From KlimaNachrichten

By KlimaNachrichten Editor

Anyone who has visited the Brocken in recent years knows the sight: bare slopes, gray tree stumps. The cause of this dramatic tree death is complex. The German media suggest a supposedly clear picture: It was the evil climate change!

This is how it supposedly works:

• longer dry phases in which the soil dries out,
• higher temperatures, which promote the growth of pests,
• milder winters in which bark beetles survive and multiply faster.

The weakened trees were then literally overrun by bark beetles. The small insects multiply explosively when it is warm and dry – conditions that have become increasingly common in recent years.

Which is true

From 2013 onwards, summers in Germany were indeed exceptionally dry for a decade (source: DWD).

However, similar dry phases have occurred again and again in the past, e.g. in the 1920s and 1980s. The last two summers of 2024 and 2025 were also wetter again.

Who is to blame?

However, a healthy forest should actually be able to cope with a longer summer dry period. Ultimately, the cause lies to a large extent in the greed of the forest owners. They planted the Brocken with fast-growing and shallow-rooted monoculture spruces. That promised the quick money. The deeper-rooted deciduous trees were all felled. It is clear: In times of drought, the deciduous trees would probably have survived, while the self-chosen spruce monocultures could no longer reach the water and became easy prey for the bark beetle. So, the catastrophe has “deeper roots”:
After the Second World War, reforestation relied on fast-growing spruce trees in monocultures, often in locations that are climatically unfavourable for this tree species.

The foresters of the Brocken know the background very well. An information board on the Urwaldstieg on the Brocken-Schierke route points to an apparently almost forgotten similar crisis in the past: the “Große Wurmtrocknis” at the end of the 18th century.

Nature is coming back

Fortunately, the peak of tree mortality on the Brocken has been passed. The dead trees are gradually removed. Colourful flower areas are a reminder of nature’s self-healing power. Young trees grow back. The Harz Mountains are always worth a visit. The way to the Brocken is terrific, either by steam locomotive or on foot.