Eckertal

Eckertal is a hamlet of about 160 inhabitants in Bad Harzburg in Lower Saxony, Germany.LocationThe settlement is situated just north of the Harz mountain range at the entrance of the densely forested Ecker valley, about 8km downstream of the Ecker Dam. Located on the rim of the Bad Harzburg municipal area, about 6km east of the town centre, its direct neighbour is the village of Stapelburg, part of the Ilsenburg municipality in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. The parish is part of the Harz Nature Park; from here, the protected area of the Harz National Park stretches up to the Brocken massif in the south.HistoryThe Ecker valley above the present-day settlement was the site of the medieval Ahlsburg fortress, an Imperial castle presumably erected in the 12th century. 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.