Brothers Immo and Sascha Feldmer work at their traditional charcoal production site near Hasselfelde in Germany's Harz forest, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
HASSELFELDE, Germany (AP) — Brothers Immo and Sascha Feldmer preserve the centuries-old tradition of charcoal burning in Germany’s Harz Mountains, where beech wood smolders for weeks in earth-covered mounds before the charcoal is bagged and sold for home grilling.
Sascha Feldmer holds fresh charcoal at his his family-run, traditional production site near Hasselfelde in Germany’s Harz forest, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)Brothers Immo and Sascha Feldmer harvest a mound of earth at their family-run, traditional charcoal production site near Hasselfelde in Germany’s Harz forest, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)Immo Feldmer monitors the smoldering process as he works at his family-run, traditional charcoal production site near Hasselfelde in Germany’s Harz forest, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)Immo Feldmer covers a pile of beech wood with hay and soil, before lighting it from the inside for it to smolder, at his family-run, traditional charcoal production site near Hasselfelde in Germany’s Harz forest, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)Immo Feldmer uses a pole on top of a mound of earth at his family-run, traditional charcoal production site near Hasselfelde in Germany’s Harz forest, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)Immo Feldmer uses a pole to ventilate a mound of earth at his family-run, traditional charcoal production site near Hasselfelde in Germany’s Harz forest, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)Sascha Feldmer splits beech wood for the traditional production of charcoal at his family-run business near Hasselfelde in Germany’s Harz forest, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)Sascha Feldmer harvests charcoal at his family-run, traditional production site near Hasselfelde in Germany’s Harz forest, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)Brothers Immo and Sascha Feldmer put charcoal into paper bags after weighing it at their traditional production site near Hasselfelde in Germany’s Harz, Germany, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)Immo Feldmer works at a wood pile at his family-run, traditional charcoal production site near Hasselfelde in Germany’s Harz forest, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
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