Germany observation tower
Wilhelm Raabe Tower
You can see 108 km from here, looking east.
Calculating the panorama…
Drag to turn around. The relief is drawn 2.2 times taller so the ridges can be read; far ridges are paler, as in the real air.
The view
Up to 108 km away.
Calculated on the relief one degree at a time, up to 250 km, with the curvature of the Earth and the refraction of the air: what stands above the horizon from here.
Our own rating, from the relief and the climate only: open horizon (35 points), how far you see (25), sea and named peaks in view (20) and clear months (20).
- 108 kmFarthest ridgelooking east
- 99%Open horizonof the circle where the horizon is below your eyes
- 83Peaks in viewnamed summits that rise above the relief in front
- 411 mAltitudeabove the sea, at the highest point of the viewpoint
The 83 peaks you can name from here
From west to east as you turn around: height, distance and direction. Each one links to its guide on Peakyas, our mountain atlas.
From the relief only: buildings, trees and haze are not in the model. On a hazy day you see much less; 250 km is the limit of our calculation.
The sun
The best sunsets are in April and in September.
When the sun really disappears from this viewpoint — behind the relief or into the sea — and in which direction, on the 15th of each month, in local time.
- Jansouth-west16 min before the sea-level sunset20%
- Febwest12 min before the sea-level sunset25%
- Marwest14 min before the sea-level sunset30%
- Aprwest8 min before the sea-level sunset38%
- Maynorth-west8 min before the sea-level sunset32%
- Junnorth-west4 min before the sea-level sunset31%
- Julnorth-west6 min before the sea-level sunset32%
- Augnorth-west8 min before the sea-level sunset33%
- Sepwest16 min before the sea-level sunset35%
- Octwest12 min before the sea-level sunset29%
- Novsouth-west18 min before the sea-level sunset22%
- Decsouth-west16 min before the sea-level sunset19%
- Time: when the sun goes behind the horizon you see from here.
- Minutes: how much earlier the relief hides the sun.
- %: share of clear sky that month (NASA, 2001–2020).
The highlighted months are the clearest. Golden hour starts about an hour before.
The place
Wilhelm Raabe Tower.
Observation tower near Blankenburg in Harz
Wilhelm Raabe Tower is an observation tower in Germany, 411 m above the sea.
On a clear day the farthest ridge you can see is 108 km away, looking east.
83 named peaks rise above the relief in front; the most prominent is Brocken (1,141 m), 22 km away.
The horizon is open, below your eyes, over 99% of the circle.
The skies are clearest in April and in September.
Get there and stay
- Going upCheck the opening hours before you go: towers and decks close in bad weather.
- Wohnmobilstellplatz Schnappelbergcampsite · 2.1 km · 14 within 10 km
- Hotel-Pension Am Kurparkplace to stay · 2.0 km · 213 within 10 km
- Blankenburgnearest town · 1.8 km in a straight linePlaces to stay in BlankenburgBooking.com · sponsored link↗
- Erfurt-Weimar Airport (ERF)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 91 km in a straight lineCar hire at LEJ airport (Schkeuditz)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided tour, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The viewpoint and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the viewpoint, with what OpenStreetMap shows nearby.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- 38other viewpoints within 5 kmBrockenblick, Blick über Neuwerk, Großvater and 35 more
- 63named peaks within 5 kmGroßmutter, Lutherberg, Staufenberg and 60 more
- 42marked trails within 3 kmHarzer Teufelsmauerstieg, Wege deutscher Kaiser und Könige des Mittelalters im Harz, Mühlenwanderweg and 39 more
- 62shelters and huts within 5 kmKuhberghütte, Diabas, Schutzhütte and 59 more
- 135car parks within 3 km
- 2visitor centres within 5 kmTourist Information, Service-Büro der Harzer Wandernadel
- 32restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- 14campsites within 10 kmWohnmobilstellplatz Schnappelberg, Wohnmobilstellplatz Blankenburg, Schultze & Co and 11 more
- 213places to stay within 10 kmHotel-Pension Am Kurpark, Harzbaude Susanne, Zum Harzer Jodlermeister and 210 more
- cable car and funicular stations within 5 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
What you see from Wilhelm Raabe Tower, and what is near.
Everything around this viewpoint — mountains, water, forests, birds, caves and the night sky — in the family's atlases.
Peakyas343 mountains within 25 km
Lakeyas2 lakes within 15 km
Forestyas1 forests and trees within 15 km
Birdyas5 birding sites within 25 km
Cascadyas2 waterfalls within 15 kmFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap, GBIF). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The view, as people saw it.
Other viewpoints nearby.
Wilhelm Raabe Tower
Germany
- 69Viewyas Score
- 108 kmFarthest ridge
- 83Peaks in view
- 411 mAltitude
Brocken
Germany · 22 km
- 77Viewyas Score
- 225 kmFarthest ridge
- 737Peaks in view
- 1,138 mAltitude
Wolfsklippen
Germany · 18 km
- 72Viewyas Score
- 132 kmFarthest ridge
- 105Peaks in view
- 718 mAltitude
Kahle Klippe
Germany · 23 km
- 74Viewyas Score
- 161 kmFarthest ridge
- 494Peaks in view
- 1,025 mAltitude
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q1552658) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Sun | J. Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms |
| Peaks in view | Peakyas (Wikidata, CC0) |
| Panorama and altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-90 / GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Clouds | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Lakeyas, Forestyas, Birdyas, Canyonyas, Cavernyas, Cascadyas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit 
dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
viewpoints
Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.You are herebirdwatching
Every bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Visit forests
Every forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Visit