Naturparktrail Schwalenberger Wald - Nordroute

"NaturZeitReise" - Story(s) about the Schwalenberg forest

Is there anything better than walking through the forest on a sunny day? Simply being out and about under your own steam, breathing in the fresh air under the green canopy of leaves, enjoying the play of sunlight between the treetops and taking in the diversity of the forest with all your senses?

Even today, many people still see the forest as the epitome of nature and unspoilt growth. Germans in particular have developed a "legendary" relationship with the forest over generations. The Romantics transfigured it poetically and picturesquely as a place of longing. In their fairy tales, the Brothers Grimm elevated the forest to the seat of a fantastic world with fairies, witches and dwarves. But beyond this fantasy world, the forest also has its very own history. And it is precisely this story that the Teutoburg Forest / Eggegebirge Nature Park wants to tell with its NaturZeitReise through the Schwalenberg Forest.

The Schwalenberg Forest lies on a mountain massif that rises up to 446 meters. Covering around 27 km², it is one of the most important forest areas in Lippe. It is characterized by its more than 70 percent deciduous forest, which makes it a protected area of European importance. On the ridge lies a former moor, the "Mörth", whose former waterlogged area can be clearly defined by the afforestation with spruce trees. Endangered animal and plant species find their home in the dominant beech forest community.

The Schwalenberg Forest has a very varied history, which the new nature park trail traces at selected adventure sites. It quickly becomes clear that over the centuries, people have repeatedly used and changed the forest to suit their needs. They drove cows, goats and pigs into the forest to graze and took the leaves from it as bedding for the animals in the stables during the winter. The forest was the only source of energy for them, as well as a producer of raw materials for everyday needs and a supplier of timber for the roof over their heads. In the early modern period and at the beginning of industrialization, people consumed the forest faster than ever before. Forest owners were able to earn money quickly with large-scale logging. In addition, the glassworks literally devoured the wood of the Schwalenberg forest due to their high energy requirements. Overexploitation of the forest was the order of the day, which led to a massive timber shortage. What remained was a devastated, barren landscape.

But the worst was averted. Today, we find an intact forest landscape in the same area - only names remind us of this bygone era, such as the Kahlenberg, whose reforestation has led to the overgrowth of the most beautiful historic lookout tower in Lippe.

"Sustainability" is the keyword for modern forestry. Its maxim is: "Do not take more wood from the forest than grows back at the same time". As the owner of the Schwalenberg Forest, the Lippe Regional Association is fully committed to this principle.

In the Schwalenberg Forest, "contemporary witnesses" and "time windows", which the nature park has set up along the hiking trail, provide information on many of these forest stories and direct the hiker's gaze specifically to the still recognizable historical relics.

Biotop conservation measures such as the creation and reactivation of species protection waters, the bund planting of a lime tree and supplementary planting in a fruit tree meadow were also on the agenda when setting up the nature park trail. Of course, the hike also provides information on natural history, including the importance of deadwood in the forest and the special feature of the Mörth as the highest spawning site for great crested newts in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The history of the Schwalenberg forest can be explored on two loops, each around 18 km long. The views from the edge of the forest into the landscape on both sides of the ridge are something for connoisseurs. The nature park has also created rest areas for hikers and has set up landscape loungers in two particularly inviting places for well-being in nature.

For generations, the forest has always been an ambivalent place of reference for people. Although the old myths of the forest no longer play a major role in the minds of modern people, exciting "forest stories" are still told. The "Schwalenberger Wald Nature Park Trail" in the Teutoburg Forest / Eggegebirge Nature Park is an example of this.