EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - UNESCO World Heritage

78 NOMINATION DOSSIER "ANCIENT BEECH FORESTS OF GERMANY"
Autumnal play of colours in the
Hainich National Park
The beech forests in
Hainich grow on centuriesold
forest sites.
dustrialisation. Beside the harvest of fi rewood,
timber economy became increasingly
relevant. Heterogeneous multilevel
selection forests were now established,
which were dominated by the beech. Th is
type of management made Hainich widely
known in the forestry. Peculiarities of
historical silviculture in Hainich also include
the use by so-called local forest cooperation
of a village's holders of rights of use.
When the forest areas were taken over by
the military, silvicultural use changed
once more in the 20th century. Th e Weberstedt
training area existed for 30 years
(1965 – 1995). Large areas saw little silvicultural
treatment. Stands rich in structures,
species, and dead wood could develop.
Th ere is a wide range of coppice with
standards, with a transitional phase very
rich in structures and tree species. Later
on, when the portion of beeches in the
understorey, middle storey, and overstorey
has increased, they hardly diff er any more
from near-natural mixed beech stands.
On October 1996, the Government of
Th uringia resolved upon an “integrated
concept for the protection of Hainich”.
Th e national park was established in 1998.
Its total area is 7,500 ha. Th e aim of protection
is focused on the large-area, un disturbed
development of the deciduous
forests preserved within the area. Th e national
park is registered as area NATURA
2000 site and bird sanctuary as per European
Habitats and Birds Directive. It´s
embedded in the Eichsfeld-Hainich-Werratal
Nature Park which measures about
80,000 ha and is rich in beech forests.
Natural disasters
Th ere are no known major natural disasters.
2.b.5 Kellerwald
Forest history
Historical accounts and maps show that the
property was characterised by closed,
contiguous forests even when the forests
where pushed back in the Early and Late
Middle Ages, and therefore represents a
“historical old” forest site. Recent fi ndings
from pollen analyses suggest that the
nearby South Westphalian highlands (Rothaargebirge)
forms part of the former core
area of the beech's distribution range in
Central Europe, where beeches had immigrated
in consequence of an Early Atlantic
migrational thrust as early as 7,000 years
before present (SPEIER 2006). Beech
colonisation at fi rst occurred at altitudes
around 500 m above see level. It was not
before the Bronze and Iron Age that beech
forests became characteristic landscape
elements in the region.
Human interference
Th e possibly fi rst and, at the same time, last
attempts at establishing settlements
within what is the national park area today
were unsuccessfully aborted in the 12th
century. Th e rough climate, military campaigns,
and the plague have repeatedly
resulted in the settlements being abandoned.
Th e few traces left of this settlement phase