Klosterforst (Kitzingen)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The monastery forest near the Lower Franconian city of Kitzingen is a Bavarian state forest . It owes its name to the Benedictine convent in Kitzingen , which owned the forest for centuries.

location

The monastery forest forms one of the larger, contiguous forest areas in the foreland of the Steigerwald , which can generally be described as rather poorly forested ( Kitzingen district around 22% forest, Bavarian average 33%). The forest is north-northeast of the Etwashausen district of Kitzingen and is cut through by State Road 2271 . The forest area is bounded by the federal motorway 3 and the district of Schwarzach am Main - Hörblach in the north, Kleinlangheim - Haidt in the northeast, Kleinlangheim in the east, Großlangheim in the southeast and Albertshofen in the west.

Today only separated from each other by a narrow strip of meadow, another forest joins south of the monastery forest . It is the so-called Gilt- or Gültholz , which historically belonged to the citizens of Kitzingen and today has a different legal status. In the 15th century, both forests jointly covered around 1000 hectares.

history

As a so-called heather forest with many pines , the monastery forest was created during the younger Stone Age and the Bronze Age . The vast forest area was used as a burial place by the people of this era. On the so-called Hunnenhügel (von Hünen, strangers) in the northwest, several burial sites have been archaeologically researched and placed under protection as ground monuments . Other such grave sites can be identified in other places.

In Franconian times, the western part of the forest along the Main was cleared. This is where the development village of Albertshofen came into being, the area of ​​which still extends almost to the forest. The forest received its current name at the end of the 15th century. At that time, Abbess Barbara II von Castell († 1437) and her biological sister Anna († 1439) left the forest from their family property to their convent of the Kitzingen Monastery. As early as the 15th century, the nuns of Kitzingen had to pledge the forest to the Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach , the then city lords of Kitzingen.

The humanist Ladislaus Sunthaym provided the first comprehensive description of the forest around 1500. After that, the "Vorst (...) ainer meil lanng and a meyl prait von Kytzing was the state to Swartzach the state (...)". The reference to the name Forst is important because it connects the forest with an old royal forest, which also had a royal ban on wild animals. With the dissolution of the monastery, the forest finally fell to the margraves in 1544. Since 1596 at the latest, an escort road led through the forest, and it has been expanded over the centuries. The forest was also important in terms of traffic.

After secularization at the beginning of the 19th century, the forest area became the Bavarian state forest. In the 20th century, the forest began to be partially converted into arable land. Thus, between 1936 and 1940, the Albertshofen vegetable growing area was created by clearing 195 hectares in the west. The policy of the Nazi regime led to the construction of a tank road in 1937. Another great loss of forest had to be accepted in 1977 when the American troops set up an armored training area on 113 hectares. Later large NATO bunkers were built there , which are no longer used for military purposes today.

The district of Kitzingen operates a composting plant in the monastery forest .

Protected areas

After the Second World War , endangered forest ant species began to settle in the monastery forest . In the Kitzinger Klosterforst, oaks predominate due to the decades of central forest management, and there are also many pine trees. The monastery forest belongs completely to the fauna-flora-habitat sand areas near Schwarzach, Klein- and Großlangheim and is a bird sanctuary. In the far east there are two nature reserves: the sands on the Tannenbusch near Kleinlangheim and the Belkers near Großlangheim. Many natural monuments are preserved in the forest, for example:

  • the Hägigsquelle (also Hägisquelle),
  • the Schlegelsbrünnle (also Schlegelsbrünnlein) and
  • the picture oak.

Say

Several legends about the monastery forest were told in the surrounding areas. The protagonist is the ghost forester who, as an evil forester , cannot find peace after his death. He is supposed to lure people astray and scares passers-by with his calls and the barking of his dogs. Variants of the saga identify the ghost as a deceased hunter who appears with or without a head.

Other legends allude to or about the picture oak at the Schlegelsbrünnlein. The oak is said to have been the location of an old fountain where human sacrifices were also made in pagan times. A carter attached the eponymous saint to the oak after he was only able to continue his journey after taking a vow . A second picture was taken after a shepherd was found dead in front of the oak.

literature

  • Hermann Büchlein: The forest in the district of Kitzingen . In: Andreas Pampuch (ed.): Nature and landscape of the district of Kitzingen . Kitzingen 1979/1980. Pp. 108-116.
  • Erwin Gaßner: From the history of Hörblach . Hörblach 1984.
  • Karl Gößwald: Wood ants in the Kitzingen monastery forest . In: Andreas Pampuch (ed.): Nature and landscape of the district of Kitzingen . Kitzingen 1979/1980. Pp. 117-124.
  • Gerd Mayer: Forest losses in the Kitzingen district . In: Andreas Pampuch (ed.): Nature and landscape of the district of Kitzingen II. Volume . Kitzingen 1981. pp. 279-282.
  • Reinhard Feisel, Stephanie Nomayo: Saufeder, Hirschfänger and Federspiel. Waidwerk in Franconia until the end of the feudal hunt. Accompanying volume for the special exhibition of the City Museum Kitzingen. November 22, 2013–30. March 2014 (= series of publications by the City Museum Kitzingen, vol. 7) . Kitzingen 2014.
  • Peter Schneider: Between the Main and Steigerwald (= Mainfränkische Heimatkunde 1) . Wuerzburg 1950.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Booklet, Hermann: The forest in the district of Kitzingen . P. 110.
  2. ↑ Feisel, Stefan (among others): Saufeder, cutlass and Federspiel . P. 96.
  3. ^ Schneider, Peter: Between Main and Steigerwald . P. 42 f.
  4. ^ Schneider, Peter: Between Main and Steigerwald . P. 109.
  5. ↑ Feisel, Stefan (among others): Saufeder, cutlass and Federspiel . P. 97.
  6. ↑ Feisel, Stefan (among others): Saufeder, cutlass and Federspiel . P. 96.
  7. ^ Mayer, Gerd: Forest losses in the district of Kitzingen . P. 280 f.
  8. ↑ Main-Post: The Klosterforst remains the point of contact , accessed on January 11, 2019.
  9. ↑ Gößwald, Karl: Wood ants in the monastery forest Kitzingen . P. 117.
  10. ↑ Gaßner, Erwin: From the story of Hörblach . P. 140 f.

Coordinates: 49 ° 46 ′ 38 "  N , 10 ° 11 ′ 56"  E