Trautenstein

Trautenstein is a village in the borough of Oberharz am Brocken in the district of Harz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Trautenstein has 493 inhabitants (1-1-2010).
Geography.
The small climatic health resort lies in the valley of the Rappbode and at the southwestern end of the Rappbode Reservoir. South of the village is the "Bärenhöhe" ("Bear Heights"), also known as the "Carlshaushöhe", which is 626 metres high. On the summit is the popular Carlshaus Tower, a telecommunication and observation tower of the Harz Narrow Gauge Railway.
Larger towns and villages in the vicinity include Braunlage, Bad Lauterberg, Bad Harzburg (in Lower Saxony) as well as Blankenburg, Wernigerode and Hasselfelde (in Saxony-Anhalt). The most important link road is the B 242 from Hasselfelde to Braunlage which passes through Trautenstein.
South of Trautenstein in the forest is a refuge hut, the "Walzenhütte" (521 m), which is checkpoint 50 in the Harzer Wandernadel hiking network. Another nearby checkpoint is the "Oberharzblick am Buchenberg" (Upper Harz view on the Buchenberg hill), which is further south and has good views looking towards the two highest mountains of the Harz: the Wurmberg and the Brocken.