The archival documented history of the Harz forests around the once independent municipality of Hasserode, that has been part of the borough of Wernigerode since 1907, go well back into the Middle Ages. Originally, this wooded region belonged to an imperial forest before it was enfeoffed by the Holy Roman emperors and German kings to the counts of Wernigerode, first mentioned in 1121, who came from Haimar in the Diocese of Hildesheim.