Hainich National Park (german: Nationalpark Hainich), founded on December 31, 1997, is the 13th national park in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the only one in

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

. One of the main objectives of the park is the protection of an ancient native

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

forest. In 2011, the park was added to the

Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe is a transnational serial nature UNESCO World Heritage Site, encompassing 94 component parts (forests of European beech, ''Fagus sylvatica'') in 18 European countr ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

because of its testimony to the ecological history of the beech tree and the dynamics of forests in Europe since the Last Glacial Period.

Geography

The park lies in the western part of the German state of Thuringia, east of the

Werra The Werra (), a river in central Germany, is the right-bank headwater of the Weser. "Weser" is a synonym in an old dialect of German. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After the Werra joins the river Fulda in the t ...

River, and is part of the greater Eichsfeld-Hainich-Werratal Nature Park. It occupies much of the triangular area between the cities of

Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...

Mühlhausen Mühlhausen () is a city in the north-west of Thuringia, Germany, north of Niederdorla, the country's geographical centre, north-west of Erfurt, east of Kassel and south-east of Göttingen. Mühlhausen was first mentioned in 967 and bec ...

, and

Bad Langensalza Bad Langensalza (; until 1956: Langensalza) is a spa town of 17,500 inhabitants in the Unstrut-Hainich district, Thuringia, central Germany. Geography Location Bad Langensalza is located in the Thuringian Basin, the fertile lowlands along t ...

. The national park the southern part of the roughly Hainich, the largest contiguous

deciduous forest In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

in Germany.

Flora and fauna

The Hainich Forest features a wide range of

forest communities, with populations of

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

trees,

hornbeams Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Origin of names The common English name ''hornbea ...

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

s, lindens, and occasional checker trees. Many fungi can be found there, along with stands of flowers such as summer snowflakes and anemones. Animals in the park include wildcats, 15 species of bats, 7 species of woodpeckers, and over 500 types of wood beetles.

Protection of the ecosystem

The goal of Hainich National Park is to restore a large section of central European forest to its primordial state. The park covers an area formerly used for military training, with about of deciduous forest. In the future, the beech forest should grow to cover most of the park's area.

Photo gallery

File:Bad Langensalza Verwaltungsgebäude NP Hainich 2004.jpg, Visitor's center in

File:WAK LAUTERBACH CAMP.jpg, Youth hostel on the Harsberg File:Eingang hainich.jpg, Entrance to the national park in Lauterbach File:Hainich fg02.jpg,

Canopy walkway Canopy walkways - also called canopy walks, treetop walks or treetop walkways - provide pedestrian access to a forest Canopy (biology), canopy. Early walkways consisted of bridges between trees in the canopy of a forest; mostly linked up with pl ...

through the forest (elevation 10–24 m / 33–79 ft) File:Hainich fg08.jpg, Tree fungus File:Hainich fg09.jpg, ''

Graphosoma italicum ''Graphosoma italicum'' is a species of shield bug in the family Pentatomidae. It is also known as the Striped bug (or Italian striped bug) and Minstrel bug. Description ''G. italicum'' can reach a length of . The body is almost round, with a la ...

'' File:Hainich fg04.jpg, ''

Lilioceris merdigera ''Lilioceris merdigera'' is a species of beetle belonging to the family Chrysomelidae, subfamily Criocerinae. Distribution This species can be found in most Europe (especially in Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Russia, and Sl ...

'' File:Hainich fg05.jpg, ''

Rutpela maculata ''Rutpela maculata'', the spotted longhorn, is a beetle species of flower longhorns of the family Cerambycidae, subfamily Lepturinae. Varieties Varieties within this species include: *''Rutpela maculata ''var.'' calcarata'' Olivier, 1790 * ...

Literature

* ''Hainich Artenbuch – Tiere, Pflanzen und Pilze im Nationalpark Hainich'', Verlag Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza, 2005,

Films

* ''Nationalpark Hainich: ein Urwald in der Mitte Deutschlands''. Documentary, 30 Min., Germany, 1999, by Peter and Stefan Simank, Production: Simank-Filmproduktion, Dresden
Summary
by ''Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk''

External links

* ttp://www.nationalpark-hainich.de/ Official Websitebr>English pages

Information about the Hainich on the Website of the Nationalen Naturlandschaften
(in German)

References

{{Authority control National parks of Germany Protected areas of Thuringia Protected areas established in 1997 1997 establishments in Germany Primeval Beech Forests in Europe IUCN Category II Tourist attractions in Thuringia Central European mixed forests