Mühlhäuser Stadtwald
The Mühlhausen city forest in the broader sense is the largest communal forest in the Free State of Thuringia with 3093 hectares . In the narrower sense, it is a wooded area marked by name on the northern edge of the Hainich .
expansion
It includes the forest holdings of the district town of Mühlhausen / Thuringia and consists of the forests in Nordhainich between Mühlhausen and Eigenrieden , on the Kühmstedter Berg near Horsmar , the Schalcherode, the Rosenhagen near Beberstedt , large parts of the Mühlhausen Hardt , the Forstberg, the Reiserchen Hagen and long sections of the Mühlhäuser Landgraben .
The Mühlhausen city forest in the narrower sense consists of the abbey forests of the former city hospitals , the community digs for the firewood needs of the Mühlhausen citizens and the forests of the Mühlhausen-based Teutonic Order , which were leased by the former Free Imperial City in 1534 and bought in 1599. The “wooden corner” in the northeast, the Spittelbrunnen in the southeast, the Sellmannhütte in the southwest and the Gerberhütte in the northwest can be seen as corner points of the roughly square Mühlhausen forest in this sense.
Forest stand
The majority of these are mixed beech forests, eutrophic and base-rich locations above shell limestone and loess . Softwood plays a subordinate role and is mainly found west of Pfafferode , on the Forstberg and in the Schneidertal on the Mühlhäuser Landgraben, where former sheep herds were reforested in the 19th century. The reforested areas also include the Weite Lücke, an old cleared forest on the western edge of Mühlhausen. The mixed beech forests in the Mühlhausen city forest originate from long-term medium - sized forests - and the subsequent high forest management. In the northern part of Hainich, after being included in the Hainich natural forest reserve , they are transferred to beech plenter forests .
Main tree species is beech , followed by the Vorwaldarten ash and sycamore , which are added especially in younger stands in large proportions. Old oaks come from former middle forests and are gradually being removed. New oaks were planted in the drier and warmer areas of the Mühlhausen city forest, where the oak is naturally competitive.
Extensive ravine forests are located in the stone ditch on the southern edge of the Mühlhausen city forest, one of the dry valleys of the shell limestone framing of the Thuringian basin located under the forest.
fauna
The following large native mammal species have currently been identified: deer , wild boar , badger , red fox , stone and pine marten , hare and wild cat . The non-native fallow deer and raccoons are also found. The Mühlhausen city forest is one of the roaming areas for red deer and, since 2013, for the lynx again . The woodcock is one of the rare breeding bird species . Black woodpecker and hawk can be found in the area of large softwood stocks . The eastern part of the Mühlhäuser Stadtwald houses a large part of the common toad population of the Mühlhausen Thomasteich . The outward migration to this spawning water, which is 2 to 3 km away, takes place every year in March and April. When crossing the street in the city forest, numerous individuals were run over by cars every time. Stationary and mobile crossing aids now reduce the loss of inviduals due to road traffic. The Mühlhausen city forest is poor in standing water. However, numerous mountain newts are regularly found in vehicle tracks that are sometimes filled with water .
Attractions
The Mühlhausen city forest is one of the oldest and most important recreational areas in Mühlhausen / Thuringia . The forests are therefore intensively developed with signposted hiking trails that lead along the chessboard-like forest roads or on specially created narrow footpaths to the various attractions and snack huts.
Sequoias in the city forest
These include the sequoias ( Sequoiadendron giganteum ) planted in the west by the then chief forester Eduard Brehme in 1884 , probably the tallest mountain sequoias in Thuringia, the largest of which had a circumference of 412 cm in 2008 and 440 cm in 2018. Their growth in thickness is therefore to be classified as significant and not yet completed. The height of the trees was officially measured in 2012. With a height of 43 m, the trees are among the highest in the Mühlhausen city forest.
Impressive
Equally impressive are the corpus beech , a 400-year-old hornbeam protected as a natural monument with a striated bark in the center, a Märzenbeche deposit not far north of the White House and the Spittelbrunnen in the south, a hunger well framed with limestone blocks . It takes its name from the former village of Spudelborn , which was abandoned in the 13th century.
Monuments
In the Mühlhausen city forest there are also several monuments to deserving citizens of the city as well as the ruins of the former equipment construction GmbH , an armaments factory hidden in the middle of the forest, which was blown up by the Soviet Army in 1947 . There also Poles and Ukrainians and up to 692 female inmates of were during World War II subcamp Martha II of the Buchenwald concentration camp for forced labor used. Broken concrete, asphalt paths and ornamental shrubs are still visible today on an area of 40 hectares under the emerged forest. A more than 4 m high stone made of Mühlhausen travertine at the edge of the forest south of the White House commemorates the former Mühlhausen school director, writer and nature lover Karl Wilhelm Osterwald (1820–1887).
Picture gallery
The Mühlhausen city forest seen from the southwest in the aerial view. The city of Mühlhausen on the horizon
A rare sight: the Spittelbrunnen, a hunger well in the Mühlhausen city forest, has water
The Große Steingraben: Gorge in the Mühlhausen city forest
Remains of the concrete wall of the Gerätebau GmbH in October 2006
Osterwald Memorial at the White House
Others
Tourist infrastructure
Several regional and supra-regional hiking trails lead through the Mühlhausen city forest or start there. The hiking trail along the Mühlhäuser Landgraben and the Rennstieg , a high-altitude hiking trail along the Hainichkamm to Behringen, begin on the western outskirts of Eigenrieden . The Waagebalkenweg, an old trading route that connects the former Free Imperial City with the Harthhaus near Bad Langensalza and now also touches the Hainich National Park, runs along the eastern edge of the Mühlhausen city forest . The Barbarossaweg also leads through the Mühlhausen city forest. It connects significant stages in the life of the Staufer Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa . The second stage of the Hainichlandweg , inaugurated on July 13, 2012, connects the Hainichhaus near Kammerforst with Struth and leads through the Mühlhausen city forest. On the north and east edge of the Mühlhausen city forest there are various excursion restaurants, children's and old people's homes, the “Waldschlösschen” school camp and a deer enclosure.
Traditions and environmental education
Tradition is maintained by hiking clubs such as the Mühlhausen Forest Association, founded in 1882, or the Mühlhausen Peregrine Falcons. This includes, for example, the ecumenical forest service at Güntzel's Ruh in the north of the Mühlhausen city forest. However, they also play an important role in the creation and maintenance of hiking trails and shelters and thus in the development of the Mühlhausen city forest as a recreation area. Every year the Mühlhäuser Holzfahrt is held at the White House, a traditional forest festival that attracts people to the forest with games all about wood, as well as the forest youth games organized by the Forestry Office. The forest children's group of the Mühlhausen daycare center " Anne Frank " has existed since 2004 and spends two days a week in the Mühlhausen city forest in almost any weather , following the principle of forest kindergartens . In the west of the city forest, a 1.9 hectare so-called school forest was set up in the spring of 2007 in collaboration between the city of Mühlhausen and the German Forest Protection Association (SDW) . The 125 year old coniferous wood stock has been divided into plots and is used for environmental education purposes . The students from Mühlhausen's Nikolai, Martini, Petri and Vocational Schools plant a mix of hardwoods under the light umbrella of the old conifers and thus help with the forest reconstruction . The forest location in the Mühlhausen city forest is the first school forest in Thuringia.
Special historical dates
- Hurricane-like storms from 1st to 2nd and from 28th to 31st January 1834 throw 335 fathoms of wood (≈ 1000 cubic meters).
- On May 24, 1934, a derrick was built on the eastern edge of the Mühlhausen city forest. It was used to search for oil deposits . The hole reached a depth of 1002.65 meters on October 1 of the same year and was discontinued due to failure.
- In October 2013, a regional thriller was published that takes place in the Mühlhausen city forest, among other places.
- The hurricane low Friederike caused damage of around 3000 cubic meters on January 18, 2018 . Especially spruce trees were thrown or snapped.
- The hot and dry summer of 2018 caused extensive spruce death in the Mühlhausen city forest. Drought - related treetop drought can be observed in numerous European beeches .
literature
- Michael Fiegle: Play and experience nature . In: Mühlhäuser Allgemeine, p. 2 of January 19, 2007.
- City of Mühlhausen, Office for City Management (Ed .; 1997): The Mühlhausen City Forest. Largest municipal forest in Thuringia. Mulhouse.
- City of Mühlhausen, Office for City Management (Ed .; 1994): Interesting trees in Mühlhausen and the surrounding area. Mulhouse.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Grün, G. (2013): The bird world in the Unstrut-Hainich district.
- ^ "Mammoth trees in the Mühlhausen city forest" in the tree register, at www.baumkunde.de
- ^ Fritze, E. (2007): Der Eichsfelder Westerwald, p. 126
- ↑ Michael Fiegle: Carola Henning and the dead in the Mühlhausen city forest. ISBN 978-3-942829-07-6
- ↑ Alexander Volkmann: First dominoes then Mikado in the Mühlhausen city forest. In Thüringer Allgemeine from February 20, 2018, TAMU 1
- ↑ Alexander Volkmann: Help for the Mühlhausen city forest . In: Mühlhäuser Allgemeine . July 11, 2019 ( online [accessed July 26, 2019]).