Dülwald

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The historic Dülwald (Dühlwald, Dühlholz) was a scarcely populated primeval forest south of the Steinhuder Sea until the end of the Middle Ages . It was located in the north of what is now the Schaumburg district in Lower Saxony , between Minden , Stadthagen and Wunstorf , between the Weser , the Rehburg Mountains , the Steinhuder Sea and the Bückeberg , between the Schaumburg Forest and the Haster Forest.

Until the 13th century, a dense swampy alluvial forest covered the area, which is drained by the Sachsenhäger Aue , the Rodenberger Aue and numerous streams. On its south side there was an old trade route ( Hellweg ) between the Rhine and Elbe , the course of which follows today's federal highway 65 . Early historical finds show an early settlement in this region. In the 5th century, the Saxons penetrated the northernmost low mountain range. The Dülwald remained as a large border forest between several districts until the start of clearing in the 13th century. In the 12th century, the intensive colonization of East Westphalia began and in the Dülwald a number of "wild settlements" emerged, as the area was largely regarded as ownerless.

The Counts of Roden- Wunstorf began building new settlements, to which the Bishop of Minden claimed ownership and the Counts of Schaumburg founded Stadthagen. The Duke of Sachsen-Lauenburg owned rights to the Dülwald and founded the Sachsenhagen moated castle . Some of the colonists of the Dülwald enjoyed special rights, were freed from serfdom and became free citizens.

The Dülwald was gradually cleared. As the number of settlements grew, so did the need for arable land. Today's Dülwald is only around 580 hectares in size and is located between Sachsenhagen and the towns of Lindhorst and Ottensen (district of Lindhorst) in Schaumburg. It is crossed by the Mittelland Canal in the northern third . The rest of the forest area is referred to as the old part in hiking maps . In a broader sense, however, the Dülwald also continues to exist in other isolated but sometimes still quite large forest areas. For example, the 4,000 hectare Schaumburg Forest is a remnant of the Dülwald.

Individual evidence

  1. http://www.dfoersterling.de/chronik.htm , accessed on May 24, 2015