Ober-Olmer Forest

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View from the "Hill of Friendship"

The Ober-Olmer Wald is a forest area in Rheinhessen / Rhineland-Palatinate between Mainz-Finthen , Mainz-Lerchenberg , Wackernheim and Ober-Olm . With an area of ​​around 350 hectares, it is now one of the largest contiguous forest and local recreation areas in the otherwise poorly forested Rheinhessen and is of particular value for species and biotope protection.

Formerly the contiguous forest area to which today's Ober-Olmer Forest belonged comprised 6,000 hectares and reached as far as Ingelheim. Over the centuries, the forest area shrank considerably. After the First World War there were z. B. strong felling for firewood . After the Second World War, the forest had a size of 427 hectares and continued to decline in area. In 1951, the area was confiscated by the United States Army and used for military purposes until 1991 (including for NIKE positions). After the end of the Cold War, the positions were dismantled and from the mid-1990s the forest with its numerous - then no longer used - military facilities was returned to civil use as part of the ecological model project conversion of the Ober-Olmer-Wald . In the course of demilitarization, 58 buildings were demolished, 13,100 meters of fence were removed and 50,000 square meters of area were unsealed. The "Hill of Friendship" was built as an art object, the steps of which were decorated with "Messages of Peace". In addition, art steles were added in 2002, which address people from Russia, the USA and Germany and their fate during the Cold War.

In 2010, the Rheinhessen Forestry Office announced under the heading New Forest for Rheinhessen that it would increase the proportion of forest in the region through first afforestation. A new 32 hectare biologically healthy mixed deciduous forest is to be created in the edge area of ​​the Ober-Olmer Forest , "which ideally complements the previous forest area". At the beginning of 2017, the Ober-Olmer Forest, together with the adjacent Wiesen am Layenhof area, was declared a nature reserve. The Ober-Olmer Forest also has the protection status of a Natura 2000 area . Numerous rare and endangered species on the so-called "Red List", such as orchids or amphibians, have found a habitat here in the protected area.

Photo gallery

  • Map with hiking and running routes

  • The network of trails is 25 km long - but there are also demarcated areas for animals

  • A typical inhabitant is the forest board game

  • Transition from the forest to the open area

  • Visitors must take the wooden path

  • The wood anemone blooms early in the year

  • The flower of the adder's head

  • The black mullein

  • The "Hill of Friendship" - an art project

  • On the stairs of the hill "Messages of Peace" ...

  • … in different languages

  • Art steles that are supposed to remind of people and military history

  • Graffiti on the last military building remains

  • Excavation work on a megalithic grave (2015)

  • The Ober-Olmer Forsthaus

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ober-Olmer Wald: Ecological model project conversion
  2. ^ Landesforsten Rheinland-Pfalz: Ecological model project Ober-Olmer Wald
  3. ^ State capital Mainz: The Upper Olmer Forest
  4. ^ Forest Office Rheinhessen: New forest for Rheinhessen
  5. ^ NABU Mainz and the surrounding area: 500 trees for Rheinhessen - planting campaign by the Nieder-Olm high school
  6. ↑ SGD-Sued identifies nature reserve "Wiesen am Layenhof Ober-Olmer Wald"
  7. ^ State capital Mainz: The Upper Olmer Forest


Coordinates: 49 ° 57 '34 "  N , 8 ° 10' 21"  E