the last time on the river and the weir on the Oker below the church, built in 1542, was removed. After that, several wood sanding works were set up in the lower Oker valley. The rocks of the Romkerhall Waterfall had attracted attention even before the waterfall was created. From 1861, the Forestry and Hunting Division in Brunswick leased an area of 40 square rods and two acres from the forest hamlet of Käste No. 3, Oker Mining District, to innkeeper Lüer from Oker for the purpose of establishing an inn. A ceremonial opening by its owner and operator, H. Lüer, took place on 1 May 1863. In 1863, in order to improve the accessibility of the property, the Harzburg Spa Commissar, Hermann Dommes, had a promenade path built from Harzburg across the Kästeklippen (Käste) to Romkerhalle. The first land registry records were only kept from when the Hulsch family took over the estate in 1890. In 1903, the "Villa Helene" was built as a guesthouse and, in 1928, a large hall was built over the Oker. In the last days of the Second World War the Oker bridge of what is now the B 498 was blown up near Waldhaus and immediately south of Romkerhalle. This did not prevent the advance of the US Army, however. In addition, the inn was badly damaged and its reconstruction lasted until 1948. Since 1988, the various managers of the local restaurant have advertised the place as the "Kingdom of Romkerhall". They justify this on the basis that the properties here do not belong to any municipality, but are located within an unincorporated area. Romkerhall Waterfall Geography Near Romkerhalle, on the rocky eastern flanks of the Oker valley below a spur of the Huthberg, the Kleiner Romke (), the Romkerhall Waterfall (Romkerhaller Wasserfall) tumbles through a height of about 64 metres over the Romke Klippe crags (contemporaneously also known as the Rohmkerklippe or Marmorklippe). Its height makes it the highest artificial waterfall in the Harz Mountains. To create the waterfall, some of the waters of the Oker tributary, the Kleine Romke, are diverted along a roughly 350-metre-long ditch. History The present location name of Romkerhalle (initially Rohmker-Halle) was first used when Lüer's "board and lodging house" (Restauration und Logirhaus von H. Lüer was opened in 1863. In order to enhance the appeal of newly opened inn, in the same year the artificial waterfall