The Lothar Path (german: Lotharpfad) is a forest experience and

educational path An educational trail (or sometimes educational path), nature trail or nature walk is a specially developed hiking trail or footpath that runs through the countryside, along which there are marked stations or stops next to points of natural, techn ...

in the

Schliffkopf The Schliffkopf is a mountain in the Northern Black Forest between Baiersbronn, Ottenhöfen and Oppenau. It is . The Schliffkopf lies on the Black Forest High Road in the National Park and is the site of an eponymous four-star "wellness" hotel. V ...

Nature Reserve by the

Black Forest High Road Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...

between

Oppenau Oppenau () is a town located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It has a population of 4,700 inhabitants. Geography Oppenau is situated in the Rench valley in the Black Forest. The nearest major cities are Offenburg and Freudenstadt. ...

and

Baiersbronn Baiersbronn is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality and a village in the district of Freudenstadt (district), Freudenstadt in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is situated in the Black Forest on the Murg (Northern Black Forest), Mu ...

on the B 500 in the

Northern Black Forest The Northern Black Forest (german: Nordschwarzwald) refers to the northern third of the Black Forest in Germany or, less commonly today, to the northern half of this mountain region. Geography The Northern Black Forest is bounded in the north b ...

. The name of the

windthrow In forestry, windthrow refers to trees uprooted by wind. Breakage of the tree bole (trunk) instead of uprooting is called windsnap. Blowdown refers to both windthrow and windsnap. Causes Windthrow is common in all forested parts of the w ...

educational trail is derived from

Hurricane Lothar A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

, which tore through the forest here on 26 December 1999 with wind velocities of up to 200 km/h creating a wide swathe of debris. After mountain pastures became increasingly uncultivated as a result of the housing of livestock and the abandonment of haymaking, the plateaux of the Northern Black Forest were initially reforested, predominantly with

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

, whose roots could not penetrate the

bunter sandstone The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Buntsands ...

soil to any great depth. As a result, when the storm hit the state of Baden-Württemberg, around 30 million cubic metres of wood was torn from the ground within the space of two hours. After the storm, conservation and forest managers decided to leave the 10-hectare windthrow area of the Lothar Path to recover unaided as an area of protected forest or ''

Bannwald ''Bannwald'' is a German word used in parts of Germany and Austria to designate an area of protected forest. Its precise meaning has varied by location and over time. Etymology The word ''Bannwald'' is a combination of ''Bann'' (English ''ban'' ...

'', in order to be able to observe the long-term, natural regeneration of the habitat. The project was entrusted to the

Black Forest National Park The Black Forest National Park (german: Nationalpark Schwarzwald) is a national park in the state of Baden-Württemberg in the southwest of Germany. It has an area of and is located on the main crest of the Northern Black Forest, mainly between ...

. In June 2003, as part of the EU-sponsored '' Grinde Black Forest'' project, an 800-metre-long educational and discovery path was constructed by the Black Forest High Road (B 500) between Ruhestein and

Kniebis The Kniebis is a 970 -metre-high mountain ridge in the Black Forest and the name of a village to the south which is a dispersed settlement. The Kniebis mountain rises in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Transport The Kniebis lies on the ...

- Alexanderschanze. The path runs along steps, bridges and footbridges made from the dead wood, over and under the fallen trees. An observation platform offers views over Braunberg, Lierbach,

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

and the

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...

; in clear weather, the Feldberg, the Kaiserstuhl and the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

may be seen. In 2007 it was recorded that nearly 50,000 visitors came to the Lothar Path annually.
Der Lotharpfad feiert 10jähriges Jubiläum
', landkreis-freudenstadt.de, 17 June 2013, retrieved 24 August 2013

Literature

* Regierungspräsidium Karlsruhe (publ.): ''Sturmwurf-Erlebnis auf dem Lotharpfad.'' 3rd edition. Karlsruhe, 2005.

External links

Der Lotharpfad auf der Seite des Nationalpark SchwarzwaldBroschüre der staatlichen Naturschutzverwaltung Baden-Württemberg (PDF; 4,4 MB)

Themenpark Umwelt

References

{{Authority control Hiking trails in Baden-Württemberg Transport in the Black Forest Freudenstadt (district)