Tiveden National Park

Tiveden National Park
Coordinates: 58 ° 43 ′ 0 ″  N , 14 ° 36 ′ 40 ″  E
Location:	Sweden
Next city:	Karlsborg
Surface:	13.5 km²
Founding:	1983

Trollkyrka rock

The Swedish National Park Tiveden is located in the intermediate lake area between the lakes Vänern and Vättern . Tiveden is a rocky, blocked area and partly overgrown by jungle. In addition to the Trollkyrka rock, there are also several wilderness lakes in the national park . Together with the forests east of Lake Vättern ( Tylöskog and Kolmården ), Tiveden forms the border between Götaland and Svealand . The name is to be understood as the forest ( ved ) of the god Tyr ( Ti ).

Park description

Tiveden has a total size of 1353 hectares, of which 137 hectares are water. The aim of the park, founded in 1983, is to preserve a coherent, almost untouched forest, lake and rock landscape. The forest should be able to slowly develop into a primeval forest.

In Fagertärn and two other small lakes in Tiveden a red variety was the White Water Lily discovered. It was protected by law in 1905, but before that it was transferred to several gardens.

Common species of animals in the national park's forests are elk and deer. Martens, foxes, squirrels and hares also live there. Sometimes you can also see wolves and lynxes. Various subspecies of the beaver live in the many rivers and lakes of the Tiveden National Park . Finally, many species of birds such as owls, capercaillie and woodpeckers can be seen in the national park.

Origin and historical outline

About 1400 million years ago, when the earth's crust tore open and the Vättern depression was formed, the granite rock of Tiveden also appeared. Cracks ran through the area in a diamond-shaped pattern. Other parts of the rock rose to form rugged, sometimes very high stone walls. The inland ice of the last ice age, which melted about 11,000 years ago, also had a significant impact on the landscape. So rubble was deposited in many places - e.g. B. The Steinkälla was created in this way. On the other hand, the meltwater washed a lot of loose material into the deeper Arctic Ocean. As a result, Tivende's crust is very thin and often the rocks are as bare as the melting ice left them.

There was no human settlement in the area of ​​the park, only from the 17th century there were a few farms in the vicinity of today's park area, which Tiveden's forests and meadows used for forestry until around the time of the Second World War.

Infrastructure

The national park is accessible via a small, gravel road, the Tivedsleden , and can be reached from Riksväg 49 between Karlsborg and Askersund or the E 20 between Hova and Laxå . About 25 km of marked hiking trails lead to the most beautiful places in the national park. The park has a visitor center, toilets, barbecue areas and a swimming beach. With the exception of the two parking spaces, parking is prohibited in the entire park area. Camping is also prohibited in the entire park area, but there is a campsite a little south of the park. The park cannot be reached by bus.

Trollkyrkarunde

The Trollkyrkarunde is a roughly 6 km long impassable circular route that opens up the sights of the park. The Oxaberget is one of the high rocks on which some large boulders lie. The white reindeer lichens on the mountain are often incorrectly called "white moss". At the foot of the mountain there is a glacier mill that was created by the Ice Age glaciers. The strong water pressure from the melted ice set stones in rotation. These stones, called "millstones", created pits in the rock.

Trollkyrkaberget with two heights is on the other side of the deep valley. It is thanks to the explorer Eric von Rosen , who visited Tiveden in 1930, that large areas were designated as nature reserves in 1938. One of them is the Trollkirchenberg. Here is one of the examples of how the inland ice has abraded the mountains. You can even see the ice reefs on the rocks. The Lilla Trollkyrka (little troll church) is just over 200 m high. From here you have a good view of Lake Vättern, 110 m below.

Forest fires have played an important role in the development of the forest stand. The last major fire was in 1853. The oldest dated tree stump is from 1309 and the oldest living tree from the 16th century.

In Tiveden, the word "Troll" is used as a prefix in many names. "Trollkyrka" is documented as early as the 17th century. Many legends are associated with the Stora Trollkyrka (large Troll Church). Trollkyrkosjön (Trollkirchensee) has clear, green shimmering water that is based on the reflection of the forest. Lakes with clear water are a rarity in Tiveden, as the humic matter in the surrounding bog soils usually produce brown water.

The field church is part of Swedish religious history. The flat stone was used for forbidden church services in the 18th - 19th centuries. Open air services were forbidden. One of the stones can be the overturned sermon chair. The square was used for church services until the end of the 19th century. After that it was allowed to hold services outside the church.

The Metesee is a typical forest lake of the Tiveden. It has brown water and the pH of the lake is so low that no fish live in it. The sign of acidification is the white moss on the bottom near the bank. The rare Gagelstrauch (Myrica gale) , which comes from the west, grows on the lake shores and the white-flowering swamp porst (Ledum palustre) , which comes from the east, grows in the moors . They meet in Tiveden.

In the “tar valley”, resinous and dry pine stumps were chopped into small chips and burned with very little air supply. A long pit was dug on a gently sloping slope into which the pieces of wood were placed. They were then covered with earth and slowly burned down from above.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Tiveden National Park - the animal kingdom ( Memento of the original from June 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (German) 

Web links

Commons : Tiveden National Park  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official web presence at sverigesnationalparker.se
• Tiveden National Park: Trollkyrkesjön - Short description of the ›Trollkykorunde‹ with numerous photos ( Taxidi.org )
• Tiveden National Park: Ödlesjön - Brief description of another hiking route with numerous photos ( Taxidi.org )
• Fagtärn nature reserve - short description with numerous photos ( Taxidi.org )