During a holiday in the Harz, Germany, in April last year, we climbed a 474 meter high hill. On top of it sits a memorial stone, the Ilsestein, and an iron cross. The hill offers amazing views towards the Brocken, with its 1142 meter the highest hill in the Harz region. On top of the Brocken sits a weather station, which characteristic forms are visible all over the region. The hill and the station on top are barely visible in this picture, due to rather hazy conditions.

A third feature on top of this hill is the ‘bonsai’ type lone pinetree reaching out to the Brocken. This region of Germany is well known for its legends and its exiting stories, most about witches and the devil himself. Seeing trees like this, it is not hard to imagine why...