Harzer Rotvieh
A solid red upland breed from the Harz, once kept for milk, beef and draught work
A solid red cattle breed from the Harz hills of Germany, once kept at the same time for milk, beef and draught work. From 1980 it has been handled as part of the Angeln breed, and only a few small upland farms still keep it.
- A red cattle breed from the Harz district of Germany
- Kept for milk, beef and draught work at once
- Danish Red bulls were crossed in during the 1950s to raise milk yields
- From 1980 it has counted as part of the Angeln breed
- Only a few farms keep it, with herds of about twenty cows
What do Harzer Rotvieh cattle look like?
The Harzer Rotvieh belongs to the red cattle of Germany and comes from the Harz district. Its coat is a single shade of red all over. The name can be read as the red cattle of the Harz. These animals were kept for three jobs at once: giving milk, putting on beef and pulling loads. Because the breed grew up on mountain ground, hardiness is part of what is said about it. What defines it most clearly is the plain red hide and the upland home rather than any special marking.
Where does the Harzer Rotvieh come from?
Red cattle from southern and central Germany are the stock this breed came from, and those animals are thought to go back to a solid red type kept by Germanic and Celtic peoples. In the Harz a local form took shape out of that background, in country that was not easy for cattle. Farmers wanted more milk, so in the 1950s they used Danish Red bulls on their cows. Angeln cattle were crossed in afterwards. From 1980 the Harzer Rotvieh has been handled as part of the Angeln breed rather than as a breed in its own right. In the mid-1980s keepers collected the remaining animals, already mixed, and used them to create the Rotes Höhenvieh, a red upland type.
What the Harzer Rotvieh is known for
Hard upland conditions are the setting in which this breed was formed, and coping with them is what it is known for. It held on in the Harz when the going was rough and went on working. Little is recorded of its temper. The old cows were expected to give milk, rear a calf and still pull a cart, so the breed was valued for holding up under work rather than for any single outstanding quality.
How the Harzer Rotvieh is bred and kept
Within the Angeln breed the Harzer Rotvieh is now a line rather than a breed standing alone. That has been the case since 1980. Outside blood went in earlier: Danish Red in the 1950s, then Angeln. When the mid-1980s came, the keepers gathered the survivors of the old red cattle, which by then were already crossed, and bred them into a fresh upland population, the Rotes Höhenvieh. Today the old line is bred on a small number of farms, in tiny herds.
Harzer Rotvieh, drawn
What the Harzer Rotvieh is kept for
Milk, beef and draught work were all asked of these cattle. Danish Red bulls were brought in during the 1950s to lift milk yields, so the dairy side was watched closely. Animals that were past milking went for beef. Others were broken to the yoke and used as oxen for carts and field work. It was a stock animal for a mixed mountain farm, asked to earn its keep in more than one way.
The land and climate of the Harzer Rotvieh
The Harz is upland country: high ground, rough grazing and weather that is hard on stock. This is the land the breed was formed in and kept in. When the last mixed animals were gathered in the mid-1980s and turned into a new population, that population was classed as a red upland breeding type, which keeps the mountain connection in the name.
Who keeps the Harzer Rotvieh
Mountain farmers keep the breed on small places in the Harz, including ground at the foot of the Brocken. Their herds are counted in tens of animals rather than hundreds. No community, caste or district is named as its traditional owner. The keepers appear simply as farmers and mountain farmers working upland ground, with a handful of holdings between them.
At a glance: where it belongs
Land and climate
Custom and folk tradition
Herding on the Harz is the working life this breed belongs to. A book brought out at Clausthal-Zellerfeld in 1998 records that side of it, covering the herdsmen of the Harz and their cows in earlier days, at the time of writing and as they might be in the future.
Numbers, conservation and the herd book
Breeding rests on a handful of farms, and the herds are small: one keeper runs about twenty cows with a single bull, another twenty-one cows and five bulls. Since 1980 the cattle have sat inside the Angeln breed rather than standing beside it as a breed of their own. A society works to keep the Harz cow and the Harz goat from being lost.
Questions people ask about Harzer Rotvieh
Where does the Harzer Rotvieh come from?
It comes from the Harz, a mountain district in Germany. Its ancestors were the red cattle of southern and central Germany, thought to go back to solid red cattle kept by Germanic and Celtic peoples, and a local type formed in the Harz uplands.
What is it kept for?
It was kept for milk, for beef and for draught work, all three at once. Danish Red bulls were crossed in during the 1950s to lift milk yields, and animals no longer milking or working were fattened for beef.
What colour is a Harzer Rotvieh?
It is a red breed, with one shade of red over the whole coat. The name carries the colour too, since Harzer Rotvieh can be read as the red cattle of the Harz.
How many are left?
Numbers are low and the breed is down to a few farms. One herd runs to about twenty cows with a bull, another to twenty-one cows and five bulls. A society exists to keep the Harz cow and the Harz goat from being lost.
How does it relate to the Angeln breed?
Angeln cattle were crossed in, and from 1980 the Harzer Rotvieh has been handled inside the Angeln breed instead of on its own. In the mid-1980s the last mixed animals were used to build the Rotes Höhenvieh, a red upland type.
Good reading and sources
- Harzer Rotvieh on WikipediaEncyclopedia
- More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
- Wikidata recordOpen data
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Harzer Rotvieh", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). EveryCow rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. Sizes, colours and customs differ from one herd, valley or breeder to the next. Folk beliefs are described as tradition, never as advice. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-16.
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