Location: Thuringia Map
Area: 16,000 ha
Hainich National Park is a nature reserve in North- western part of
Thuringia region of Germany. Hainich National Park was found in
December 31, 1997 and covers an area of 16,000 ha of mostly
deciduous trees. It was formerly a training ground for the German
military, but today converted to a protected area that is part of
Eichsfeld- Hainich- Werratal Nature Park. A boardwalk and tower
offer tourists a great way to explore the forest without damaging
fragile recovering ecosystem. The park is mostly covered by beech
trees that make home for wild boars, fallow deer, red deer, fox,
badger, marten and many other animals that started to settle the
region after the military has left it.
Hiking trails of
Hainich National Park follow the medieval paths that range from 2
miles (wheel chair accessible) to 10.4 mile Rennstieg trail. The
best place to start exploration of the forest preserve in Bad
Langensalza, but you can also find paths from Eisenach, Kammerforst,
Mihla, Muehlhausen, Seebach and Weberstedt.
Geography
The 75 km² park is located in the
west of the state of Thuringia east of the Werra and is part of the
Eichsfeld-Hainich-Werratal nature park. It is located in the city
triangle Eisenach-Mühlhausen-Bad Langensalza in the south of the
approximately 160 km² Hainich, the largest contiguous deciduous
forest area in Germany.
Flora and fauna
The Hainich has a
wide range of beech forest communities in which, in addition to the
common beech, numerous other deciduous tree species such as ash,
maple, linden and the rare service tree can be found. There are also
mushrooms and large stocks of spring flowers such as Märzenbecher,
hepatica and wood anemone.
Among the fauna of the Hainich,
the European wildcat, 15 bat species, seven woodpecker species and
more than 500 wood-dwelling beetle species are particularly
noteworthy.
Purpose of the national park
In the Hainich
National Park, a central European primeval forest is to be created
again, in which nature is allowed to run free and the areas are not
cultivated. This national park currently covers the area of former
military training areas with around 50 km², the largest unused
deciduous forest area in Germany. In the future, the beech forest
will prevail on most areas. This fulfills an important requirement
of international nature conservation, since a typical habitat in
Central Europe can finally be protected. The implementation will be
strengthened by an enlargement of the core zone from 29 to 75
percent in July 2009.
Particularities
East and center
The Thiemsburg forest house is located in the eastern part of the
national park. Since August 2005, it has been possible to take a
look at the crown region of a forest on a 310 meter long treetop
path just below the tree tops (extended to 530 meters in May 2009).
The University of Göttingen has been conducting geobotanical treetop
research in this forest area for several years. This treetop path
was only the second in Germany and enables scientists and visitors
to find out about new botany findings. Such treetop paths are
already known in tropical rainforests, for example in Costa Rica.
(51 ° 4 ′ 59.6 ″ N, 10 ° 30 ′ 24.2 ″ E)
south
The southern
part of the national park occupies a spacious area that was cleared
for the requirements of the military training area in the early
1980s and later remained unused for forestry purposes; only
individual, local open spaces were allowed to be grazed. This area
can now be accessed again on the designated routes. Visitors will
find a young forest that is already twenty years old as a special
feature. The Hainichblick observation tower on Generalshügel, which
opened in June 2011, provides a comprehensive view of the area. (51
° 2 ′ 15.7 ″ N, 10 ° 26 ′ 11.3 ″ E)
west
The
Urwald-Life-Camp was opened on the Harsberg near Lauterbach in 2006,
offering numerous offers for school classes and young people. (51 °
4 ′ 26.4 ″ N, 10 ° 22 ′ 38.2 ″ E)
north
Since March 2009
there has been a "Germanic Cult Path" in the area of the Hünenburg
- Hünenteich. These are replicas of sanctuaries that were discovered
during excavations in the sacrificial moor near Niederdorla. (51 ° 6
′ 39.6 ″ N, 10 ° 27 ′ 8.2 ″ E)
Around the park
The
cooperation “Destination Nature” is jointly supported by the three
large environmental associations BUND, NABU and VCD as well as
Deutsche Bahn. Partners in the cooperation are 23 nature areas,
including the Hainich National Park. All together are committed to
environmentally friendly travel in the natural landscapes.
The “Wartburg Hainich World Heritage Region” is seamlessly linked to
the regional and long-distance network of Deutsche Bahn. The
Eisenach, Bad Langensalza and Mühlhausen train stations are easily
accessible from all over Germany. Eisenach is served by several ICE
or IC lines every 1 or 2 hours.
The route network of the
transport companies should enable comfortable and fast travel. The
Hainichbus (line 150) connects Eisenach with Bad Langensalza every
day. The national park bus (line 154) operates as an on-call bus
between Mühlhausen, the villages on the eastern edge of the national
park and Thiemsburg. The cultural adventure bus (line 160) connects
Eisenach with Mühlhausen via the villages on the west side of the
national park.