Hunting for witches in Germany’s Harz mountains

Tamara Hinson embraces her spooky side in time for Halloween on a hike through Harz National Park

Wernigerode looks built for a witches’ coven (German National Tourist Board)

Sign up for a wander through the spruce forests surrounding Clausthal-Zellerfeld, in North Germany’s Harz mountains, and you’ll do so to a soundtrack of mournful, constant creaking – a reminder that it’s an area shaped by mining. 

Between the 1200s and the late 1900s, the region was one of Europe’s biggest producers of silver, iron and lead. Thick forests of spruce were planted centuries ago by miners who appreciated the trees’ acoustic qualities – when spruce bends, it creaks loudly, creating a built-in early detection system for the workers who used it to shore up their mines. 

The forests aren’t the only reminder.