  Recent highlight results obtained with the air shower detector complex HEGRA
at the Canary island La Palma are presented. Observations and searches for
gamma sources above an energy of 500 GeV are covered, where special emphasis is
put on the recent flaring activities of the Blazar Mkn 501. A second main
research topic of the experiment is the measurement of the energy spectrum and
the elemental composition of the charged cosmic rays. Data covering the energy
region of the "knee" around 3 PeV are presented.
