Brocken
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Brocken, also sometimes referred to as Blocksberg, is a 1,141 m mountain near Schierke in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, between the rivers Weser and Elbe. The highest peak in the Harz mountain ra
The summit of Brocken, showing the transmitters
Aerial photograph of the summit (2009)
Summit stone
Granite on the Brocken
Brocken spectre
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A Brocken spectre, also called Brocken bow, mountain spectre, or spectre of the Brocken, is the magnified shadow of an observer cast in midair upon any type of cloud opposite a strong light source. Th
Brocken
…role in legends and has been connected with witches and devils; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe took up the legends in his two-part tragic play Faust. The Brocken spectre is a common phenomenon on this misty mountain, where a climber's shadow cast upon fog creates eerie optical effects. Today Brocken is part of Harz…
A Brocken spectre within glory rings
A semi-artificial Brocken spectre created by standing in front of the headlight of a car, on a foggy night
Illustration from Jorge Juan's and Antonio de Ulloa's, Voyage to South America (1748), depicting three separate scenes: (1) on the left, an erupting volcano; (2) on the upper right, optical glories surrounded by a fog bow; and (3) on the lower right, arcs of white light near a mountaintop
Another night Brocken spectre created by headlights of a car