About charcoal and grimed chaps

Did you notice the circular platforms at the right side of the path? On a closer look you will discover the remains of a charcoal hearth, locally known as "Meilerplatte". These places were used to produce charcoal from wood until into the 20th century. The charcoal burner would stack logs of wood to form a mound which then was covered with sods and earth. Charcoal burning was associated with ore mining. Charcoal was particularly used to fuel the silver and ironworks. Woodcutters and charcoal burners were the first to severely affect the pristine forests around the Brocken. Mixed beech and spruce forests originally prevailed at altitudes of 700 to 800 metres that merged into pure stands of spruce forest higher up. This was to change with the massive expansion of mining activities in the Harz region. Step by step, those soot-dusted chaps worked their way up the hillsides of the Brocken Mountain. Their charring sites were found at the highest elevations even above 900 metres. They were particularly fond of beech wood, as this made a high-energy charcoal particularly suited for the silver and ironworks. When the availability of solid beech wood declined, the charcoal burners also used spruce trees, which have been replanted on a large scale by the foresters since the middle of the 18th century in order to mitigate the overuse of the Harz woodlands. Until the present day, the black soil of the hearths enriched with charcoal fragments has remained. If you dig a little with your hands near the middle of the former hearth you may well find some old charcoal remnants.