The Steinerne Renne is a waterfall and natural monument near the town of Wernigerode in the Harz mountains of central Germany. Location The Steinerne Renne is east of the Harz National Park in the Harz/Saxony-Anhalt Nature Park. It lies southwest of Hasserode in the borough of Wernigerode in a forested stretch of the valley formed by the upper reaches of the Holtemme river between the hill of Renneckenberg (eastern neighbour of the Brocken) some distance away to the southwest, between the Bielstein (ca. ) to the north and the ridge of Hippeln and the Kontorberg (556.1 m) to the south. In the gorge, numerous small waterfalls and rapids alternate with quieter stretches of water in the Holtemme's rock and boulder-strewn riverbed. The entrance to the gorge below the Hannekenbruch lies at a height of about and the exit is below Steinerne Renne railway station at around , a height difference of about 250 metres. At 395.0 m the Kleine Renne empties into the Steinerne Renne from the left. The Steinerne Renne forest inn and hotel is perched above the point in river where it is 519.5 m high. In addition, there used to be a footbridge over the Holtemme somewhat further east (346.0 m) and a restaurant, Am Silbernern Mann, below the rocks known as the Silberner Mann. History This natural feature was already described as the Steinrenne or steinerne Rinne by the Early Modern Period. With the rise of tourism in the middle of the 19th century the Steinerne Renne became one of the most popular beauty spots in the Harz. When the Harz and Brocken Railways were built a small station was even built for the Steinerne Renne which still exists today. In 1869 a log cabin was built immediately next to the waterfall, the predecessor of the present-day hotel. During the post-war period the spot ended up in East Germany and the hotel building was operated until the mid-1970s as a Handelsorganisation pub. Later it was converted and used as a works holiday home for the VEB Elektroaaparatewerke Berlin-Treptow, a German electrical machinery combine. The holiday home also had a public restaurant . When the building was converted, the romantic woodland path to the pub, which ran along the northern side of the Holtemme and past the waterfall, was blocked. Today the footpath runs along the southern bank of the river. The Steinerne Renne Hotel (Gasthaus Steinerne