Hainich Beech Forest, June 2023

A bear! – I was stopped dead in my tracks this early morning in June suddenly spotting a rather large dark animal some 5 meters up a beech tree close to the trail, apparently looking at me. I somewhat panicked and proceeded to quickly leave the scene. What at this moment appeared to be a small bear must have been, of course, reflecting on the encounter a bit later in more calmness, just a racoon, its white stripes obscured by the dimness of the forest in the early hours. Small vindication, then, that at least in the German language a racoon is called a Waschbär, hence, at least lexicologically, a kind of bear.

Hainich is a rather large and diverse forest, located next to Wartburg-famous Eisenach in Thuringia, a stop on the major ICE route from Berlin to Frankfurt. Different from other beech forests in Germany, the core zone (some 15 km2) is easily accessible, well crisscrossed by many paths and even some gravel roads, certainly in the southern part of the area, a bit less so in its north-eastern parts. It even seems possible to visit parts of the core zone on horseback (horsing is quite popular in this part of the country). The area used to be part of a larger Soviet military training area, and some areas are cordoned off due to unexploded ordnance; but this may just be a tactic to scare off potential visitors (I heeded the warnings).

The forest is surprisingly hilly, even craggy in places, certainly in the southern parts, with some ravine-like areas and cliffs of maybe 200-400 meters in height variations . The trees are not particularly dense, and while there is some dead wood lying around, overall, to me the forest did not appear overly “wild” or “primary”. Still, plenty and plenty of beech trees, making for pleasant hikes. I did not see any hikers in the more central parts of the core zone, but then again, it was early in the day.

The many small villages circling the border of the forest are served by regular buses to and from Eisenach. As there is no public transport in the early hours on weekends, I ended up taking a cab from Eisenach to get me to the forest’s edge (Eisenach is large and touristy enough to have 24-hours taxi services). I started my hike at Mallinde car park next to Berka, traversing the forest to Weberstedt and then on to Thiemsburg, arriving there some 5 hours later. From Thiemsburg I took the bus back to Eisenach.