EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - UNESCO World Heritage

76 NOMINATION DOSSIER "ANCIENT BEECH FORESTS OF GERMANY"
Standing dead wood in Grumsin
In Grumsin, the beech
began to take hold about
3,000 years ago.
With the establishment of the Müritz
National Park on 1 October 1990, the nominated
component part was designated as
core area of the national park. Th e borders
of core area, which has been unmanaged
ever since, reach far beyond the nominated
property so that the nominated beech
forests have a highly reliable, persis tently
unmanaged buff er.
Natural disasters
Th ere have been no known natural disasters.
2.b.3 Grumsin
Forest history
(according to SCHÄFER &
HORNSCHUCH 1998)
In Grumsin, the period between the Late
Glacial and Preboreal periods was characterised
by occurrences of birches and
pines. Th e subsequent Boreal period featured
large portions of hazelnut trees.
Successively elm, alder, and oak with regular
values appeared. During the Atlantic, lime
trees were an addition to the forests. Th e
northwestern part of Grumsin was characterised
by a high portion of lime trees until
the beginning of the 20th century (HUECK
1929). Even today, the species is regularly
found in the tree layer of richer sites.
Th ere were sporadic beech and hornbeam
occurrences already at the beginning of the
Atlantic period, which, however, would not
become relevant mixed tree species before the
Subboreal period. Following a brief increase
in pine numbers, the composition of the
for est changed radically during the Older
Sub atlantic. Th e pines would disappear
almost entirely. Beech and hornbeam culminated.
HESMER (1935) concludes that the clayey
moraine sites “have been deciduous forests
for thousands of years”, in which the beech
has the largest share.
Human interference
Grumsin is an old forest site (LUTHARDT
2007, 2008). Th e beech has long since
been the dominant tree species. Th e nominated
component part was temporarily used
as forest pasture; rocks were removed from
the coarse terminal moraine material. Th ere
are fi nd spots in the wider area of Grumsin
from the Neolithic and Bronze Age. Slavic
settlement sites from the 12th and 13th
century have been verifi ed. Some town
names have Slavic radicals, such as Buckow
(buk = beech). However, hardly any human
settlements have been verifi ed around
Grumsin for the period from 1500 to 1750.
Hunting took centre stage in the forest.
Fence keepers and guards were settled along
a fence of over 70 km in length, which was
set up about 1661. In so doing, the village of
Grumsin was created in 1728, which even
today is composed of but a few houses, and
located about two kilometres from the nominated
component part.
By 1720, the forest showed a natural composition
of tree species with the dominant
beech. Existing large-crowned oaks were
exempt from wood harvest so as to have the