Hasserode Castle

The archival documented history of the Harz forests around the once independent municipality of Hasserode, that has been part of the borough of Wernigerode since 1907, go well back into the Middle Ages.

Originally, this wooded region belonged to an imperial forest before it was enfeoffed by the Holy Roman emperors and German kings to the counts of Wernigerode, first mentioned in 1121, who came from Haimar in the Diocese of Hildesheim.

In the Harz Foreland at the foot of the mountain range called the Huy they had freehold estates in various villages.

In a clever move, the Wernigerode counts attempted to bind the subjects of these villages closer to them by granting timber rights in their forests in the Harz to the local farmers.

In the circumstance of medieval Germany, the use of this forest area for these village which were approximately 10 to 30 kilometres away from the Harz, was very difficult.