Germany observation tower
Poppenberg Observation Tower
You can see 122 km from here, looking south.
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 122 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).
- 122 kmFarthest ridgelooking south
- 100%Open horizonof the circle where the horizon is below your eyes
- 549Peaks in viewnamed summits that rise above the relief in front
- 608 mAltitudeabove the sea, at the highest point of the viewpoint
The 549 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-west4 min before the sea-level sunset20%
- Febwest4 min before the sea-level sunset23%
- Marwest4 min before the sea-level sunset28%
- Aprwest6 min before the sea-level sunset37%
- Maynorth-west8 min before the sea-level sunset31%
- Junnorth-west10 min before the sea-level sunset30%
- Julnorth-west8 min before the sea-level sunset32%
- Augnorth-west6 min before the sea-level sunset32%
- Sepwest2 min before the sea-level sunset35%
- Octwest2 min before the sea-level sunset29%
- Novsouth-west4 min before the sea-level sunset22%
- Decsouth-west4 min before the sea-level sunset20%
- 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
Poppenberg Observation Tower.
Observation tower on Poppenberg mountain near Ilfeld in Harz
Poppenberg Observation Tower is an observation tower in Germany, 608 m above the sea.
On a clear day the farthest ridge you can see is 122 km away, looking south.
549 named peaks rise above the relief in front; the most prominent is Brocken (1,141 m), 28 km away.
The horizon is open, below your eyes, over 100% of the circle.
The skies are clearest in April and in September.
Get there and stay
- Going upfree entry
- Campingplatz am Waldbadcampsite · 2.2 km · 7 within 10 km
- Restaurant Hufhausplace to stay · 1.9 km · 104 within 10 km
- Ilfeldnearest town · 3.3 km in a straight linePlaces to stay in IlfeldBooking.com · sponsored link↗
- Erfurt-Weimar Airport (ERF)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 68 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
- 25other viewpoints within 5 kmWetterfahne, Dreitälerblick, Burgruine Hohnstein and 22 more
- 89named peaks within 5 kmPoppenberg, Spielberg, Petersberg and 86 more
- 32marked trails within 3 kmHauptwanderweg Eisenach – Wernigerode (blaues Andreaskreuz), Harzquerung, Wege deutscher Kaiser und Könige des Mittelalters im Harz and 29 more
- 34shelters and huts within 5 km
- 42car parks within 3 km
- 2visitor centres within 5 kmSüdharztouristik - Ilfeld Information, Tourismus-Information Harztor
- 11restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- 7campsites within 10 kmCampingplatz am Waldbad, Stellplatz Braugasthof Brauner Hirsch, Wohnmobilstellplatz Appenrode and 4 more
- 104places to stay within 10 kmRestaurant Hufhaus, Hotel Harzparadies, Ferienhäuser Lausekuppe and 101 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 Poppenberg Observation Tower, and what is near.
Everything around this viewpoint — mountains, water, forests, birds, caves and the night sky — in the family's atlases.
Peakyas428 mountains within 25 km
Lakeyas2 lakes within 15 km
Forestyas1 forests and trees within 15 km
Birdyas7 birding sites within 25 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.
Poppenberg Observation Tower
Germany
- 72Viewyas Score
- 122 kmFarthest ridge
- 549Peaks in view
- 608 mAltitude
Joseph Cross
Germany · 12 km
- 72Viewyas Score
- 124 kmFarthest ridge
- 557Peaks in view
- 583 mAltitude
Brocken
Germany · 28 km
- 77Viewyas Score
- 225 kmFarthest ridge
- 737Peaks in view
- 1,138 mAltitude
Kahle Klippe
Germany · 28 km
- 74Viewyas Score
- 161 kmFarthest ridge
- 494Peaks in view
- 1,025 mAltitude
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q7229515) · 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, Cavernyas |
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