Hainich National Park

Hainich National Park
Nationalpark Hainich
Canopy walkway through the forest
Location	Thuringia, Germany
Nearest city	Bad Langensalza
Coordinates
Area	75 km²
Established	31 December 1997
Governing body	Nationalpark Hainich Bei der Marktkirche 9 99947 Bad Langensalza

Hainich National Park (German: Nationalpark Hainich), founded on December 31, 1997, is the 13th national park in Germany and the only one in Thuringia. One of the main objectives of the park is the protection of native beech forest. In 2011, the park was added to the Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany World Heritage Site.

Geography

The 75 km² (29 sq mi) park lies in the western part of the German state of Thuringia, east of the Werra River, and is part of the greater Eichsfeld-Hainich-Werratal Nature Park. It occupies much of the triangular area between the cities of Eisenach, Mühlhausen, and Bad Langensalza. The national park forms the southern part of the roughly 160 km² (62 sq mi) Hainich, the largest contiguous deciduous forest in Germany.

Flora and Fauna

The Hainich Forest features a wide range of beech forest communities, with populations of ash trees, hornbeams, maples, lindens, and occasional checker trees. Many fungi can be found there, along with stands of flowers such as summer snowflakes and anemones. Animals in the park include wildcats, 15 species of bats, 7 species of woodpeckers, and over 500 types of wood beetles.

Protection of the ecosystem

The goal of Hainich National Park is to restore a large section of central European forest to its primordial state. The park covers an area formerly used for military training, with about 50 km² (19 sq mi) of deciduous forest. In the future, the beech forest should grow to cover most of the park's area.

Photo gallery

• Bad Langensalza Verwaltungsgebäude NP Hainich 2004.jpg

  Visitor's center in Bad Langensalza

• WAK LAUTERBACH CAMP.jpg

  Youth hostel on the Harsberg

• Eingang hainich.jpg

  Entrance to the national park in Lauterbach

• Hainich fg02.jpg

  Canopy walkway through the forest (elevation 10–24 m / 33–79 ft)

• Hainich fg08.jpg

  Tree fungus

• Hainich fg09.jpg

  Graphosoma lineatum

• Hainich fg04.jpg

  Lilioceris merdigera

• Hainich fg05.jpg

  Rutpela maculata

See also

• Alte Burg, an ancient castle site within the park.

Literature

• Hainich Artenbuch – Tiere, Pflanzen und Pilze im Nationalpark Hainich, Verlag Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza, 2005, ISBN 978-3-937135-37-3

Films

• Nationalpark Hainich: ein Urwald in der Mitte Deutschlands. Documentary, 30 Min., Germany, 1999, by Peter and Stefan Simank, Production: Simank-Filmproduktion, Dresden. Summary by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk

External links

• Thüringer Gesetz über den Nationalpark Hainich vom 19. Dezember 1997
• Official Website (English pages)
• Information about the Hainich on the Website of the Nationalen Naturlandschaften (in German)
• Forest and tree photos from Hainich National Park