The village is located in the natural park "Harz" and, since 1972, it does belong - together with Braunlage and St. Andreasberg - to the city of Braunlage in the Goslar region (Lower-Saxony). The village is located on a height of 570 to 642 meters above sealevel. The border of the neighbouring province of Saxony-Anhalt (the formerly actually was the border between East and West Germany) is right at the end of the village. At appr. 3.3 kilometres to the southeast of the village, you will find the location where the 3 provinces of Lower-Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia get together. In June 2018 the village had just a little over 900 inhabitants.
The name of the village was first mentioned in the year 1268 as “Hogeyz”; but back then it was not known as a settlement but only as woodland. In the year 1444 a chapel was built (inaugurated on September 8) to which close surroundings in 1528 a settlement arose that in 1573 was named for the first time "the village of Hohegeist”. From 1701 till 1704 the evangelic church „Zur Himmelspforte“ ("to the heavenly gate") was established which was inaugurated on December 9 1704.
In the year 1968 a health-park was developed and in 1978 Hohegeiß was even acknowledges by the State as an official health resort. On January 1st 2011 this tiltle was no longer extended and from that date on Hohegeiß has the touristic status of recreational resort.
As the former inner-country border is not far from the centre of the village, the opening of the border between East and West Germany in November 1989 was experienced in an intense way.
