The Hohne Oak is designated as a natural monument (ND) (No. 491). It is a sessile oak (Quercus petraea). It is estimated that the Hohne Oak was planted around the year 1600. Up until the First World War, there was a wooden pulpit on the Hohne Oak, which could be climbed using a wooden ladder. Even at that time, the Hohne Oak had become a popular tourist destination, especially from the two surrounding towns of Wernigerode and Elbingerode (Harz).
The claim that it is a court oak cannot be proven by documents, especially since, given the sparse population in the area, it is unlikely that court was ever held under this oak.
On the mighty trunk of the Hohne Oak there are several traces of a fire that occurred immediately at the end of the Second World War, when a Wehrmacht Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger parked under the oak was destroyed.
Source: Wikipedia