Finther forest
The Finther forest was an approx. 49 hectare large part of a smaller mixed forest in Rheinhessen belonging to Finthen . It was located southwest of the village in the immediate vicinity of the Ober-Olmer Forest on the boundary with Wackernheim . The adjoining western section, located in the Wackernheim area and measuring 51 hectares, was originally called Mönchwald or Münchwald .
In 1939 the entire forest, except for a few residues to the plant of was air base Sheep Heide Ober-Olm , today Mainz Finthen Airport , cleared. An extensive drainage system was created to drain the impermeable, water-retaining soil . As a result, the original water balance was permanently disturbed. The former moist forest area is therefore now a semi- arid meadow biotope .
Naming and history
The name Finther Wald shows it is owned by the community of Finthen, today Mainz-Finthen. Both the Mönchwald and the Finther Wald were remnants of what was once an extensive imperial forest that originally extended between Ingelheim and Mainz . Under Charlemagne , this was declared a royal forest and belonged to the Palatinate in Ingelheim.
With the loss of importance of the Ingelheim imperial palace and donations to monasteries and nobles, the forest began to be dismembered. As a result, it has been significantly decimated over the centuries by clearing. In places that are difficult to use for agriculture, forest islands were initially preserved, including the wooded area consisting of Mönchwald and Finther Wald. In 1783 the Layenhof estate was built southeast of the Finther Forest . At that time, the southeast corner of the Finther Forest was cleared to expand its agricultural area.
In 1939 the almost complete clearing in favor of the air base followed. Only two minimal remnants of the forest remained to serve as camouflage for crew shelters sunk into the ground. These forests, like the Ober-Olmer Forest and the Lenneberg Forest, are now part of the remnants of the former royal forest . Today only the street “Am Finther Wald” in the Mainz-Finther district of Layenhof reminds of the Finther Forest.
use
The Finther Forest, together with the surrounding forests, originally served the timber industry and acorn fattening . In the 18th century, the contiguous forest areas were so large that they could be hunted. The Archbishop of Mainz and Elector Emmerich Joseph von Breidbach zu Bürresheim even had a hunting lodge built in the southwest corner of the Ober-Olm Forest in 1764.
With the increasing reduction in the total forest area and the almost complete clearing of the Finther Forest, the original uses also lost their significance. The meager remains of the Finther forest were used for military purposes until 1992. Today it separates the residential development of the Layenhof from the operating area of the airfield.
literature
- Claudius Moseler: The Ober-Olmer Forest - Demands on the use of space, potential hazards and competition in use in a forest area in Rhine-Hesse, Diploma thesis in Geography, University of Mainz, 1992
- Wolfgang Draw: Forest and steppe in Rheinhessen. Federal Research Institute for Regional Studies and Regional Planning, 1970
- Karl Rink: The Ober-Olmer-Forsthaus, the Ober-Olmer-Wald, the Layenhof in the past and present. Fink, 1927
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 58 ′ 7 ″ N , 8 ° 9 ′ 13 ″ E