2023-06-18 07:32:58
Rügen: Jasmund
KNorrig and squat, clinging to the cliffs with long root arms. The trunks are thickly covered with moss, woodruff and wood anemones bloom under the crowns, orchids such as the white and the red forest bird. There are very few places where you can experience early summer as spectacularly as on the Jasmund peninsula to reprimand.
Here, in Germany’s smallest national park, it still stands and turns green every year, one of the last remnants of the primeval beech forest that once covered large areas of Europe. Therefore, these 493 hectares are part of the Unesco World Heritage Site “Old beech forests and primeval beech forests”. Carpathians and other regions of Europe” – a cumbersome name for the feeling of being the first person to roam here.
In fact, the small national park is big enough for hikers to have it almost to themselves in places. Because most visitors gather at the Königsstuhl. The new 185 meter long skywalk, which only went into operation in April 2023, is not only a new tourist magnet, it also protects the sensitive chalk cliffs from erosion – and offers completely new views of the national park.
High above the Königsstuhl, the floating visitor trail describes a loop. Here it offers spectacular views: of the 118 meter high cliffs, white against a blue sky, the green treetops behind them and the sea far below. In the Königsstuhl National Park Center, new WWF stations provide information about environmental and climate protection and the special features of the ancient trees.
Sweden: Muddus
Scandinavia – that also stands for wide, lonely forests. The most original of them are in Lapland in the Muddus National Park (Muttos in the Sami language). The semi-wild reindeer of the indigenous people have always grazed in this jungle area.
Nowhere else in Sweden there are so many forests that have remained completely untouched by forestry. Fortunately, the swamps in this wilderness made it impossible to cut down and transport the trees, which are up to 700 years old today.
The most original forests in Sweden are in Lapland in the Muddus National Park
Quelle: picture alliance / imageBROKER
Muddus is now part of the Unesco World Heritage Laponia, which is one of the largest untouched natural regions in Europe. Hiking trails lead through the approximately 500 square kilometer national park, which is home to lynx, moose, wolverines, bears and rare birds. The Muttos waterfall, the Måskosgårsså gorge, which is more than two kilometers long, are also impressive – and on the way there the unbelievable silence of the forest. Forest bathing may have been invented here.
Poland: Borkener Heide
Central Europe’s most famous archaic Wald is probably the Białowieża Forest in Poland and Belarus, a Unesco heritage site and home to wild bison. The European bison, previously exterminated in the wild, was reintroduced here for the first time. Around 700 of these animals now roam the forest.
But Białowieża is not the only primeval forest in Poland where you can experience the giants, which can weigh up to a ton. They also live in the little-known Borkener Heide (Puszcza Borecka) in the hilly east Masurens.
The 230 square kilometer deciduous and mixed forest is a remnant of the Galindian primeval forest, which once covered the whole of Masuria. Today there are four protected areas for the more than 300 local plant species and some rare animals such as black storks, sea eagles, elks and wolves.
Wild bison live in the Borkener Heide in the hilly east of Masuria
Quelle: picture alliance / imageBROKER
In the wisent rearing station in Wolisko, you can watch the original cattle being fed from May to October. In addition, more than 100 bison live freely in the jungle – their ancestors had released themselves by escaping from the enclosure.
Austria: Rothwald
There are a particularly large number of thousand-year-old trees here: a remarkable primary forest has been preserved in the middle of Lower Austria. The Rothwald is the last large remnant of primeval forest in the Alps, a mixed mountain forest dominated by beech, fir, yew and spruce.
The next generation of giant trees is sprouting up again between rotten stumps. Nature has been able to grow undisturbed here since the last ice age. Changing ownership prevented the timber industry until Albert von Rothschild decided in 1875 to preserve the primary forest.
The Rothwald is the last large remnant of primeval forest in the Alps
Source: Theo Kust
Today, the 400-hectare primeval forest forms the core of a protected area of international standing – the 3,500-hectare Dürrenstein wilderness area. The biodiversity is fascinating: a good 800 species of mushrooms, 70 birds and 45 mammals live here, including Ural owls, golden eagles and lynxes.
To ensure that nature remains undisturbed, there is a strict ban on walking. On the marked paths you can admire nature wonderfully hike. The “House of Wilderness” with its interactive exhibition also offers guided excursions.
Italy: Cozzo Ferriero
In this forest, untouched by man, there are beeches that were already growing at the time of Martin Luther and Magellan’s first circumnavigation of the world: The Cozzo Ferriero nature reserve is embedded in the Pollino National Park in southern Italy in the Basilicata region.
With around 192,600 hectares, it is the largest in the country – wilderness everywhere you look. It is also home to the oldest known beech tree in Europe, which has 620 annual rings.
The landmark of the national park is a conifer: the rare armored or snakeskin pine. As a relic of the Ice Age, it only occurs in the mountainous region.
With luck, you can spot animals on the hiking trails. Wild cats, eagle owls, spectacled salamanders or alpine goats are usually well hidden. That’s how it is in the jungle: You don’t see the wild inhabitants – but you see the visitors.
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