The Darß Forest (pronounced "Darss", ) is a wooded region on the western coast of the peninsula of

Darß The Darß or Darss is the middle part of the peninsula of Fischland-Darß-Zingst on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The peninsula's name is of Slavic origin. There is a large forest in ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

coast. There are no settlements in the forest. Villages on the outskirts are

Ahrenshoop Ahrenshoop is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany on the Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula of the Baltic Sea. It used to be a small fishing village, but is today known for its tourism and as a holi ...

and Born in the south and Wieck and

Prerow Prerow is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Vorpommern-Rügen in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. This Baltic seaside resort on the Darß peninsula is located about halfway between the historic Hanseatic towns ...

in the east. The Darß Forest covers an area of 5,800 hectares and is part of the Western Pomeranian Lagoon Region National Park. The area around Darßer Ort and the northwestern part of the forest belong to conservation zone 1. Here, the land may not be used for human exploitation and the aim is to allow the areas to develop naturally.

History

This area was formed during the development of a

graded shoreline A graded shoreline is a stage in the cycle of coastal development characterised by a flat and straight coastline. It is formed under the influence of wind and water from the original bays, islands, peninsulas and promontories. Sand and gravel is car ...

from rows of beach berms, which are recognisable today as a system of embankments (locally known as ''Reff'') and damp depressions (''Riegen''). Three thousand years ago the sea level was higher, so that old

cliffed coast A cliffed coast, also called an abrasion coast, is a form of coast where the action of marine waves has formed steep cliffs that may or may not be precipitous. It contrasts with a Flat coast, flat or alluvial coast. Formation In coastal ar ...

lines like the ''Alte Meerufer'' ("Old Seashore") may be found within the Darß Forest itself. In the past, much of the area covered today by the Darß Forest comprised pastureland. Oddly formed beech trees are evidence of that. The periods of occupation of Pomerania by Danes and French led to deforesting in the Darß Forest. The wood of felled

yew Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus '' Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew ('' Taxus ...

trees was used, for example, to line the interior of the Danish palaces of

Amalienborg Amalienborg () is the official residence for the Danish royal family and is located in Copenhagen. Frederick VIII's palace complex has four identical Classical façades, effectively four palaces, with Rococo interiors, laid around an octagona ...

and Rosenborg. Prussian foresters reforested the areas affected with fast-growing softwoods such as spruce, larch and Douglas fir. Much later, the pines were tapped for resin during GDR times. During the Middle Ages, the Darß Forest was used by the Pomeranian dukes as a hunting ground. Subsequently, the forest became a state hunting ground by the Swedish king in the 19th century, by

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...

in the 20th century, and by hunters of the SED leadership during GDR times. The result was and is an unusually high level of game, especially

Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

and Roe Deer. A

bison A bison (: bison) is a large bovine in the genus ''Bison'' (from Greek, meaning 'wild ox') within the tribe Bovini. Two extant taxon, extant and numerous extinction, extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American ...

population was established in the 1930s but died out in 1945. The ridges and troughs (''Reffen'' and ''Riegen'') of the Darß Forest run predominantly from east to west. The tree species of the higher ridges are

Scots Pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US), Baltic pine, or European red pine is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-gr ...

, English Oak and Common Beech. The lower-lying troughs are covered with

Alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...

Bracken Bracken (''Pteridium'') is a genus of large, coarse ferns in the family (biology), family Dennstaedtiaceae. Ferns (Pteridophyta) are vascular plants that undergo alternation of generations, having both large plants that produce spores and small ...

covers much of the ground and, together with the high density of game, prevents the natural rejuvenation of the tree population.

External links

ZEIT-Serie über die Landschaften Ostdeutschlands. Folge 1: die Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft (1996)

Informationen zum Darßwald auf der Seite des Nationalparks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darss Forest Vorpommern-Rügen Fischland-Darß-Zingst Forests and woodlands of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania