Sankt Andreasberg - Grube Samson - Treibholz - Dreibrodesteine. Forests, meadows, a picturesque village and countless views.

Sankt Andreasberg - Grube Samson - Treibholz - Dreibrodesteine. Forests, meadows, a picturesque village and countless views.

The starting point of the route is at a parking lot along Clausthalere straße. At the parking lot we find a few picnic tables and a kind of exhibition of the different rocks that we can find in the Harz.
From the parking lot we first walk along some meadows and then we come across a few beautiful stretches of nature trail through the forest before reaching Sankt Andreasberg.

As soon as we enter the village, we walk past the museum for the Grube Samson.

The Samson Mine
Samson Pit was the deepest mine in the world.
The Samson Pit, located in Sankt Andreasberg, is counted among the most significant mining monuments in Europe. From 1521 until 1910, silver ore in particular was mined here. For many years, the Samson Mine was one of the world’s deepest. It is also home to the man engine known as the Fahrkunst, which is still in operation and is now recognized as an international machine monument. Equally impressive are the two water wheels - the reversible overshot wheel from 1819, which is 9 m high, and the pump wheel, which stands 12 metres tall and is driven by water during the tour, just as it was centuries ago.
The Samson Mine is part of the Upper Harz Water Management System, which was declared a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2010.

Shortly afterwards we reach the centre of the picturesque village where we find several taverns to satisfy our thirst and hunger.
After the centre we descend via the HerrenStrasse, along this road are a whole series of unique original wooden houses that characterize this region.
We then leave the village and continue on nature trails. First through an open area with beautiful views, then through the forest.
This brings us to the Kurt Reulecke hut, which is close to the Treibholz. This is a nice covered place to have a pleasant picnic in all weather conditions.
We now enter a forest area where many of the trees are dead.

CAUSES OF TREE DEATH
Frassbild-Borkenkäfer© Niedersächsische Landesforsten.
Weather extremes such as storms and drought have severely affected trees in recent years. These weakened trees now lack natural resilience.
Spruce dieback is triggered by bark beetles, which eat their way through the conductive pathways of the spruces. Healthy spruce trees can ward them off with tree resin - a natural mechanism that no longer works due to the prolonged drought and heat of the past summers.
Even a small number of bark beetles causes the spruce trees to die. In good conditions, they can reproduce en masse. A female can produce hundreds of thousands of offspring in just one year. However, not only spruce trees are affected by tree death. Deciduous trees such as beech and ash are particularly widespread in the southern Harz. They are just as susceptible to diseases and parasites due to the climate stress.

It is interesting to see how a new forest is already emerging with species other than the sensitive spruces that are taking over. Our route then continues through a valley with a nice stream to the Dreibrodesteine

Dreibrodesteine
Stamping point 154 / Dreibrodestein
Between Sankt Andreasberg and Sonneberg are the Dreibrodesteine, three oversized blocks of granite.
According to legend, a starving miner came across a woman carrying three loaves of bread in her basket. But the heartless woman ignored the hungry man's request: "I'd rather turn my three loaves into stones". The forest spirits heard these harsh words. And boom: The loaves of bread actually turned into three huge boulders. These got bigger and bigger and finally buried the evil woman under them.
The granite blocks should therefore be a warning against heartlessness!

After admiring these huge stones and thinking about our next good deed we could do we continue our way and return to our starting point via a last easy stretch.

Some additional information:
The route is designed in a clockwise direction.
Time spent: total = 6 hours 26 minutes of which moving = 2 hours and 56 minutes
There are picnic tables after 5,2 and 8,5 kilometres
There is drinking water after 0,6 kilometres.
The track is moderate from a technical point of view.

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