Corselitze Forest (alternate, Corselitz; ) is located on the Danish island of

Falster Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.

. Situated in the northeast of the island, it contains white pine plantations, although beech is the most common tree species.

History

The forest, a

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

also named

Corselitze Corselitze, or Korselitse, is a manor house on the island of Falster in the south-east of Denmark. The Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical house was built in 1777 by Johan Frederik Classen, who at the time of his death founded Det Classenske F ...

, a summerhouse, an extensive garden, farmland, and additional surrounding forests were developed by Major general

Johan Frederik Classen Johan Frederik Classen, frequently also J. F. Classen, (11 February 1725 – 24 March 1792) was a Danish people, Danish-Norwegian people, Norwegian business magnate, industrialist, major general, landowner and founder of Det Classenske Fideic ...

, a successful businessman who made his fortune running a number of companies in

Frederiksværk Frederiksværk is a town with a population of 12,837 (1 January 2025) in Halsnæs Municipality on Zealand in Region Hovedstaden in Denmark. History A French cannon founder, Peyrembert, received permission to build a cannon factory here. Having ...

in the north of

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

. He had acquired the Corselitze estate from the Crown in 1768. When he died in 1792, he left all his possessions to a charitable foundation known as ''

Det Classenske Fideicommis Det Classenske Fideicommis (literally "The Classen Fideicommiss") is a Danish charitable foundation. By testament in 1789 and his codicil of March 23, 1792, the industrialist Major General Johan Frederik Classen left behind his wealth and posse ...

'' which continues to manage the forest today.

The forest

The forest covers an area of and consists mainly of

deciduous 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 Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

trees including

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

and

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

although there are also some

conifers Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All e ...

. It is typical of eastern Denmark with beech the most important type of tree. Oak occupies areas of predominantly clay soil and areas which tend to be marshy. All the principal deciduous trees (beech, oak,

ash Ash is 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 is the ...

sycamore Sycamore is a name which has been applied to several types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the Ancient Greek () meaning . Species of otherwise unrelated trees known as sycamore: * ''Acer pseudoplatanus'', a ...

) grow well and are allowed to mature over long periods, up to 110 years for beech.

European spruce ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very clos ...

fills some 20% of the forest, sometimes mixed with

Douglas-fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...

and

grand fir ''Abies grandis'' (grand fir, giant fir, lowland white fir, great silver fir, western white fir, Vancouver fir, or Oregon fir) is a fir native to northwestern North America, occurring at altitudes of sea level to . It is a major constituent of t ...

. In recent years, felling has produced per year.

Access

As a result of its location along the coast and its paths, the forest attracts many visitors. It is open all year round to pedestrians and cyclists. Riding is permitted on the specially signposted trails for those who have purchased a riding permit from Riderute Lolland-Falster."Skovene og publikum"
, Det Classenske Fideicommis. Retrieved 23 November 2012.

References

{{Falster Denmark Forests of Denmark Falster