Lynx memorial

The Luchs-Denkmal stands in the Harz National Park east of Torfhaus in the unincorporated area of Harz within the Goslar district of Lower Saxony. It marks the successful reintroduction of lynx to the Harz mountains after their extinction two centuries ago. The bronze statue by Anna Barth shows a lynx perched on a block of Harz diabase from the Huneberg quarry. Two earlier stones on the Brocken and near Lautenthal recall the last lynx shot in 1817 and 1818. The new monument celebrates the release of animals from a nearby enclosure between 2000 and 2006. Dietrich Steinhausen from Goslar sponsored the work, and its unveiling on 20 October 2017 was attended by the artist, the park director Andreas Pusch and his predecessor Wolf-Eberhard Barth. A short walk west of the statue follows the Kaiserweg trail, which crosses the Abbe river on the Luchs Bridge just north of the site. The quiet forest setting offers views of the surrounding uplands and a reminder of conservation efforts that brought the lynx back to the Harz.