From the road, the Rappbode Dam is a surprise. You ride through the quiet Harz forest, on gentle roads with spruce on either side, and then the trees open and a vast curved wall of concrete and stone appears across the valley, with a long lake behind it and a long drop below. It is the highest dam wall in Germany, rising a little over a hundred metres, and the scale is the thing: it makes the cars on the road below look like toys.
The dam was built in the 1950s as part of a chain of reservoirs in the Harz mountains to supply drinking water and control floods, and the lake it holds is the largest in the Harz, the Rappbode Reservoir, a long, branching body of water that winds through steep wooded hills. The water is cold and clean, and it supplies a large part of the drinking water of the region around Halle and Magdeburg. In recent years, the dam has added a more daring attraction, a pedestrian suspension bridge of nearly five hundred metres across the valley, among the longest of its kind in Europe, and a zip line, if you are in the mood.
The roads that lead to the dam are a joy. The Harz is the northernmost range in Germany, and its roads climb through spruce forest in gentle, flowing bends, often with the sound of streams. Near Rübeland, there are limestone caves, among the best in the country, with huge halls of stalactites. The forest here has suffered badly from drought and bark beetle in recent years, and large patches of dead spruce stand on the slopes, a sad sight but a reminder of climate change. Fog and low cloud are common, and the weather is often cooler than in the lowlands.
Fuel is available in Blankenburg, about seven kilometres to the north-east, where the stations, shops, and restaurants are, and the villages of Hüttenrode and Rübeland have only small shops and cafes. A parking area near the dam provides the best views, and a footpath leads out onto the wall. Best seasons are late spring and autumn, when the light is clear and the crowds thin. In winter, snow and ice can make the Harz roads tricky, and a good set of gloves is not a luxury.