Stamp location 164 / Stepmother

The „Stiefmutter“ crossroads is located above the Hundertmorgenwiese meadow in the Elsbach valley near Zorge.

The Harz moun­tain mea­dows are cha­rac­te­ri­zed by a uni­que diver­si­ty of plant spe­ci­es and are con­side­red bota­ni­cal tre­asu­res. They are the result of an anci­ent method of cul­ti­va­ti­on in which they were always mowed and dried for hay from June 24th (St. John’s Day) as valuable fod­der for the win­ter. With the aban­don­ment of agri­cul­tu­re in the small Harz vil­la­ges, the moun­tain mea­dows also disappeared. 

The Lower Sax­o­ny Sta­te Forestry Admi­nis­tra­ti­on has set its­elf the task of pre­ser­ving the­se moun­tain mea­dows, which are pro­tec­ted by the EU. It main­ta­ins the exis­ting moun­tain mea­dows through pro­fes­sio­nal care and use and recul­ti­va­tes for­mer moun­tain mea­dows by remo­ving trees and sub­se­quent main­ten­an­ce. For exam­p­le, over 2,000 trees were fel­led on the Hun­dert­mor­gen­wie­se in 2005 and the mea­dow area was increased by 25 hectares. 

From the par­king lot at the Kur­haus in Zor­ge, the sign­pos­ted Berg­wie­sen­weg trail leads via the Wen­de­lei­che HWN 165 to the Stief­mut­ter. From the­re, you can also include the „Roter Schuss“ HWN 90 stam­ping sta­ti­on in the tour.