HARTZ (Ger. Harz, or Harzgebirge), the most
northwestern mountain range in Germany, between lat. 51° 30' and 52° N., and lon. 10° 10' and 11° 30' E. It separates the waters of the Weser from those of the Elbe. This range is divided into two parts, Upper and Lower Hartz, lying W. and E. of the Brocken. Their principal axis, which extends in a direction about W. N. W., E. S. E., is not far from 60 m. in length. The width of this main chain, as from Wernigerode to Ilfeld, is about 18 m. The highest summit is the Brocken, a mountain of feldspathic granite, which by its easy decomposition has caused the mountain to assume a rounded graceful form. It rises to the height of 3,737 ft., and overlooks all the surrounding country. The Rosstrappe stands near by in the same group, and is of somewhat inferior elevation to the Brocken, from which it is separated by formations of argillaceous slates and the lower limestones. It is composed of granite in which quartz predominates, giving to the rock a more indestructible character and to the mountain a more rugged aspect than that of the Brocken. The Rammelsberg is a mountain of argillaceous slate and the older sandstones, reaching the height of about 1,200 ft. above the plain near the town of Goslar. The district comprising these mountains is principally made up of granitic rocks, which form the highest summits, and of gneiss, argillaceous slates, and metamorphic
limestones and sandstones, which are grouped
around, and penetrated by, the granites. Various
rocks of the upper secondary, from the
grès bigarré or new red sandstone to the chalk, repose unconformably upon the older formations around their marginal outcrop. The more elevated portions of the district are rough and dreary, with a sterile soil and a cold climate. Numerous streams take their rise in the Hartz mountains. Tributary to the Elbe are the Helme, which flows through the deep and beautiful valley called the Goldene Aue, and the Zorge, on the south; the Eine, Selke, and Bode, on the east; and the Holzemme on the north. The Ilse, which forms several fine cataracts in its course, the Ecker, Radau, and Ocker, on the north, and the Innerste, Söse, and Sieber, on the west, flow into the Weser. The valleys, being well watered, are very fertile, and produce abundant pasturage, and large herds of cattle are reared here. This district is also well wooded, and timber forms an important article of export. But the mines, chiefly of lead, silver, copper, zinc, and iron, are the principal source of the wealth of this region. The other minerals found here are sulphur, arsenic, granite, marble, and gypsum; and in the east are a number of important salt springs. For many centuries the mines have been industriously worked, and the business connected with them gives employment to about 30,000 persons. The mines belong chiefly to the province of Hanover (Prussia) and Brunswick; the former possessing those at Clausthal and Andreasberg, in the Upper Hartz, and the latter a portion of those in the Rammelsberg near Goslar. Those of the eastern Hartz are in the territory of Anhalt. The Rammelsberg mines were opened about the year 970, those of the Upper Hartz mostly in the 16th and 17th centuries; and the chief towns upon their sites, as those above named and Altenau, Zellerfeld, Lautenthal, Wildemann, and Grund, were founded in consequence of the discoveries of the mineral resources beneath the surface. These mining towns (Bergstädte) are entitled to special privileges, and no business is conducted in them but what is connected with mining and metallurgy. Clausthal is the headquarters of these operations. The council which has general charge of the mines meets here, and here are a mint and a school of mines, the latter furnished with a fine collection of minerals and models of mining and other machinery. The mines of the Upper Hartz belong either to the group at Clausthal or that of Andreasberg. In the former the veins follow several lines of fracture in an E. and W. direction. One passes through the town of Zellerfeld, extending from Wildemann to Clausthal, a distance of 3 m. They produce argentiferous galena, copper pyrites, and blende in a quartzose gangue, intermixed with calcareous spar, brown spar, heavy spar, and spathic iron. They are remarkable for spreading out in thin branches through a great breadth of rock, and at Clausthal these