sponsorship
for the Harz Mountains area. The general map tells you
where to find Landmark 3 Rammelsberg. This flyer, like all
the others, covering a total of 17 landmarks, will help you
plan your next visit to Nature and Geopark Harz.
Landmarks
of the
Geopark Harz
Association area
of the
Regionalverband
Harz
14
Goslar
Halberstadt
Schönebeck
3
1 2
8
Wernigerode Quedlinburg
4
Osterode a.H.
9 Aschersleben
11
13
5
15
Bernburg
16 6 10 17
Nordhausen
7 Sangerhausen Eisleben
12
Authors: Friedhart Knolle, Dr. Volker Wrede, Hans-Georg Dettmer & Achim Jahns
The authors express their thanks to the Goslar Marketing GmbH and
Dr. Hans-Joachim Franzke for permission to use text components.
Translation: Holly Pankow, Dipl.-Geol. Friedhart Knolle
Photos: Bothe, George
Editing: Dr. K. George, C. Linke
Publisher: Regionalverband Harz e. V., Hohe Straße 6, 06484 Quedlinburg
(Fon +49 3946-96410, Fax: +49 3946-964142, Internet: www.harzregion.de,
Email: rvh@harzregion.de)
© Regionalverband Harz e. V., Quedlinburg 2007
All rights reserved
Conception & Design: Design Office Werbeagentur
Printing: Koch-Druck Halberstadt
Kindly supported by:
Niedersächsisches Ministerium
für Wissenschaft und Kultur

Iron ore
Friederike Mine in Bündheim 8
We drive back along the main road, turn off to
the right and follow alongside the horse racing
track until we arrive at Bündheim, a suburb of
Bad Harzburg. We follow along the street further
into town and then, in the long left curve, we turn
right into the Silberbornstraße. At the end of the
street we come to the game enclosure which is
on the grounds of the former Friederike Iron Ore
Mine. The street name “Grubenweg” (Mine Road)
and a directional sign are a reminder of the
mining history. Imbedded in the Lower Jurassic
(Lias) clays are four ore deposits with a combined
thickness of 20 metres. These ores are the product
of weathering of dry land nearby (today the Ammonite
Harz Mts.) which even in the Jurassic period lay
above sea level. Ore precipitated in the coastal shore area.
The ore deposits Peine-Salzgitter were also similarly formed,
but originated in the Cretaceous period. The Friederike Mine
was famous for its large ammonites; well preserved specimens
can be found in the collection of the Goslar Museum,
as well as others. The old colliery spoils have been levelled or
are inside the game enclosure. There is also little left of the
mine structures; only the linear subsidence areas with
obvious depressions above the mining cavities are easily
detectable.
Distant views and salt springs
Burgberg Bad Harzburg
9
Bad Harzburg was founded in 1894
when the village of Neustadt became a
township, taking its name from the
nearby Harzburg Fortress, which was
built around 1065 under HEINRICH IV as
one of the first Harz imperial fortresses.
With its favourable location on the
steep Burgberg Mountain it became
one of the most important fortresses
of its time, playing a key role in the Burgberg Bad Harzburg
Saxon Revolts and being plundered
and destroyed in 1074. After reconstruction under OTTO IV it
regained fame: the imperial insignia of the Holy Roman
Empire were kept here. The death of OTTO IV in the fortress
ended its role of importance. Still existing on the Großer Burgberg
is the 57-metre deep fortress well. From the Canossa
Column on the Burgberg there is a tremendous view out over
the Northern Harz Border and the area of our previous excursion
route as well as the Harz Foreland lying further to the
north. Out of this the individual hillside ranges, formed by salt
tectonics, such as the Harly Anticline (salt saddle) near
Vienenburg with its former potassium mine, rise.
Bad Harzburg is known today for its saltwater baths, fed by
the springs originating in the Harznordrand Thrust. A total of
six curative and mineral water springs gush from the earth
here. As early as 1569 a saline which continued operation
until 1849 was erected here under Duke JULIUS VON BRAUNSCHWEIG.
The salt springs were located near the centre of today’s town
(street name Am alten Salzwerk, meaning “at the old salt
works”). Thereafter the saline was converted into a saltwater
spa, making use of the mineral water collected in various

shafts and boreholes for curative drinking and bathing treatments.
To increase the output of mineral water, an 840 m
deep well was drilled in the spa park in 1964/65. It first
passed through layers of the Harz Paleozoic, then through the
southwards sloping, inclined Harznordrand Thrust and under
that the inverted Upper Buntsandstein and Muschelkalk rocks.
From the saliniferous Muschelkalk, 2% salt brine with a temperature
of 30° C flows into the drilled well shaft. So Bad
Harzburg has a thermal spring, as well!
From the spa park in Bad Harzburg the Großer Burgberg is
easily reached by funicular railway - and a visit to the Haus der
Natur (Nature Visitor Centre) is also worthwhile. Using modern
media the forest and Nationalpark Harz ecosystems are presented.
The introduction to the environmental presentation is
an overdimensional “nature library” which deals with the variety
of animal and plant life in the Harz.
Excursion to the west
Grane Valley Reservoir
10
We leave Goslar heading west along the
B 82, following the signs to the
Granetalsperre (Grane Valley Reservoir).
Doing so we cross through the gravel
and pebble landscape of the Haar. The
approximately 10 metre thick layer of
Pleistocene gravel is easily apparent;
the lowermost bed is material from the
Harz, over it lies gravel containing nordic
material which was transported by Granetalsperre
glaciers from Scandinavia to the Harz
area. Gravel from here was used in construction of the Grane
Reservoir. We arrive at Herzog-Julius-Hütte, a settlement
which goes back to a smelting works where ore from the
Rammelsberg has been smelted since the middle ages. Today
arsenic, gallium, germanium, indium and other special
metals for the semiconductor and IT industry are produced
on the sites of the former smelting works. Up the hill to the
right we come to the Grane Valley Reservoir Waterworks. The
Grane River Dam was built from 1966 to 1969, primarily to
retain drinking water. The exhibit entitled “Water, the special
Resource” is worth a visit. The highlight of the exhibit is an
8,000 litre aquarium where fish can be observed in an environment
modelled after their natural habitat. From the winch
house on the dam we enjoy the distant view of the Harz
Border, the North Harz Upthrow and the Innerste Synclinal
Valley, which stretch to the forested ridge of the Salzgitter
Anticline (salt saddle) in the background. This synclinal valley
is the westernmost part of the Subhercynian Basin, that is the
Cretaceous syncline structure lying before the Harz and following
along the Northern Harz Edge.
For further information: www.harzwasserwerke.de
White cliffs along the Innerste
Kanstein near Langelsheim
11
We drive back to the B 82n and further toward the west to the
old smelting community of Langelsheim (exit Langelsheim
Ost). On entering the community we turn right in the direction
of Jerstedt. The small road brings us to the long geological
profile of the Kanstein.

The undercut river bank of the
Innerste River reveals the series of
strata. The Cretaceous profile begins
with the Hils Sandstone of the Lower
Cretaceous, which lies here discordant
on Upper Jurassic clays. After
that, shallow strata of Minimus Clay
and gravely, greyish-yellow speckled
Flammenmergel follow. Following
these are limestones of the Lower Kanstein
Muschelkalk, which in turn are followed
by Rotpläner and Turon limestones as well as Coniac
beds. These were quarried in a large quarry to the right of the
road, the Langelsheim Quarry of the Rohstoffbetriebe Oker
GmbH & Co. If the strata have been steep to overtilted up to
here, now the transition to nearly flat layering can be seen in
the profile. Searching for fossils in the Kanstein quarry is worthwhile.
It also offers a view of the fissuring and faulting
system in the rocks of the area. Along the tectonic structures,
movement of larger rock bodies occurred, and, intensified by
the influence of tectonic caves, caused rockfall and continuing
danger of landslides, making the relocation of the county road
neces–sary. At the top of the Kanstein the remains of a
Carolingian fortress were found.
Lutter Basin 12
Back in Langelsheim, we continue
our drive in the direction of Seesen
and soon reach the Lutter Basin.
Framing this are, in the east, ranges
of hills consisting predominately
of Hils Sandstone, which in
this area is particularly firmly formed
and was formerly quarried
extensively near Ostlutter. The Lutter Basin
church in Lutter is an outstanding
example of the local stonemasons’ craftsmanship. The forested
ridge on the western edge of the Lutter Saddle consists,
in contrast, of the hard limestone of the Lower Muschelkalk.
To the south the Harz Palaeozoic closes the Lutter Basin. Here
the Harznordrand Thrust runs out within a short distance.
Lutter became known through the Battle of Lutter on
Barenberg which took place here in 1626. The imperial-ligistic
troups under TILLY so completely defeated the army of the
Danish King CHRISTIAN IV that they had to retreat to Holstein.
Unsuccessful endeavours
Kupferschiefer mining near
Neuekrug-Hahausen
13
Near Hahausen we leave the B 82
and drive along the B 248 in the
direction of Seesen to the car park
between Neuekrug and the junction
with the county road to
Bornhausen. We walk back along
the bicycle path adjacent the road
for 700 m, then left along the
asphalt agricultural access road,
Colliery spoils near Neuekrug

and, before reaching the railway
bridge, along the grass-covered
pathway. Here we meet the most
northerly branch of the Zechstein
Range, which accompanies the
Harz along its southern side.
Quite near the base of the
Zechstein, Kupferschiefer (copper
shale) occurs, the metal content
of which formed the basis
Kupferschiefer heap Neuekrug
for mining in the Mansfeld and
Sangerhausen mining areas (Landmark 12 ). Encouraged by
the economical success here, attempts were made to also
obtain Kupferschiefer ore. The geological situation and a too
marginal metal content quickly lead to the failure of the New
Mansfield Copper and Silver Mining Company. Left are the
colliery spoils, on which one can find clumps of Zechsteinkalk
and Kupferschiefer. Fossils of fish parts (Palaeoniscus freieslebeni)
have also been found here.
Sink holes and drinking water
Water Trail Winkelsmühle
14
As we leave Seesen we turn right in
the direction of Gasthaus Winkelsmühle.
The Water Trail Winkelsmühle
there leads us along an enjoyable
walk through the beautiful sinkhole
and lake landscape and to the nature
protection area “Silberhohl” with its
impressive large sinkhole. These sinkholes
were formed by the local dissolving
of the underground Zechstein
gypsum which resulted in the incasion
of the overlying Buntsandstein
rocks. Many sinkholes are today filled
with water.
Winkelsmühle pond landscape
Geo collection, pianos and tinware
City Museum Seesen
15
We have now reached the end
of the North Harz Border.
Seesen was formerly called
Sehusa (= Seehausen, roughly
“pond community”). The ponds
within the town area are now
silted; remains of these water
bodies, which resulted in part
from sinkholes, can be found
e.g. in the Schlossteich (castle Museum Seesen
pond) behind the city museum.
A visit to the museum is worthwhile, not only from a
geological point of view. Besides the extensive mining, geo
and mineral collection, piano construction is a main feature,
as the Steinway & Sons Company originated in this area.
Further exhibits deal with the tinwares industry in Seesen;
HEINRICH ZÜCHNER produced around 1830 the first German tin
can here, by hand.

3
®
Landmark 3
Rammelsberg

Classic Geological Square Mile
The westerly North Harz Border is quite rightly known as the
“Classic Geological Square Mile” because here a nearly complete
sequence from the Palaeozoic up to the most recent
sedimentations are revealed in close proximity. There is an
almost entirely unbroken chain of evidence of nearly 400
million years of
earth’s history - like
nearly nowhere else
in Middle Europe!
The North Harz
Border bears the
imprint of a large
tectonic fault line on
the middle of which
Goslar, too, lies.
Through the reverse
fault of the Harz
over its foreland at
the Harznordrand
Thrust, the strata
were shoved up vertically
from their
horizontal position
for more than 4,000
m. Therefore along
North Harz Geoprofile (according to Mohr)
the Harz Border the lithologic sequence from the Mesozoic is
accessible on the earth’s surface. So here rocks from
Buntsandstein, Muschelkalk, Keuper, Jurassic as well as
Upper and Lower Cretaceous occur; east of Bad Harzburg and
west of Hahausen, Zechstein also shows outcrops. Most of
the strata are rich in fossils and are or were exposed in
numerous quarries, sand or clay pits. Many geological collections
have specimens. Particularly worthy of mention are the
collection in the Goslar Museum, which provides an excellent
overall view of the geologic development of the North Harz,
and the mineral collection in the World Cultural Heritage
Rammelsberg with numerous specimens from the deposits of
the Rammelsberg. Between Goslar and Bad Harzburg Devonian
rocks butt the Mesozoic rocks of the Harz Border from the
south. They form the broad structure of the Upper Harz
Devonian Saddle, in the core of which Lower Devonian sandstones
and quartzites occur (Kahleberg Sandstone). From the
west the Goslar Trough joins in; the 1,000 m thick Middle
Devonian shales with diabases bear witness of submarine
volcanic activity. Between the saddle and the trough, fissures
broke open, through which metallic solutions rose. They formed
ore sludges on the ocean floor, which later solidified into
the ores of the Rammelsberg. The residual pollution of land
and ground water and other environmental problems resulting
from mining and the concurrent smelting, as well as the
unique heavy metal vegetation and numerous reclamation
attempts, are displayed in an exemplary manner - one could
therefore also speak of the “Classic Square Mile of
Environmental Geology”.

World Cultural Heritage I
Rammelsberg Goslar
1
In contrast to the Upper Harz ore deposits,
the Rammelsberg ore was formed on
the ocean-floor together with the surrounding
sediments. The orebodies lie overturned,
that is to say “upside down” - a
result of the folding of the Harz Mountains.
The ores are rich in lead, zinc and copper
as well as other elements, among which
are cadmium, gold and silver. For the In the Rathstiefste Gallery
mine owners of the past, the foremost
interest was obtaining copper and silver,
and later lead; modern mining concentrated
on obtaining zinc and barite.
The Old Orebody was probably discovered
as early as the Bronze Age. Later- in
the middle ages and early modern times
– it provided the wealth of the German
kings, the Dukes of Brunswick and the
City of Goslar. During the high middle Rammelsberg banded ore
ages the major emphasis was on argentine
copper ore - so abundant that the
Ottonian and Salian emperors built the
largest of all their palatinates at the foot
of the Rammelsberg. Commerce in metals
secured the merchants of Goslar influence
in the Hanseatic League. During the
second period of prosperity in the
Rammelsberg in the 16th century, however,
the rights to the mines were taken by
Geology tour
the Dukes of Brunswick - to the detriment of the Goslar mine
owners, but not to the detriment of mining.
A final period of prosperity occurred in Rammelsberg mining
in the 20th century, after optimal separation of the finely
intergrown ore had been achieved. In 1988 the deposit was
exhausted; mining and ore dressing operations were shut
down. The Rammelsberg was the only ore mine works in the
world which had been in continual operation for over 1000
years. In 1992, together with the Old Town of Goslar, it was
entered on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.
When visiting the WELTKULTURERBE RAMMELSBERG one
encounters important mining monuments everywhere: mine
dumps from the 10th century, the Rathstiefste Gallery (12 th
c.), the Feuergezäher Vault (the oldest masonry-constructed
underground mine room in Europe), the Maltermeister Tower
(the oldest above ground structure of German mining), the
Roeder Gallery (19th c.) with its water wheels, and many
others. In four museum buildings permanent as well as changing
exhibits covering the life and work of man, modern art
- which open baffling approaches to the local work culture -
as well as geology and mineralogy are presented.
www.rammelsberg.de
+49 53 21-75 00
for English tours advance booking is required
Open daily
9:00 a.m – 6:00 p.m.
(except Dec. 24. and 31.)

World Cultural Heritage II
Old Town Goslar
2
Our Goslar visit
begins at the Kaiserpfalz
car park - from
here there is a good
view of the mighty
Romanesque imperial
palace. For centuries
Goslar was
the favourite court
and residence of
the travelling monarchs.
In 1009 the
first imperial diet in
Goslar took place; the town remained an important centre of
power of the German kings and emperors until 1253. At the
same time a centre of Christian faith, the “Rome of the North”,
arose here: 47 churches, chapels and monasteries delineated
the town’s silhouette.
Goslar’s narrow Old Town streets are a particular delight,
where every house has its own history. The core of the Old
Town was laid out in a compact square kilometre. In the
midst of it, in a building typical of Goslar - a two-storied late
Gothic structure - the Goslar Museum’s collections covering
medieval and more recent town history, art and culture, geology
and mineralogy of the
Harz are presented. In an
exhibit newly arranged in
2006/2007 presenting the
“classic geological square
mile” an information center
of the UNESCO Geopark
Harz - Braunschweiger Land
- Ostfalen is integrated.
The reconstruction of a
1000 year old Harz smelting
oven imparts information
about historic smelting
techniques. With these
exponents the museum
plays an important role as
an information station of the Geopark Harz. Along with the
neighbouring leather tanning mill it is to become part of
further development of the “Museumsufer” in the next years.
Opening hours Museum:
Ap.- Oct. 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Nov.- Mar.10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Daily except Monday
www.goslar.de
+49-5321-43394
Imperial Palace
Goslar Museum
Erzbergwerk Rammelsberg & Altstadt Goslar
UNESCO - WELTKULTURERBE
WORLD HERITAGE · PATRIMOINE MONDIAL

Curious sandstone formations
Klusfelsen Goslar
The 20 metre high rock rib of the Klusfelsen is
today hidden behind the home for the elderly at
Petersberg 4, east of the Schützenplatz and near
the Breites Tor (Broad Gate). It can be reached via
the Osterfeld and Petersberg streets. We follow
the signs for “Kluskapelle”.
The Klusfelsen looks brown due to weathering –
but it consists of coarse, porous, yellow Hils
Sandstone which was formed in a shallow sea
near the coastline in the Lower Cretaceous about
110 million years ago and can reach thicknesses
of nearly 100 m. The southerly coastline was
only a few kilometres south of where the Klusfelsen
stands today in the North Harz Region. Klusfelsen
The Hils Sandstone is representative of a distinctive
transgression of the Niedersachsen Basin. From the sediment
structures, for example the cross bedding, it can be
assumed that the prevailing ocean current flowed parallel to
the coastline from northwest to southeast.
The Hils Sandstone was formerly an important quarry stone,
quarried mostly in the area of Langelsheim and Lutter am
Barenberge to provide building stones for sacred architecture
and for modelling of fine architectural elements. The pores of
this sandstone are often incompletely filled with quartz
cement, thus the stone tends to disintegrate which can lead
to structural damage. The nearby classical geosites, the Ratssandgrube
and the Osterfeld Brickyard, have unfortunately
been demolished to a great extent. The outcrop line Petersberg
(Upper Cretaceous) – Neue Ziegelei Osterfeld (Keuper –
Buntsandstein) was a unique supraregional geoprofile.
12
14
15
13
11
10
2
1
3
4
6
5
7
8
9
Kartografie Verwaltungs-Verlag München, Licence No. 07-08-110
Further city maps under www.stadtplan.net
The map will assist you in planning your own personal georoute
around the Rammelsberg. Tours under competent guidance can
also be booked (Dr. Steiger, Managing Director of the team of
the Harz Mountains regional association’s geogides,
DR. STEIGER, +49 3944 - 36 90 85 or e-mail: T_Steiger@gmx.de).
The Regionalverband Harz e. V. wishes you pleasant relaxing holidays
and interesting insight into the geology and the history of the
part of that Nature and Geopark Harz which you have just been
introduced you.

Excursion to the east
Sudmerberg and the industrial
landscape around Oker
From the Klusfelsen we drive toward
Oker and soon see the broad
Sudmerberg Mountain 4 with its transmission
tower. We turn off to the left in
the suburb of Sudmerberg, drive to a
car park near the Schützenhaus building
and climb the forest path to the
top of the mountain, consisting of
Upper Middle Santonian (Upper
Cretaceous) sandstones. The discordances
tell the geologist that the last
important movements on the Harznordrand
Thrust took place here during the transition from
Middle to Upper Santonian. The Santonian beds were built up
of alternating stratifications of hard calcareous sandstone
and softer clay. The yellow sandstone of the Sudmerberg in
particular was quarried for use in construction of many buildings
in the Goslar region - like the observation tower, from
which, especially in the morning hours, one can enjoy a lovely
view over Goslar with the sun on one’s back. Looking toward
the Harz the settling basins of the former Lean Ore Dressing
Works of the Rammelsberg Mine can be seen. We will stop
there as we drive toward the east, passing under the railway
bridge in Oker and turning right
in the Stadtstieg and then going
from the tennis courts up to the
Bollrich airfield.
Even after the closing of the ore
dressing facilities the settling
ponds have a function: In them
the sedimentation of solid materials
remaining after water treatment
of the pit water from the
former ore mines takes place.
Depending on the amount of
rainfall, up to 90,000 cubic
metres of contaminated pit water
per year is treated to avoid
further pollution of the centurylong
non-ferrous metal carrying
Abzucht and Oker rivers.
In the smelter community of
Sudmerberg observation tower
Oker, ores from the Rammelsberg
have been smelted since
the middle ages 5 . The non-fer-
Oker industrial landscape
rous metal smelting works in
Oker-Harlingerode goes back to the Frau Marien Saiger
Metallurgic Plant, founded in 1527. Today primary ores are
no longer smelted here - the recycling plants treat materials
from all over Europe. Looking over the industrial landscape
the white wall of a gigantic geological outcrop attracts our
interest: the Langenberg.
5
4

Vision Jura Park
Oker limestone quarry
6
At the centre of Oker we turn to the left toward
Bad Harzburg. The straight road takes us to
the granite region of the Oker valley. Running
parallel to the Harzburger Straße is the
Harznordrand Thrust, apparent in the steeply
uplifted Adenberg – its rocks dating from the
Lower Devonian. After several hundred metres
we turn left in the direction of Harlingerode
and reach the entry drive of the Kalkwerk Oker
of the Rohstoffbetriebe Oker GmbH, at the
west end of the Langenberg. The gigantic farstretching
quarry faces of this quarry expose in
the south flank of the Langenberg, steeply Oker limestone quarry
over-tilted and dipping to the south, partly
dolomitic limestones and marl limestones of the Upper
Jurassic.
The large Langenberg outcrop area provides a unique view of
the strata sequence of the sediments tilted up along the
Harznordrand Thrust - it is a dominant landscape element.
Especially the limestone is particularly rich in fossils. In recent
years saurian bones have been discovered; this gave impetus to
the planning of a Jura Park. To visit the quarry it is mandatory
to announce your presence and obtain permission from the
plant management to enter the site.
A stop at the factory fence of the smelting
works west of the county road makes it possible
to study a well developed and most
varied example of Harz heavy metal vegetation
with Armeria halleri on heavy metal contaminated
ground. The North Harz is a European
major frequency area of plant families specially
adapted to living on metallic soils - an intriguing
environmental-geologic chapter of the
Rammelsberg landmark.
Armeria halleri
www.okerkalk.de
Quarz
Elfenstein
7
Returning to the Harzburger Straße we continue in the direction
of Bad Harzburg, turning off to the right at the Silberbornbad
(car park). We walk across the grounds of the horse racing track
and the manmade landscape of the stud farm pastures (worthy
of protection) which stretch out over the Jurassic and Triassic
strata hidden underground. We can see large quartzite blocks
lying alongside the road (bicycle path R1). At the edge of the
Harz we continue on foot in the same direction for another 600
metres into the Gläsekental Valley. There on the right-hand
side of the path we reach a small quarry in which a thick vein
of quartz has been exposed: the Elfenstein Vein. It continues
easterly upwards along the slope of the Elfenstein, where weathering
has formed it into cliffs. This quartz vein was inclined
in the wake of the Oker granite, therefore it must be of Late
Upper Carboniferous origin. This makes its course even more
interesting, as it runs parallel to the Harznordrand Thrust for
approximately three kilometres, thereby indicating that this
tectonic drift already existed in the late Variscan Era. So the
Harznordrand Thrust occurs on a very old structure.