Eckertal

The picturesque vale was linked to public transport with the opening of the Wernigerode–Ilsenburg–Bad Harzburg railway line via Stapelburg and Eckertal on 1 October 1894.

Two years later the Jungborn destination spa was founded in the Ecker valley, temporary home of notable guests like Franz Kafka in July 1912.

In the course of the German re-armament, the Luftwaffe forces in 1936 had a vast aircraft munitions depot (Luft-Munitionsanstalt, Muna) built on the railway line in the Schimmerwald forest northwest of the village.

It was destroyed in the last days of World War II on 10 April 1945, when retiring German troops blew it up while US Army forces entered the region.

The blast left severe damages in the surrounding villages and even destroyed window panes in the Bad Harzburg train station about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) away.