Woodland going wild again
UNESCO World Heritage Hainich National Park
What would the world look like without us? If there weren’t any people, just nature, completely untouched. Beech trees as far as the eye can see, the air filled with a fungal, earthy aroma.
The Hainich region is one of the last remnants of the ancient woodland that once covered large swathes of central Europe. At around 130 square kilometres, it is Germany’s largest unbroken area of deciduous forest. Its southern section is a national park, which became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Ancient Beech Forests of Germany in 2011. Although at first glance its natural landscape might not seem quite as spectacular as chalk cliffs, coral reefs or canyons, it is nevertheless unique and provides a very special habitat for many rare species.