WaldKulTour - Prussian Forest

South Südwestfalen's forests contain many valuable cultural-historical testimonies and historical forms of forest management. Some of them are visible, but their former significance is not always comprehensible. Others are only recognizable at second glance. For this reason, a model concept has been developed for Südwestfalen in the Arnsberg Forest Nature Park pilot region to make it possible to experience the forest at points of interest in terms of forest culture history as a harmony between forestry, environmental education, monument protection, recreation and tourism with an emphasis on landscape and nature conservation.

The starting point is the forest ship in the Bibertal valley Address Bibertall 33 59602 Rüthen

When the Prussians took possession of the Duchy of Westfalen in 1816, including the Arnsberg Forest, they found many forests in a run-down state. Centuries of overexploitation and exploitation had left their mark. In the following decades, the new government launched a reforestation program to improve the impoverished forest soils and counteract an impending timber shortage. Experimental plantations dating back over 100 years still bear witness to the systematic saving of the forests today. You can see this at several stations along the trail.