charcoal making, glass manufacture and potash production all boomed – and brought the forest ecosystem to the brink of collapse. Only the absence of heavy machinery and intermittent calamities, such as outbreaks of the plague or war, periodically halted the devastation and gave the forest a chance to recover. But at the dawn of the industrial revolution, tree cover had been reduced to only 30 per cent.
During the latter part of the 19th century circumstances conspired to bring about a radical shift. Firstly, the growing influence of industry on people’s lives nurtured a new appreciation and idealisation of nature. The ‘idea of nature’ became the ‘holy grail’ of the Romantic movement and artists and philosophers revered nature as a source of inspiration.
Latschigfelsen – a prominent promontory high above Murg Valley (Stage 2)
The Black Forest was one of the first regions in Germany to discover its potential as a tourist destination, although at first it wasn’t the forest or the mountains that attracted visitors from all over Europe, America and Russia – it was the allure of a cure. The numerous mineral-rich hot springs of the Black Forest, which had been praised for their curative powers since Celtic times, now attracted the gentry of Europe. Once the first steam engine railway lines were introduced, the healing waters attracted an influx of well-heeled tourists, and became a lucrative source of revenue for the region.
Medical philosophy at the time also held that fresh air and gentle exercise, such as walking, was conducive to health and wellbeing. However, royalty could not be expected to roam the woods, so the solution was to create ‘Kurparks’ in every spa town: beautiful park-like arboretums, embellished with ornamental trees and bushes from far-flung regions of the planet, were created in the English style that was the fashion at the time.
Burg Rötteln, near Basel, dates to at least the 13th century (Stage 13A)
In 1864 the now-famous Schwarzwaldverein (Black Forest Association) was founded with the idea of protecting the cultural and natural heritage of the Black Forest and promoting it to walkers and tourists. To this day, walkers are indebted to the efforts of these early pioneers. All the routing, waymarking and maintenance of the region’s extensive network of walking trails is carried out by its members; in recent years the Schwarzwaldverein has also played an important role in the creation of the Naturparks Schwarzwald Nord and Schwarzwald Süd, mediating between various interest groups to safeguard sensitive habitats and cultural sites, while promoting sustainable outdoor activities. Thanks to these efforts the Black Forest has evolved into a flagship region for sustainable tourism in Germany.
Plants and wildlife
In January 2014 parts of the northern Black Forest were designated as Germany’s newest national park, consisting of two separate pieces of land which together cover an area of about 10,000ha. These areas have not been set aside because of their innate wildness, but rather as an effort to ‘re-wild’ them, and thus to provide better habitat protection for a number of endangered species that are native to the Black Forest. The effects will not be apparent during the initial stages of rehabilitation as it may take 30 years or more for nature to reclaim her ground.
Mountains clad in tall, dark spruce and fir trees and a sombre atmosphere is the classic image that has given the region its name. For many centuries this image was not far from the truth, but today the ecosystem is changing. Originally the forest ecosystem consisted mainly of beech and oak, as well as silver fir (Abies alba), all of which are considered high-value timber species and sources of fuel. For many centuries the forest was fiercely exploited, and sadly, no stands of original primary forest have been preserved.
Attitudes did not begin to change until the time of the industrial revolution. Realising that overexploitation of forest resources was putting people’s livelihoods at stake, the authorities passed the first legislation to protect the environment. It was decreed that no more timber should be harvested in any one year than could naturally regrow within the same period. Simultaneously, a massive reforestation campaign was launched.
Trail through the predominantly deciduous woodlands of the southern Black Forest (Stage 12A)
Unfortunately, then as now, ecological considerations came second to economic priorities. The forest was stocked with fast-growing, commercially valuable Norwegian spruce and Douglas fir, which, thanks to their straight growth and sparsely branched trunks, soon returned a profit. The forest recovered remarkably quickly – within 60 years it had pretty much replenished – but the economically biased strategy soon proved to be short-sighted: the forest had basically been turned into a monoculture of shallow-rooted trees. It was a disaster waiting to happen. And happen it did – most poignantly in December 1999, when legendary hurricane Lothar blasted its way across the Black Forest and within just a few hours lay waste to about 40,000ha of trees.
During major storms, trees with shallow root systems tend to fall like matchsticks. Of course, a storm with the ferocity of Lothar (gusts of over 200km per hour were measured on Feldberg) has the power to flatten anything. But the effect was particularly devastating due to the predominance of these types of trees. Even now, the aftermath of the storm can be observed on many exposed hillsides. It has transformed the terrain and galvanised a shift in forest management. Today more effort is invested in making the forest more climate resilient by planting a variety of species and especially more native deciduous trees. Gradually the forest is changing and returning to something resembling its original ecology.
The growing stands of mixed deciduous trees in the southern Black Forest have created an ambience that is quite different to that of the northern parts, where conifers still dominate and many storm-ravaged areas remain; where dead trees form bizarre sculptures amid young growth but open views still prevail.
Left to right: left: Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria); Yellow Gentian (Gentiana lutea); Moorland Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza maculata)
Another typical landscape feature, especially in the northern mountains, are the patches of moorland, locally known as Grinden – the result of deforestation followed by regular grazing. Even though these moors essentially represent a degraded, man-made landscape, they provide a habitat for highly specialised plants and animals, such as sundew (Drossera sp), cottongrass (Eriophorum sp), marsh cinquefoil (Comarum palustre), bog bilberry (Vaccinium uliginosum), bogbean (Menyanthes trifolia), bog-rosemary (Andromeda polifolia) and various insects, including rare dragonflies that can only survive and thrive in such harsh and specialised biotopes.
At the higher altitudes conifers still dominate, while the understory layer consists of mosses and ferns that relish the humid atmosphere. This is the habitat of the endangered wood grouse. Heather, bilberry and cowberry are often found carpeting areas that have lost their tree cover due to the ravages of hurricane Lothar. These open areas also provide a habitat for snakes, such as the European adder, while grass snakes tend to prefer a more boggy terrain.
At lower altitudes there is a richer diversity of tree species, which includes oak, beech, maple, hazel, willow, poplar, lime, mountain ash, and along the warmer western edges, sweet chestnut and even walnut. The understory here tends to be dryer, and occasional stands of holly can also be found. On the southernmost fringe near Rheinfelden, a small natural stand of box trees (Buxus sempervirens) is protected as a nature reserve.
Open meadows and pastures display the full range of central European flora, its variations dependent on soil composition and altitude as well as ecosystem characteristics.
