A mountain range of N. Germany, stretching for 57 m. between the Weser and the Elbe to the S. of Brunswick; it forms a picturesque and diversified highland, is a favourite resort of tourists, and rises to its greatest elevation in the far-famed Brocken; the scene of the Walpurgisnacht in "Faust"; silver, iron, and other metals are found in considerable quantities, and, with the extensive forests, give rise to a prosperous mining and timber industry.