The Kottenforst is a large

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

, about 40 km² in area, to the south, west and north of the city of

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

in Germany. It is part of the

Rhineland Nature Park Rheinland Nature Park (''Naturpark Rheinland'') is a nature park in North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly ...

(1,045 km²) and forms its eastern side.

Geography

The Kottenforst is the southern part of a

highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

region that lies about 150 to , and known as the

Ville ''Ville'' or "town", but its meaning in the Middle Ages was "farm" (from Gallo-Romance VILLA < Latin ''

villa rustica

'') and ...

, which drops steeply towards the east into the Rhine Valley, but whose western slopes descend more gradually towards the

Swist The Swist is a stream, long, in the German Rhineland. It rises on the northern edge of the Eifel at 330 metres above sea level and empties from the right and southeast into the Rhine tributary, the Erft, between Weilerswist and (a district ...

and

Erft The Erft () is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It flows through the foothills of the Eifel, and joins the Lower Rhine (left tributary). Its origin is near Nettersheim, and its mouth in Neuss-Grimlinghausen south of the Josef Cardina ...

rivers, forming a geological half-horst. The part of the

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and ...

of Ville, which is not dominated by the

brown coal Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

mining of the Rhenish Brown Coal Field, is also called ''Waldville''. The Kottenforst is divided into a southeastern section between

Meckenheim Meckenheim (; ksh, Meckem) is a town in the Rhein-Sieg district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 15 km south-west of Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in t ...

Bad Godesberg Bad Godesberg ( ksh, Bad Jodesbersch) is a borough ('' Stadtbezirk'') of Bonn, southern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. From 1949 to 1999, while Bonn was the capital of West Germany, most foreign embassies were in Bad Godesberg. Some buildings ar ...

and Bonn, into which areas of natural open country intrude in places, such as the Katzenlochbach Valley, and a northern area between

Heimerzheim Heimerzheim is the largest local part of the municipality Swisttal in the North-Rhine/Westphalian (North Rhine Westphalia) Rhein-Sieg district. It is situated approximately 20 km west of Bonn. In 2015 the local part had 6,199 inhabitants.

Buschhoven Buschhoven is a farming village west of Bonn, 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 me ...

and Alfter. Between the two areas lies the village of Witterschlick.

References

Literature

* Werner D´hein: ''Kottenforst. 13 Wanderungen durch eine historische Kulturlandschaft''. Gaasterland-Verlag, Düsseldorf, 2008, . * Bruno P. Kremer (also ed.): ''Der Kottenforst. Eine rheinische Kultur- und Erholungslandschaft''. Wienand, Cologne, 1999, . * Albert Hexges: ''Der Kottenforst. Ein Beitrag zur Forstgeschichte Kurkölns unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Entwicklung des Waldeigentums, des Forstrechts, der Forstorganisation und der Waldnutzung.'' In: ''Bonner Geschichtsblätter, Band 35''. Bonn, 1984, pp. 23–98. * Gemeinde Swisttal, Heinz Doepgen (ed.): ''900 Jahre Heimerzheim''. G. Grote'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Cologne and Berlin, . * Arbeitskreis Heimat im Ortsausschuss Heimerzheim (ed.): ''Heimerzheim im Wandel der Zeiten.''

Sources

* Nature park map 1:50,000 by the State Survey Office of NRW Kottenforst-Ville, and the

hiking map In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but histori ...

of the

Eifel Club The Eifel Club (german: Eifelverein) is one of the largest rambling clubs in Germany with a membership of 28.000. Its purpose is the "maintenance of local customs, the protection and care of monuments to which it is particularly committed". Th ...

in cooperation with the

forestry office Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

of Kottenforst, 1980 (with description on the reverse side)

External links

Geschichte des Kottenforstes

{{Authority control Forests and woodlands of North Rhine-Westphalia Rhein-Sieg-Kreis Bonn