The Trudenstein is a rock formation and popular hiker's destination in the Harz Mountains of central Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. It is located in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt

Saxony-Anhalt

Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...

.

Location and surrounding area

The Trudenstein lies beside the Glashütten Way on the wooded southern slopes of the Hohnekopf

Hohnekamm

The Hohnekamm or Hohne Kamm is ridge up to high in the Harz mountains of central Germany. It is located in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, and is well-known for its rock towers, the Hohneklippen.- Location and surrounding area :...

 ridge about two kilometres northeast of the village of Schierke

Schierke

Schierke is a village and a former municipality in the Harz district, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2009, it is part of the town Wernigerode.Schierke was first mentioned as Schiriken in a 1590 deed...

 in the Harz National Park

Harz National Park

The Harz National Park is a nature reserve in the German federal states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. It comprises large portions of the western Harz mountain range, extending from Herzberg and Bad Lauterberg at the southern edge to Bad Harzburg and Ilsenburg on the northern slopes...

. Two kilometres to the east, is the village of Drei Annen Hohne

Drei Annen Hohne

Drei Annen Hohne is a village that lies on the edge of the Harz National Park in the Harz mountains of central Germany. Administratively it is part of the borough of Wernigerode in the district of Harz within the German state of Saxony-Anhalt....

 that, like Schierke, is part of the borough of Wernigerode

Wernigerode

Wernigerode is a town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the district of Wernigerode. Its population was 35,500 in 1999....

. The Brocken Railway, an important heritage line, runs past the rocks immediately to the south, below a granite quarry.

The rocks of the Trudenstein are composed of granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

 and their summit lies at an elevation of .

Tourism

The Trudenstein is a popular hiking destination that is easily reached from Drei Annen Hohne on marked trails. The summit of the rock formation has been made accessible to the general public using ladders. From the top there is a commanding view of large parts of the East and South Harz. In good weather, the nearby Wurmberg

Wurmberg (Harz)

At the Wurmberg is the second highest mountain in the Harz and the highest in Lower Saxony .- Geography :The Wurmberg lies north of Braunlage, in the district of Goslar, and west of Schierke. Its summit is located due south of the Brocken and roughly 400 m south of the state border with...

 mountain, the villages of Schierke and Elend

Elend, Saxony-Anhalt

Elend lies in the Bode valley in the High Harz in central Germany. This part of the valley is known locally as Elendstal . Elend is a municipality in the borough of Oberharz am Brocken in the district of Harz in the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt and lies at a height of...

 and the Stöberhai

Stöberhai

The Stöberhai is a mountain the Harz highlands in Central Germany, immediately south of the Oder Dam and northwest of Wieda. At a height of it is the highest mountain in the South Harz...

 mountain, 15 kilometres away, may be seen.

The Trudenstein is No. 17 in the system of checkpoints that form the Harzer Wandernadel

Harzer Wandernadel

The Harzer Wandernadel is a network of checkpoints for walkers in the Harz mountains in North Germany. It includes a system whereby the hiker can earn badges at different levels by walking to the various checkpoints in the network and recording them...

 hiking network.

History

The name Trudenstein is derived from the appearance of the rocks which is supposed to resemble a drude

Drude

A drude is a kind of witch in German folklore associated with dreams. Drudes were said to participate in the Wild Hunt and were considered a particular class of demon in Alfonso de Spina's hierarchy.-Name:...

, an old German, witch-like figure associated with dreams. In 1783 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...

 walked past the Trudenstein during one of his visits to the Harz and, in 1811, Caspar David Friedrich

Caspar David Friedrich

Caspar David Friedrich was a 19th-century German Romantic landscape painter, generally considered the most important German artist of his generation. He is best known for his mid-period allegorical landscapes which typically feature contemplative figures silhouetted against night skies, morning...

drew a sketch of the rocks. They are also said to have inspired the group of rocks in the foreground of his painting, Der Watzmann.

Ladders were first erected on the summit of the Trudenstein in 1894.