The Tharandt Forest () is a landscape in the centre of the German Free State of

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

and lies southwest of the forest town of

Tharandt Tharandt () is a municipality in Saxony, Germany, situated on the Weißeritz, southwest of Dresden. It has a Protestant Church and the oldest academy of forestry in Germany, founded as the Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry by Heinrich Cotta in 181 ...

, south of the town of

Wilsdruff Wilsdruff () is a town in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge, in Saxony, Germany, with 14,444 inhabitants (2020). It is situated 14 km west of Dresden centre. Kesselsdorf is one of its subdivisions. Near Wilsdruff there is a facility for ...

, roughly between the cities of

Freiberg Freiberg () is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany, with around 41,000 inhabitants. The city lies in the foreland of the Ore Mountains, in the Saxon urbanization axis, which runs along the northern edge of the Elster and ...

and

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. Administratively it is fully part of the borough of Tharandt today and bears a legally-protected strapline with the text: ''Tharandter Wald – schönster Wald Sachsens'' ("Tharandt Forest - Saxony's most beautiful forest"), which goes back to the tourist advertisements of the 1920s.

History

In the 12th century, the village of Warnsdorf existed for a short time in the middle of the forest by the water-rich Warnsdorf Spring of the Triebisch river. The foundations of a large Roman site from the 13th century were discovered in the neighbouring village of Grillenburg which, then as now, was completely surrounded by the forest. Several routes run through the forest, including the Princes' or Lords' Way. During the

Early Modern Period The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

the forest was a hunting ground for the territorial princes (Grillenburg Hunting Lodge) and was also a source of timber and charcoal for mining (

charcoal burning Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

) and the residence city of Dresden (

timber rafting Timber rafting is a method of transporting felled tree trunks by tying them together to make rafts, which are then drifted or pulled downriver, or across a lake or other body of water. It is arguably, after log driving, the second cheapest mea ...

). Forest glassworks are also discernible near Hetzdorf (''Glasergrund'') and

Hartha Hartha is a town in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated 11 km west of Döbeln, and 12 km north of Mittweida. Personalities * Carl Grünberg (1847–1906), woven goods manufacturer in Hartha and politici ...

(''Glasbruch''). The beekeepers and forest keepers (collectively called ''Zeidler'') that settled in Fördergersdorf and Hartha supplied honey and beeswax. And artificial ponds are still used today to farm fish. In the early 18th century in the Tännichtgrund bottom near Naundorf in the Tharandt Forest was the hideaway of the notorious robber, Lips Tullian and his Black Guard (''Schwarzen Garde''). Tullian was feared throughout Saxony. His lair is stilled recalled by the Lips Tullian Rocks (''Lips-Tullian-Felsen'') named after him and the old Thieves' Chamber (''Diebskammer''). Around 1800 the forest had been seriously reduced by logging and was reforested by Johann Heinrich Cotta on scientific principles. The Tharandt Forest thus became a model for the concept of

sustainable forest management Forest management is a branch of forestry concerned with overall administrative, legal, economic, and social aspects, as well as scientific and technical aspects, such as silviculture, forest protection, and forest regulation. This includes mana ...

that was born out of necessity. This resulted in the formation of the forestry academy and the botanical forest gardens in Tharandt. From the 18th century the forest was used as a place of recreation by middle-class families, especially from Dresden. These included such well-known personalities from the sciences and arts as Heinrich Ernemann and

Eva von der Osten Eva Helga Bertha von der Osten (19 August 1881 – 5 May 1936) was a German dramatic soprano. Biography She was born in Helgoland, the daughter of actor (1847–1905) and Rosa von der Osten-Hildebrandt (1850–1911). Von der Osten debuted in 19 ...

, who established their summer residences here. During the

Nazi era Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

Saxony's ''

Gauleiter A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a ''Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany, Gau'' or ''Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party, rank in ...

'' and state huntsmaster,

Martin Mutschmann Martin Mutschmann (9 March 1879 – 14 February 1947) was a German factory owner who was a financial supporter of the Nazi Party and became the ''Gauleiter'' (Party leader) and ''Reichsstatthalter'' (Reich Governor) of the state of Saxony during ...

, used the Grillenburg hunting lodge as the headquarters of the Saxon Hunting Court (''Sächsischen Jägerhof''). Its guest house, the ''Neues Jägerhaus'', also used by him and acted during the

GDR East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

period as a VdN convalescent home, known as ''Elsa Fenske'', for victims of fascism. The entire forest was a

recreation area A recreation area is a type of protected area designated in some jurisdictions. By country Canada In the province of British Columbia, recreation areas are lands set aside for recreational use. These lands are also being evaluated to determine w ...

for many years and was signed by volunteers from the

Cultural Association of the GDR The Cultural Association of the GDR (, KB) was a federation of local clubs in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It formed part of the Socialist Unity Party-led National Front, and sent representatives to the Volkskammer. The association had ...

who also laid out a nature trail. As a contiguous and easily accessible natural region the Tharandt Forest continues to act as a recreation area for the population of the surrounding area and its visitors. There are

educational trail 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 ...

s and paths for hiking, riding and cycling. Coaches and sleds are permitted on several routes. The region around the Tharandt Forest has been represented since 1997 by the Tharandt Forest Queen (''Tharandter-Wald-Königin''), a new one being appointed every two years and who is presented and crowned at the traditional choir gathering, the ''Chortreffen am Tharandter Wald'' by the Tharandt Forest Tourist Association (''Verkehrs- und Verschönerungsverein "Tharandter Wald" e.V.'').

References

External links

''Der Kohlenmeiler in Tharandt.''
Homepage of the town of Tharandt

Homepage of the town of Tharandt

Homepage of the resort of Hartha
''Tourismusverband''
Homepage of TV Sächsisches Elbland {{Coord, 50, 57, 32, N, 13, 29, 50, E, type:landmark_region:DE-SN, display=title Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge Protected landscapes in Germany Forests and woodlands of Saxony Tharandt Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry