Brilon

No other municipality in North Rhine-Westphalia has as much of its own forest as Brilon. This makes the town on the northern edge of the Sauerland the town of the forest - a forest in transition. The advantage of the forest owned by the town is unmistakable: discussions with private forest owners about what the ideal forest of the future should look like are no longer necessary here. The latest scientific findings can be implemented directly.

Forest change

Today, the city of forests is inevitably a city of change. Hurricane Kyrill had already changed the face of Brilon's forests, as the impressive Kyrill Gate on the Rothaarsteig near Petershagen reminds us to this day. Today, climate change and bark beetles are having an even greater impact on the forest landscape. Intact, near-natural forest and forest in transition border each other in Brilon and offer hikers impressive, educational and relaxing nature experiences.

Planting different types of trees has been an idea in Brilon's city forest for some time. Many visitors wonder why so many dying spruce forests can still be seen. The answer is simple: forest change takes time. The mature spruce trees were planted 80 to 120 years ago. At the time, spruce seemed to be a good solution to quickly replace the forests felled after the end of the war and to prevent the soil from sliding away. Most experts were of the opinion that there was only one solution and that was spruce. Diversification would probably have been better - you're always wiser afterwards.

After the forest experiences, we hike south through the Kyrilltor via the Rothaarsteig, in keeping with the theme. The mother of all Sauerland hiking huts awaits us there: The Hiebammenhütte was the first real, rustic hut with a bar on the Rothaarsteig. Today we opt for bread dumplings with wild mushrooms. It sounds Bavarian at first, but it's literally all from Sauerland soil. The mushrooms all come from the forests around the hut.

Klaus-Peter Kappe