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111-600: The Brocken has always played a role in legends and has been connected with witches and devils ; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe took up the legends in his play Faust . The Brocken spectre is a common phenomenon on this misty mountain, where a climber's shadow cast upon fog creates eerie optical effects. Today the Brocken is part of the Harz National Park and hosts a historic botanical garden of about 1,600 alpine mountain plants. A narrow gauge steam railway,

222-536: A benevolent pagan religion that had survived the Christianization of Europe. This has been discredited by further historical research. From the 1930s, occult neopagan groups began to emerge who called their religion a kind of 'witchcraft'. They were initiatory secret societies inspired by Murray's 'witch cult' theory, ceremonial magic , Aleister Crowley 's Thelema , and historical paganism. The biggest religious movement to emerge from this

333-638: A former surveillance installation for the Ministry for State Security . The historic antenna equipment in the dome may be visited. Behind the building is checkpoint No.  9 on the Harzer Wandernadel hiking trail network. The extreme weather conditions of the Brocken are of special meteorological interest. From 1836 the Brockenwirt , who also ran the guest house and restaurant, kept meteorological records. The first weather station on

444-761: A fourth period, the Quaternary , was applied. In the early development of the study of geology, the periods were thought by scriptural geologists to correspond to the Biblical narrative, the rocks of the Tertiary being thought to be associated with the Great Flood . In 1833, Charles Lyell incorporated a Tertiary Period into his own, far more detailed system of classification, based on fossil mollusks he collected in Italy and Sicily in 1828-1829. He subdivided

555-533: A large portion of territory. In 1987, the goods traffic on the Brocken Railway ceased due to poor track conditions. The Brocken was extensively used for surveillance and espionage purposes. On the summit were two large and powerful listening stations , which could capture radio traffic in almost all of Western Europe. One belonged to Soviet military intelligence, the GRU , and was also the westernmost outpost of

666-550: A minority of the accused in any area studied". Likewise, Davies says "relatively few cunning-folk were prosecuted under secular statutes for witchcraft" and were dealt with more leniently than alleged witches. The Constitutio Criminalis Carolina (1532) of the Holy Roman Empire , and the Danish Witchcraft Act of 1617, stated that workers of folk magic should be dealt with differently from witches. It

777-641: A minority of those accused. European belief in witchcraft gradually dwindled during and after the Age of Enlightenment . Many indigenous belief systems that include the concept of witchcraft likewise define witches as malevolent, and seek healers (such as medicine people and witch doctors ) to ward-off and undo bewitchment. Some African and Melanesian peoples believe witches are driven by an evil spirit or substance inside them. Modern witch-hunting takes place in parts of Africa and Asia. Today, followers of certain types of modern paganism identify as witches and use

888-805: A multi-phase journey influenced by culture , spirituality , and societal norms. Ancient witchcraft in the Near East intertwined mysticism with nature through rituals and incantations aligned with local beliefs. In ancient Judaism , magic had a complex relationship, with some forms accepted due to mysticism while others were considered heretical . The medieval Middle East experienced shifting perceptions of witchcraft under Islamic and Christian influences, sometimes revered for healing and other times condemned as heresy . Jewish attitudes toward witchcraft were rooted in its association with idolatry and necromancy , and some rabbis even practiced certain forms of magic themselves. References to witchcraft in

999-613: A wax or clay image (a poppet ) of a person to affect them magically; or using herbs , animal parts and other substances to make potions or poisons. Witchcraft has been blamed for many kinds of misfortune. In Europe, by far the most common kind of harm attributed to witchcraft was illness or death suffered by adults, their children, or their animals. "Certain ailments, like impotence in men, infertility in women, and lack of milk in cows, were particularly associated with witchcraft". Illnesses that were poorly understood were more likely to be blamed on witchcraft. Edward Bever writes: "Witchcraft

1110-406: A wide range of practices, with belief in black magic and the evil eye coexisting alongside strict prohibitions against its practice. The Quran acknowledges the existence of magic and seeks protection from its harm. Islam's stance is against the practice of magic, considering it forbidden, and emphasizes divine miracles rather than magic or witchcraft. The historical continuity of witchcraft in

1221-499: A witch (m. kaššāpu , f. kaššāptu , from kašāpu ['to bewitch'] ) was "usually regarded as an anti-social and illegitimate practitioner of destructive magic ... whose activities were motivated by malice and evil intent and who was opposed by the ašipu , an exorcist or incantation-priest". These ašipu were predominantly male representatives of the state religion, whose main role was to work magic against harmful supernatural forces such as demons . The stereotypical witch mentioned in

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1332-600: A witch, what makes a woman more likely than a man to be a witch, how to put a witch on trial, and how to punish a witch. The book defines a witch as evil and typically female. It became the handbook for secular courts throughout Europe, but was not used by the Inquisition, which even cautioned against relying on it. It was the most sold book in Europe for over 100 years, after the Bible. Islamic perspectives on magic encompass

1443-544: Is Wicca . Today, some Wiccans and members of related traditions self-identify as "witches" and use the term "witchcraft" for their magico-religious beliefs and practices, primarily in Western anglophone countries . Tertiary Tertiary ( / ˈ t ɜːr . ʃ ə . r i , ˈ t ɜː r . ʃ i ˌ ɛr . i / TUR -shə-ree, TUR -shee-err-ee ) is an obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with

1554-462: Is a crime punishable by death and the country has executed people for this crime as recently as 2014. Witchcraft-related violence is often discussed as a serious issue in the broader context of violence against women . In Tanzania, an estimated 500 older women are murdered each year following accusations of witchcraft or accusations of being a witch, according to a 2014 World Health Organization report. Children who live in some regions of

1665-593: Is managed by the Harz National Park . In addition there are restaurants and the Brocken Hotel, which is run by the Brocken publican ( Brockenwirt ), Hans Steinhoff. Important publicans in the past included Johann Friedrich Gerlach from 1801 to 1834, Carl Eduard Nehse between 1834 and 1850, who brought out a map of the Brocken in 1849 and the Brocken Register ( Brockenstammbuch ) in 1850, as well as Rudolf Schade from 1908 to 1927, who considerably increased

1776-549: Is particularly used for women. A male practitioner of magic or witchcraft is more commonly called a ' wizard ', or sometimes, 'warlock'. When the word witch is used to refer to a member of a neo-pagan tradition or religion (such as Wicca ), it can refer to a person of any gender. Witches are commonly believed to cast curses ; a spell or set of magical words and gestures intended to inflict supernatural harm. Cursing could also involve inscribing runes or sigils on an object to give that object magical powers; burning or binding

1887-654: Is that witches cause harm by introducing cursed magical objects into their victim's body; such as small bones or ashes. James George Frazer described this kind of magic as imitative . In some cultures, witches are believed to use human body parts in magic, and they are commonly believed to murder children for this purpose. In Europe, "cases in which women did undoubtedly kill their children, because of what today would be called postpartum psychosis , were often interpreted as yielding to diabolical temptation". Witches are believed to work in secret, sometimes alone and sometimes with other witches. Hutton writes: "Across most of

1998-753: Is the bearer of the Badge of Honour of Saxony-Anhalt, Benno Schmidt (born 1932) – also known as Brocken Benno – of Wernigerode, who has climbed the mountain since 1989, almost daily, with more than 8,888 ascents (as of September 2020) and whose feat has been registered in the Guinness Book of World Records . Two well-known running events pass over the Brocken: the Ilsenburg Brocken Run (beginning of September, 26 kilometres or 16 miles, of which 12 kilometres or 7.5 miles uphill, has taken place since

2109-414: Is the usual name, some are also known as 'blessers' or 'wizards', but might also be known as 'white', 'good', or 'unbinding witches'. Historian Owen Davies says the term "white witch" was rarely used before the 20th century. Ronald Hutton uses the general term "service magicians". Often these people were involved in identifying alleged witches. Such helpful magic-workers "were normally contrasted with

2220-411: Is to use protective magic or counter-magic , often with the help of magical healers such as cunning folk or witch-doctors . This includes performing rituals , reciting charms , or the use of talismans , amulets , anti- witch marks , witch bottles , witch balls , and burying objects such as horse skulls inside the walls of buildings. Another believed cure for bewitchment is to persuade or force

2331-446: Is tolerated or accepted by the population, even if the orthodox establishment opposes it. In these societies, practitioners of helpful magic provide (or provided) services such as breaking the effects of witchcraft, healing , divination , finding lost or stolen goods, and love magic . In Britain, and some other parts of Europe, they were commonly known as ' cunning folk ' or 'wise people'. Alan McFarlane wrote that while cunning folk

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2442-495: The Age of Colonialism , many cultures were exposed to the Western world via colonialism , usually accompanied by intensive Christian missionary activity (see Christianization ). In these cultures, beliefs about witchcraft were partly influenced by the prevailing Western concepts of the time. In Christianity , sorcery came to be associated with heresy and apostasy and to be viewed as evil. Among Catholics, Protestants, and

2553-588: The Alps . The Brocken is the only mountain in Germany's Central Uplands whose summit lies above the treeline , so that only very small spruce grow there and much of it is covered by a dwarf shrub heathland . In the Brocken Garden , established in 1890, flora are nurtured by national park employees; visitors are allowed to view it as part of regular guided tours. The garden does not just display plants from

2664-605: The Brocken Railway , takes visitors to the railway station at the top on 1,125 m (3,691 ft). FM-radio and television broadcasting make major use of the Brocken. The old television tower, the Sender Brocken , is now used as hotel and restaurant. It also has an observation deck, open to tourists. The Brocken rises over the Harz National Park in the district of Harz , whose main town of Wernigerode lies about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) east-northeast of

2775-654: The Brogken and Brockin , in 1531 the Brogken , in 1540 the Brokenberg and, in 1589, the Brackenberg . In Old Saxon-Germanic times, a large portrait of Wodin is supposed to have been found on the Brocken. In addition, animal and human sacrifices were offered by the Saxons to their supreme god, Odin, on the blockfields of the summit until they renounced them as part of their baptismal vows when Christianity spread to

2886-579: The Eurasian lynx , wildcats and capercaillies . The Brocken was therefore declared part of a national park in 1990. The widespread use of the name "Brocken" did not occur until towards the end of the Middle Ages . Hitherto the region had just been described as the Harz. This was primarily because, until then, the focus had been mining. The first record of a placename that resembles the present name of

2997-468: The Indo-European root from which it may have derived. Another Old English word for 'witch' was hægtes or hægtesse , which became the modern English word " hag " and is linked to the word " hex ". In most other Germanic languages, their word for 'witch' comes from the same root as these; for example German Hexe and Dutch heks . In colloquial modern English , the word witch

3108-929: The Mesozoic Era and the Quaternary Period , although it is no longer recognized as a formal unit by the International Commission on Stratigraphy . The span of the Tertiary is subdivided into the Paleocene (66–56 million years BP ), the Eocene (56–33.9 million years BP), the Oligocene (33–23.9 million years BP), the Miocene (23–5.3 million years BP) and the Pliocene (5.3–2.6 million years BP), extending to

3219-611: The Soviet occupation zone . Before the Americans left the Brocken in 1947, however, they disabled the rebuilt weather station and the television tower. The ruins of the Brocken Hotel were blown up in 1949. From 1948 to 1959 part of the Brocken was reopened to tourists. Although a pass was required, these were freely issued. From August 1961 the Brocken, which lay in East Germany 's border zone, immediately adjacent to West Germany ,

3330-574: The Tanakh , or Hebrew Bible, highlighted strong condemnations rooted in the "abomination" of magical belief. Christianity similarly condemned witchcraft, considering it an abomination and even citing specific verses to justify witch-hunting during the early modern period. Historically, the Christian concept of witchcraft derives from Old Testament laws against it. In medieval and early modern Europe, many Christians believed in magic. As opposed to

3441-460: The accuser's estate was handed over instead. The Maqlû ("burning") is an ancient Akkadian text, written early in the first millennium BCE , which sets out a Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft ritual. This lengthy ritual includes invoking various gods , burning an effigy of the witch, then dousing and disposing of the remains. Witchcraft's historical evolution in the Middle East reveals

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3552-456: The devil ; and he comes to them in the likeness of the man that is buried there, as if he arises from death." Most societies that have believed in harmful or black magic have also believed in helpful magic. Some have called it white magic , at least in more recent times. Where belief in harmful magic is common, it is typically forbidden by law as well as hated and feared by the general populace, while helpful or apotropaic (protective) magic

3663-495: The ice age , including the northern bat ( Eptesicus nils soni ), the alpine shrew ( Sorex alpinus ) and the ring ouzel . The first documented ascent of the Brocken was in 1572 by the physician and botanist, Johannes Thal from Stolberg , who in his book Sylva Hercynia described the flora of the mountain area. In 1736 Count Christian Ernst of Stolberg-Wernigerode had the Wolkenhäuschen ("Clouds Cabin") erected at

3774-434: The secular leadership of late medieval/early modern Europe, fears about witchcraft rose to fever pitch and sometimes led to large-scale witch-hunts . The fifteenth century saw a dramatic rise in awareness and terror of witchcraft. Tens of thousands of people were executed, and others were imprisoned, tortured, banished, and had lands and possessions confiscated. The majority of those accused were women, though in some regions

3885-545: The tertiary period, did the typical, rounded, spheroidal weathering of granite outcrops and granite boulders of the Brocken take place. Such blockfields are very rare in Central Europe outside the Alps and are subject to conservation measures. They originated mainly under periglacial conditions, i.e. during the course of the ice ages , and their retreat. Today's blockfields of Brocken granite, as well as other rocks in

3996-555: The 1920s) and the Brocken Marathon which is part of the Harz Mountain Run with its start and finish south of Wernigerode. Both start in the valley, climb the Brocken and return. The most challenging part in each case is the last four kilometres to the Brocken summit, for which in both races, a separate mountains classification is given. This section is a concrete slab track with a steady incline of about 20% and

4107-612: The British Isles. Historian Ronald Hutton outlined five key characteristics ascribed to witches and witchcraft by most cultures that believe in this concept: the use of magic to cause harm or misfortune to others; it was used by the witch against their own community; powers of witchcraft were believed to have been acquired through inheritance or initiation; it was seen as immoral and often thought to involve communion with evil beings; and witchcraft could be thwarted by defensive magic, persuasion, intimidation or physical punishment of

4218-583: The Brocken eastwards to Thale and westwards via Torfhaus and Altenau to Osterode . The "Bad Harzburg Devil's Path" runs from the Brocken to Bad Harzburg . Mountain bikers also use the trails. From Schierke a metalled road leads to the summit, which is used by horse-drawn wagons, as well as touring and racing cyclists. Because of the situation in the national park, vehicles with internal combustion engines are only allowed with special permission. There are also hiking paths to Brocken from Schierke , Wernigerode and Ilsenburg . Worthy of special mention

4329-399: The Brocken hawkweed ( Hieracium negrescens ) and the alpine hawkweed ( Hieracium alpinum ), vernal grasses ( Anthoxanthum ), the lady's mantle ( Alchemilla ), the tormentil ( Potentilla tormentilla ), the alpine clubmoss ( Diphasiastrum alpinum ), the lichens, Iceland moss ( Cetraria islandica ) and reindeer lichen ( Cladonia rangiferina ). The crowberry is also referred to here as

4440-445: The Brocken in a unique, dark-colored variant, Lacerta vivipara aberr. negra . The common frog ( Rana temporaria ) can also be found here. Insects are very numerous. There are many beetles including ground beetles such as Amara erratica , and hundreds of species of butterfly . The cabbage white here produces only one generation per year compared with two in the lowlands. Some mammal and bird species that occur here are relics of

4551-466: The Brocken is treeless, but vegetated with dwarf shrubs . The highest point on the Brocken reaches an elevation of 1,141.1 m above  sea level (NN) (3,744 ft). Its subpeaks include the Heinrichshöhe (1,040 m or 3,410 ft), Königsberg (1,034 m or 3,392 ft) and Kleiner Brocken ("Little Brocken") (1,018 m or 3,340 ft). Before 1989 the height of

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4662-404: The Brocken myrtle ( Brockenmyrte ). On the raised bogs around the summit of the Brocken there are e.g. cottongrasses , sundews and the dwarf birch ( Betula nana ). Several animal species have adapted to the conditions of life on the Brocken. For example, the water pipit ( Anthus aquaticus ) and the ring ouzel both breed in the area around the summit. The viviparous lizard occurs on

4773-472: The Brocken on 30 March 1994. The Brocken summit was renaturalised at a cost of millions of euros. It is now a popular tourist destination for visitors to the Harz. As a protected area since 1939 and due to the decades of restricted access the unique climate of the Brocken provided outstanding conditions. The massif is partly still covered with primary forest extremely rare in Germany. It provides perfect conditions for endangered and nearly extinct species like

4884-629: The Brocken using a mobile transmitter and, in the following year, the first television tower in the world was built on the mountain; carrying the first live television broadcast of the Summer Olympics in Berlin . The tower continued functioning until September 1939, when the authorities suspended broadcasting on the outbreak of World War II . In 1937 the Brocken, together with the Wurmberg , Achtermann and Acker-Bruchberg were designated as

4995-580: The Brocken was built in 1895. Technically poor and too small, it was partially demolished in 1912 and replaced with a large stone construction, the Hellman Observatory , that was not completed until the First World War . In 1917 the academic and nature lover George Grobe took over running the observation post, his daughter supporting him until his death in 1935. Today's weather station started life in 1939. Measurements were interrupted at

5106-400: The Brocken was recorded in almost all the relevant maps and books as 1,142 m above NN (3,747 ft). A survey of the summit at the beginning of the 1990s based on the current reference system, however, gave the height as just 1,141.1 m (3,744 ft). In order to provide a reference point for the old data, in the mid-1990s granite boulders were set on the highest point of

5217-522: The Brocken, but also high mountain flora from other regions and countries. Amongst the typical species of the Brocken that are rarely if ever found elsewhere in North Germany and which occur above about 1,050 m above NN (3,440 ft) are the variant of the alpine pasqueflower known as the Brocken flower or Brocken anemone ( Pulsatilla alpina subsp. alba ), hawkweeds like

5328-528: The Brocken, overnight in Schierke and run back again the next day. Overall, it is therefore a 150-kilometre (93 mi) race. Since the 1930s various radio and television transmitters have been erected on the Brocken, see Brocken Transmitter . Brocken House ( Brockenhaus ), the modern information centre for the Harz National Park, is located in the converted " Stasi Mosque" ( Stasi-Moschee ),

5439-413: The Brocken, which not only matched the old given height, but exceeded it by about a metre. A bench mark of "1142 m" was recorded on the summit stone. This height on the upper plate refers to the line on the lower plate. From a geological point of view the Brocken and its surrounding terrain, the Brocken massif, consists mainly of granite (called Brocken granite), an igneous rock. The granitic plutons of

5550-670: The Devil , though anthropologist Jean La Fontaine notes that such accusations were mainly made against perceived "enemies of the Church". It was thought witchcraft could be thwarted by white magic , provided by ' cunning folk ' or 'wise people'. Suspected witches were often prosecuted and punished, if found guilty or simply believed to be guilty. European witch-hunts and witch trials in the early modern period led to tens of thousands of executions. While magical healers and midwives were sometimes accused of witchcraft themselves, they made up

5661-686: The Early Tertiary and the Late Tertiary, respectively. Even though the term Tertiary has been declared obsolete, some high school curriculums still teach the geologic periods as Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, (Cenozoic-)Tertiary and (Cenozoic-)Quaternary. The term Tertiary was first used by Giovanni Arduino during the mid-18th century. He classified geologic time into primitive (or primary), secondary, and tertiary periods based on observations of geology in Northern Italy . Later

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5772-459: The German word block (as in block of wood) in witchcraft. Another theory holds that the name "Brocken" is derived from bruch , a word used in northern Germany for bog or moor , which commonly used to be spelt as bruoch or brok . It is however doubtful that this fact was primarily responsible for its name. Another possibility is that its name is derived from the fields of boulders strewn over

5883-513: The Harz National Park, particularly in the Oker valley, are therefore at least 10,000 years old. Physical weathering, such as frost shattering , has played a key role in their formation, resulting in giant piles of loosely stacked rocks. In 2006, the granite blockfields of the Brocken, together with 76 other interesting geotopes, were designated as a "National Geotope". The Brocken is a place of extreme weather conditions. Due to its exposed location in

5994-536: The Harz – the Brocken, Ramberg and Oker plutons – emerged towards the end of the Harz mountain-building phase of the Upper Carboniferous , about 300 million years ago. First, alkaline magma intruded into the overlying sediments, crystallized out and formed gabbro and diorite massifs, such as the Harzburg gabbro. A little later, silica -rich granitic magma rose, some intruding into voids and gaps in

6105-468: The Middle East underlines the complex interaction between spiritual beliefs and societal norms across different cultures and epochs . During the 20th century, interest in witchcraft rose in English-speaking and European countries. From the 1920s, Margaret Murray popularized the ' witch-cult hypothesis ': the idea that those persecuted as 'witches' in early modern Europe were followers of

6216-667: The Soviets in Germany; the other was Department III of the Ministry for State Security in the GDR . The listening posts were codenamed "Yenisei" and "Urian". Between 1973 and 1976 a new modern television tower was built for the second channel of the GDR's television service, the Deutscher Fernsehfunk . Today it is used by the public Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) television network. The Stasi (East German secret police) used

6327-549: The Tertiary Period into four epochs according to the percentage of fossil mollusks resembling modern species found in those strata . He used Greek names: Eocene, Miocene, Older Pliocene, and Newer Pliocene. Although these divisions seemed adequate for the region to which the designations were originally applied (parts of the Alps and plains of Italy), when the same system was later extended to other parts of Europe and to America, it proved to be inapplicable. Therefore,

6438-618: The Upper Harz ( Oberharz ) nature reserve . During an air attack by the United States Army Air Forces on 17 April 1945 the Brocken Hotel and the weather station were destroyed by bombing. The television tower, however, survived. From 1945 until April 1947, the Brocken was occupied by US troops. As part of the exchange of territory (specified at the Yalta Conference ) the mountain was transferred to

6549-401: The alleged witch to lift their spell. Often, people have attempted to thwart the witchcraft by physically punishing the alleged witch, such as by banishing, wounding, torturing or killing them. "In most societies, however, a formal and legal remedy was preferred to this sort of private action", whereby the alleged witch would be prosecuted and then formally punished if found guilty. Throughout

6660-457: The alleged witch. It is commonly believed that witches use objects, words, and gestures to cause supernatural harm, or that they simply have an innate power to do so. Hutton notes that both kinds of practitioners are often believed to exist in the same culture and that the two often overlap, in that someone with an inborn power could wield that power through material objects. One of the most influential works on witchcraft and concepts of magic

6771-419: The average summer temperature is above 10 °C (50 °F). Due to its significant height difference compared with the surrounding terrain the Brocken has the highest precipitation of any point in northern central Europe, with an average annual precipitation (1961–1990) of 1,814 millimetres (71.4 in). Its average annual temperature is 2.9 °C (37.2 °F). The Brocken weather station has recorded

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6882-427: The body are believed to grant supernatural powers, the substance may be good, bad, or morally neutral. Hutton draws a distinction between those who unwittingly cast the evil eye and those who deliberately do so, describing only the latter as witches. The universal or cross-cultural validity of the terms "witch" and "witchcraft" are debated. Hutton states: [Malevolent magic] is, however, only one current usage of

6993-574: The concept of "witchcraft" as one of the ways humans have tried to explain strange misfortune. Some cultures have feared witchcraft much less than others, because they tend to have other explanations for strange misfortune. For example, the Gaels of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands historically held a strong belief in fairy folk , who could cause supernatural harm, and witch-hunting was very rare in these regions compared to other regions of

7104-587: The course of the geodesic survey of the Kingdom of Hanover . A measurement carried out by the military staff of Prussia in 1850 found the Brocken's height to be at its present level of 1,141.1 metres (3,744 ft). After the first Brocken lodge had been destroyed by a fire, a new hotel opened in 1862. The Brocken Garden , a botanical garden , was laid out in 1890 by Professor Albert Peter of Göttingen University on an area of 4,600 m (50,000 sq ft) granted by Count Otto of Stolberg-Wernigerode. It

7215-571: The domes of their listening posts. Today the old tower beside the lodge again is home to a weather station of the Deutscher Wetterdienst . Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, beginning on 3 December 1989 the Brocken was again open to the public during a demonstration walk. With German reunification there was a gradual reduction in border security facilities and military installations from 1990. The last Russian soldier left

7326-712: The employment (or presumed employment) of some occult means of doing harm to other people in a way which was generally disapproved of. In this sense the belief in witchcraft can be defined as the attribution of misfortune to occult human agency". Emma Wilby says folk magicians in Europe were viewed ambivalently by communities, and were considered as capable of harming as of healing, which could lead to their being accused as malevolent witches. She suggests some English "witches" convicted of consorting with demons may have been cunning folk whose supposed fairy familiars had been demonised . Hutton says that magical healers "were sometimes denounced as witches, but seem to have made up

7437-542: The end of the Second World War as a result of military bombardment, but began again in 1947. On 16 March 2010 the Brocken Weather Station became a climate reference station to provide uninterrupted, long-term climatic observations. Witch Witchcraft is the use of alleged supernatural powers of magic . A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means

7548-608: The extinction of the non- avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event , at the start of the Cenozoic Era , and extended to the beginning of the Quaternary glaciation at the end of the Pliocene Epoch . The time span covered by the Tertiary has no exact equivalent in the current geologic time system, but it is essentially the merged Paleogene and Neogene periods, which are informally called

7659-413: The following extreme values: The Brocken also holds the record for the greatest number of days of mist and fog in a single calendar year in Germany, 330 days in 1958, and has an average of 120 days of snowfall per year. The harsh climate of the Brocken makes it a habitat for rare species. The mountain's summit is a subalpine zone with flora and fauna almost comparable to those of north Scandinavia and

7770-466: The fourth added by Christina Larner : Witch-hunts, scapegoating, and the shunning or murder of suspected witches still occurs. Many cultures worldwide continue to have a belief in the concept of "witchcraft" or malevolent magic. Apart from extrajudicial violence , state-sanctioned execution also occurs in some jurisdictions. For instance, in Saudi Arabia practicing witchcraft and sorcery

7881-435: The general public in at least four ways. Neopagan writer Isaac Bonewits proposed dividing witches into even more distinct types including, but not limited to: Neopagan, Feminist, Neogothic, Neoclassical, Classical, Family Traditions, Immigrant Traditions, and Ethnic. The word is over a thousand years old: Old English formed the compound wiccecræft from wicce ('witch') and cræft ('craft'). The masculine form

7992-592: The helpful magic of the cunning folk , witchcraft was seen as evil and associated with Satan and Devil worship . This often resulted in deaths, torture and scapegoating (casting blame for misfortune), and many years of large scale witch-trials and witch hunts , especially in Protestant Europe, before largely ending during the Age of Enlightenment . Christian views in the modern day are diverse, ranging from intense belief and opposition (especially by Christian fundamentalists ) to non-belief. During

8103-541: The law codes also prescribed the death penalty for those found guilty of witchcraft. According to Tzvi Abusch, ancient Mesopotamian ideas about witches and witchcraft shifted over time, and the early stages were "comparable to the archaic shamanistic stage of European witchcraft". In this early stage, witches were not necessarily considered evil, but took 'white' and 'black' forms, could help others using magic and medical knowledge, generally lived in rural areas and sometimes exhibited ecstatic behavior. In ancient Mesopotamia,

8214-444: The majority were men. In Scots , the word warlock came to be used as the male equivalent of witch (which can be male or female, but is used predominantly for females). The Malleus Maleficarum (Latin for 'Hammer of The Witches') was a witch-hunting manual written in 1486 by two German monks, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. It was used by both Catholics and Protestants for several hundred years, outlining how to identify

8325-561: The masses did not accept this and continued to make use of their services. The English MP and skeptic Reginald Scot sought to disprove magic and witchcraft altogether, writing in The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584), "At this day, it is indifferent to say in the English tongue, 'she is a witch' or 'she is a wise woman'". Historian Keith Thomas adds "Nevertheless, it is possible to isolate that kind of 'witchcraft' which involved

8436-608: The mountain goes back, however, to the year 1176 when it is referred to as broke in the Saxon World Chronicle ( Sächsische Weltchronik ). Another early written reference to the mountain, this time as the Brackenberg , appears in 1490 in a letter from Count Henry of Stolberg. Other early documented names of the Brocken were, in 1401, the Brockenberg , in 1424 the Brocberg , in 1495 mons ruptus (Latin), in 1511

8547-481: The mountain. The state boundary with Lower Saxony runs past the Brocken some 2 km (1.2 mi) to the west. At the southeastern foot of the Brocken lies the spa resort of Schierke . Somewhat to the north below the summit of the Brocken is a reservoir, the Brockenteich , constructed in 1744. On or near the mountain are the source areas of the rivers Bode , Ecker , Ilse and Oder . The rounded summit of

8658-458: The name comes from the shape of the mountain as a whole. A brocken in German is a large, shapeless mass. The size of the Brocken may thus have given it its name. Since the term "block" has a similar meaning, this could also be the derivation of its alternative name, the Blocksberg. The true origin of the name Blocksberg, however, should not be seen as "block" in the sense of "mass", but rather

8769-402: The north of Germany its peak lies above the natural tree line . The climate on the Brocken is like that of the alpine 1,600–2,200-metre (5,200–7,200 ft) zone or even that of Iceland . This is due to its short summers and very long winters, with many months of continuous snow cover, strong storms and low temperatures even in summer. The summit, however, does not have an alpine climate , as

8880-461: The old tower until 1985, when they moved to a new building – now a museum. To seal the area, the entire Brocken plateau was then surrounded by a concrete wall, built from 2,318 sections, each one 2.4 tonnes (2.6 short tons) in weight and 3.60 metres (11.8 ft) high. The whole area was not publicly accessible until 3 December 1989. The wall has since been dismantled, as have the Russian barracks and

8991-476: The older rocks, but most being created by the melting of existing sediments. On the boundary between granite and host rock, the so-called contact zone, a great variety of transitions may be seen. For example, the summit of the Achtermannshöhe consists of contact-metamorphosed hornfels of the contact zone that, here, lies over the Brocken granite. The subsequent erosion of the Harz mountains that followed

9102-409: The one hand, this explanation of its meaning can be attributed to the fact that the two mountains, "Kleiner Brocken" and "Großer Brocken", were formed by the breakup of a single massif. On the other hand, its meaning may refer to the serious erosion of the mountain. In other words, it refers to the fact that the Brocken was eroded or "broken down" to its present size. But the most likely derivation of

9213-555: The particular societies with which they are concerned". While most cultures believe witchcraft to be something willful, some Indigenous peoples in Africa and Melanesia believe witches have a substance or an evil spirit in their bodies that drives them to do harm. Such substances may be believed to act on their own while the witch is sleeping or unaware. The Dobu people believe women work harmful magic in their sleep while men work it while awake. Further, in cultures where substances within

9324-531: The present. According to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions there is "difficulty of defining 'witches' and 'witchcraft' across cultures—terms that, quite apart from their connotations in popular culture, may include an array of traditional or faith healing practices". Anthropologist Fiona Bowie notes that the terms "witchcraft" and "witch" are used differently by scholars and

9435-666: The region under Charles the Great . As far as the origin of the name is concerned, there are several interpretations: In the town records ( Stadtbuch ) of Osterwieck an entry for the Brocken was found in the year 1495 under the Latin name of mons ruptus , which means "broken hill". Its Low German name, broken , as the mountain had become named in 1176 in the Saxon World Chronicle and also in English , means "broken". On

9546-516: The repute and the size of guest facilities on the Brocken. The area around the Brocken is especially popular with hikers. The Goethe Way ( Goetheweg ) is a well known trail that leads to the summit of the Brocken. It is named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who more-or-less followed this route in 1777. Many paths lead to the local towns of Schierke, Braunlage and Sankt Andreasberg . The 100-kilometre-long (62 mi) Harz Witches' Path also runs from

9657-554: The rules of the national park. The 87-kilometre-long (54 mi) "Brocken Climb" from Göttingen to the Brocken has taken place annually since 2003. More than 300 people take part in these two-day hikes in June. In early May each year the Braunschweig-Brocken Ultra Run takes place with 2 × 75 km (46.5 mi) legs spread over two days. The participants run from Braunschweig to Schierke, cross

9768-561: The runners are exposed above the tree line, often to a sharp, icy wind. Of the just under 1,000 people who usually achieve it, only 50 negotiate this section without stopping to walk. Since 2004, the Brocken Challenge, an ultra marathon 84-kilometre-long (52 mi) from Göttingen to the Brocken summit, has been staged in February each year. The proceeds from this event go to charity. The runs are conducted in accordance with

9879-415: The sources tended to be those of low status who were weak or otherwise marginalized, including women, foreigners, actors, and peddlers. The Law Code of Hammurabi ( 18th century BCE ) allowed someone accused of witchcraft (harmful magic) to undergo trial by ordeal , by jumping into a holy river. If they drowned, they were deemed guilty and the accuser inherited the guilty person's estate. If they survived,

9990-555: The suggestion that this referred to old, unusable timber, which was called bracken , is disputed. Today a narrow gauge railway, the Brocken Railway , once more shuttles between Wernigerode , Drei Annen Hohne , Schierke and the Brocken. The trains are regularly hauled by steam locomotives . At the summit is the Brockenhaus with a museum on the history of the mountain and the Brocken Garden (a botanical garden), which

10101-421: The summit and the slopes of the mountain. This derivation for the name "Brocken" is, however, unlikely because such blockfields are also found on other mountains in the Harz. Moreover, the regions concerned were hardly known at the time when the term was used. Another presumption is based on the reference in a letter written in 1490 by Count Henry of Stolberg-Wernigerode, where he uses the term Brackenberg . However

10212-620: The summit, a small refuge that is still preserved. He also had a mountain lodge built on the southern slope, named Heinrichshöhe after his son Henry ( Heinrich ) Ernest. The first inn on the Brocken summit was built around 1800. Between 1821 and 1825 Carl Friedrich Gauss used the line of sight to the Großer Inselsberg in the Thuringian Forest and the Hoher Hagen mountain near Göttingen for triangulation in

10323-664: The term "witchcraft" for similar beliefs about harmful occult practices in different cultures, and these societies often use the term when speaking in English. Belief in witchcraft as malevolent magic is attested from ancient Mesopotamia , and in Europe , belief in witches traces back to classical antiquity . In medieval and early modern Europe , accused witches were usually women who were believed to have secretly used black magic ( maleficium ) against their own community. Usually, accusations of witchcraft were made by their neighbors and followed from social tensions. Witches were sometimes said to have communed with demons or with

10434-459: The term "witchcraft" for the actions of those who inflict harm by their inborn power and used "sorcery" for those who needed tools to do so. Historians found these definitions difficult to apply to European witchcraft, where witches were believed to use physical techniques, as well as some who were believed to cause harm by thought alone. The distinction "has now largely been abandoned, although some anthropologists still sometimes find it relevant to

10545-684: The term "witchcraft" or " pagan witchcraft " for their beliefs and practices. Other neo-pagans avoid the term due to its negative connotations. The most common meaning of "witchcraft" worldwide is the use of harmful magic. Belief in malevolent magic and the concept of witchcraft has lasted throughout recorded history and has been found in cultures worldwide, regardless of development. Most societies have feared an ability by some individuals to cause supernatural harm and misfortune to others. This may come from mankind's tendency "to want to assign occurrences of remarkable good or bad luck to agency, either human or superhuman". Historians and anthropologists see

10656-511: The term to servant spirit-animals which are described as a part of the witch's own soul. Necromancy is the practice of conjuring the spirits of the dead for divination or prophecy , although the term has also been applied to raising the dead for other purposes. The biblical Witch of Endor performed it (1 Samuel 28th chapter), and it is among the witchcraft practices condemned by Ælfric of Eynsham : "Witches still go to cross-roads and to heathen burials with their delusive magic and call to

10767-602: The uplifting of the Harz during the Upper Cretaceous saw the disappearance of the protective hornfels summit, thus exposing the granite that had crystallized underground during the Upper Carboniferous. The alleged hardness of Brocken granite is not the reason for the height of the mountain, but the geological fact that it was well protected by its weather-resistant hornfels crest for a long time before erosion set in. Only in recent geological times, since

10878-623: The use of magic or supernatural powers to inflict harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to Encyclopedia Britannica , "Witchcraft thus defined exists more in the imagination", but it "has constituted for many cultures a viable explanation of evil in the world". The belief in witchcraft has been found throughout history in a great number of societies worldwide. Most of these societies have used protective magic or counter-magic against witchcraft, and have shunned, banished, imprisoned, physically punished or killed alleged witches. Anthropologists use

10989-542: The use of mollusks was abandoned from the definition and the epochs were renamed and redefined. For much of the time during which the term 'Tertiary' was in formal use, it referred to the span of time between 65 and 1.8 million years ago. The end date of the Cretaceous and the start date of the Quaternary were subsequently redefined at c. 66 and 2.6 million years ago respectively. The Tertiary period lies between

11100-482: The witch archetype. In some parts of the world, it is believed witches can shapeshift into animals, or that the witch's spirit travels apart from their body and takes an animal form, an activity often associated with shamanism . Another widespread belief is that witches have an animal helper. In English these are often called " familiars ", and meant an evil spirit or demon that had taken an animal form. As researchers examined traditions in other regions, they widened

11211-464: The witch who practiced maleficium —that is, magic used for harmful ends". In the early years of the European witch hunts "the cunning folk were widely tolerated by church, state and general populace". Some of the more hostile churchmen and secular authorities tried to smear folk-healers and magic-workers by falsely branding them 'witches' and associating them with harmful 'witchcraft', but generally

11322-404: The word. In fact, Anglo-American senses of it now take at least four different forms, although the one discussed above seems still to be the most widespread and frequent. The others define the witch figure as any person who uses magic   ... or as the practitioner of nature-based Pagan religion; or as a symbol of independent female authority and resistance to male domination. All have validity in

11433-497: The world, accusations of witchcraft are often linked to social and economic tensions. Females are most often accused, but in some cultures it is mostly males. In many societies, accusations are directed mainly against the elderly, but in others age is not a factor, and in some cultures it is mainly adolescents who are accused. Éva Pócs writes that reasons for accusations of witchcraft fall into four general categories. The first three of which were proposed by Richard Kieckhefer , and

11544-555: The world, such as parts of Africa, are also vulnerable to violence stemming from witchcraft accusations. Such incidents have also occurred in immigrant communities in Britain, including the much publicized case of the murder of Victoria Climbié . Magic was an important part of ancient Mesopotamian religion and society, which distinguished between 'good' (helpful) and 'bad' (harmful) rites. In ancient Mesopotamia , they mainly used counter-magic against witchcraft ( kišpū ), but

11655-401: The world, witches have been thought to gather at night, when normal humans are inactive, and also at their most vulnerable in sleep". In most cultures, witches at these gatherings are thought to transgress social norms by engaging in cannibalism, incest and open nudity. Witches around the world commonly have associations with animals. Rodney Needham identified this as a defining feature of

11766-680: Was wicca ('male sorcerer'). According to the Oxford English Dictionary , wicce and wicca were probably derived from the Old English verb wiccian , meaning 'to practice witchcraft'. Wiccian has a cognate in Middle Low German wicken (attested from the 13th century). The further etymology of this word is problematic. It has no clear cognates in other Germanic languages outside of English and Low German, and there are numerous possibilities for

11877-533: Was E. E. Evans-Pritchard 's Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande , a study of Azande witchcraft beliefs published in 1937. This provided definitions for witchcraft which became a convention in anthropology. However, some researchers argue that the general adoption of Evans-Pritchard's definitions constrained discussion of witchcraft beliefs, and even broader discussion of magic and religion , in ways that his work does not support. Evans-Pritchard reserved

11988-475: Was Germany's first Alpine garden . The narrow gauge Brocken Railway was opened on 27 March 1899. Brocken station is one of the highest railway stations in Germany lying at a height of 1,125 m above NN (3,691 ft). Its gauge is 1,000 mm ( 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in ). In 1935 the Deutsche Reichspost made the first television broadcast from

12099-417: Was declared a military exclusion zone and was therefore no longer open to public access. Extensive military installations were built on and around the summit. The security of the area was the responsibility of the border guards of the 7th Schierke Border Company , which was stationed in platoon strength on the summit. For accommodation, they used the Brocken railway station. The Soviet Red Army also used

12210-549: Was particularly likely to be suspected when a disease came on unusually swiftly, lingered unusually long, could not be diagnosed clearly, or presented some other unusual symptoms". A common belief in cultures worldwide is that witches tend to use something from their target's body to work magic against them; for example hair, nail clippings, clothing, or bodily waste. Such beliefs are found in Europe, Africa, South Asia, Polynesia, Melanesia, and North America. Another widespread belief among Indigenous peoples in Africa and North America

12321-672: Was suggested by Richard Horsley that 'diviner-healers' ( devins-guerisseurs ) made up a significant proportion of those tried for witchcraft in France and Switzerland, but more recent surveys conclude that they made up less than 2% of the accused. However, Éva Pócs says that half the accused witches in Hungary seem to have been healers, and Kathleen Stokker says the "vast majority" of Norway's accused witches were folk healers. Societies that believe (or believed) in witchcraft also believe that it can be thwarted in various ways. One common way

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