the Brocken in 1989 (and witches are genuine)

I have found and am processing some of my photos taken in 1989 in the Harz Mountains.
The Harz is a mountain range  in central Germany covering 2,226 square kilometres; its highest mountain is the Brocken at 1,141 m high.  (Not quite as high as Scotland's highest peaks ….. but then Germany's highest mountain is the Zugspitze at an impressive 2,962 m.)

In 1989 the Harz was shared between East (DDR) and West Germany (BRD).  Its eastern part - which included the Brocken - lay in Sachsen-Anstalt in the DDR, the larger (BRD) part in Lower Saxony.  The border was demarcated by what was commonly called the "Wall"; much of which in fact comprised fences.  The Brocken (DDR) was an ideal site for high masts providing sophisticated surveillance of the West. 

A narrow gage railway train runs from Wernigerode to the top of the Brocken.  The public (and foreign visitors like us) were able to travel in it only as far as Drei-Annen station, we were then politely told to leave. 

This photo was taken somewhere in Lower Saxony, and gives a faint hint of the substantial military installations on top of the Brocken.

THE WITCH

A souvenir bought in Wernigerode.  She was clearly able to cross borders from her lair on the Brocken.

The saint Walpurga celebrated there on the night of 30th April was an Anglo-Saxon born in Devon.    (I bet you never saw that one coming!)


I am now gradually adding new blips on the 1989 trip.