Elend: Wooden Church and Forest Swimming Pool

Elend combines distinctive local architecture with seasonal leisure activities: the wooden church is considered a landmark, while the forest swimming pool offers a range of water and outdoor activities in summer. These highlights provide practical starting points for planning your hotel stay: Would you like to get to know the town through its architecture, spend a summer day at the pool, or plan a trip around an event? Helenenruh and other destinations in the wider Oberharz am Brocken travel region also have their own distinctive appeal.

Wooden Church and Viewpoint

The wooden church is Elend’s landmark. The half-timbered building in the neo-Gothic style covers 60 m² and has a “rolling” altar. This makes its architectural style and a special feature of its interior furnishings central to the townscape. Those interested in church architecture will find a clearly defined local topic here: half-timbering, the neo-Gothic style and the unusual altar shape the description of the building.

Helenenruh is located near Schierke, in the area around Elend. The viewpoint lies at an altitude of 600 m above the Elend Valley. It is a distinct vantage point for looking out over the surrounding landscape; the wooden church and the viewpoint represent different aspects of trip planning.

Summer Activities and Event Dates

The forest swimming pool is located at the edge of the forest and offers a swimming pool, a children’s pool and a slide in summer. Facilities also include a water lily pond, a beach volleyball court and a sunbathing lawn. This gives you a range of options for a summer day: time by the water, exercise on the court or a break on the sunbathing lawn. The facilities are seasonal; if the outdoor pool is important to your trip, plan around the stated summer period.

Rocken am Brocken is celebrated in Elend every year in late July and/or early August. Check the current event dates for the year you plan to travel. This lets you coordinate your stay with the event, rather than relying solely on the usual time of year.

Hiking in the wider Oberharz am Brocken travel region

For further planning within the wider Oberharz am Brocken travel region, two hikes can be compared by distance and stated walking time. The moderately difficult route to the Krockstein viewpoint passes through mixed forest, is 2.8 km long and has a stated walking time of 55 minutes. The circular trail around the Hasselvorsperre near Hasselfelde is also moderately difficult: it covers 5.5 km, with a stated duration of 1 hour 28 minutes. The two routes therefore differ in both distance and the time needed. Check current trail conditions before setting out on the Krockstein hike.

In Hasselfelde, the extensive network of hiking trails includes the Harzer-Hexen-Stieg, nature trails and the Köhlerweg. The trails offer access on foot to local sights and excursion destinations. The Harzköhlerei Stemberghaus offers another seasonal activity: from early April to late October, traditional charcoal-burning earth mounds are built, fired and harvested there. This offers a chance to experience the traditional charcoal-burning craft first-hand.

Culture and Other Trip Ideas

The cultural attractions in the wider Oberharz am Brocken travel region are also varied. Stiege’s stave church is the only religious building in the Norwegian dragon style in Germany. The Selketal Railway includes the turning loop in Stiege, described as Europe’s smallest turning loop. In Hasselfelde, various institutions explore different subjects: the charcoal-burning museum gives an impression of the difficult working and living conditions of charcoal burners. The Blumenau Museum in the Haus des Gastes presents the life and work of chemist and emigrant Hermann Blumenau in pictures and text. The local history room in the same building tells the story of Hasselfelde and the lives and work of its residents.

From Hasselfelde, you can take the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways daily to the Brocken or into the Selke Valley; check the current timetable before travelling. This makes it possible to consider cultural attractions, hikes and train journeys as different elements of trip planning, without conflating them with activities directly in Elend.

Discover more destinations: Rübeland, Stiege, Trautenstein, Sorge, Hasselfelde, Benneckenstein, Neuwerk, Elbingerode.

View the wider travel guide: Oberharz Am Brocken.