Die Forstordnung der Herzogin Elisabeth 1549 für den Bramwald

2001

S. 179-183

5 Lit. Ang.

Unselbständiges Werk

200081611

It is ncessary to travel back in time for more than 450 years ago, to understand these forest regulations. In the Middle Ages, the village-marche cooperatives (Markgenossenschaften) had rigid forestry regulations (Hay-Ordnung). These rules deactivated the conflict between cattle's pasture and timber production by a two-floor construction: open-top stand of oaks (timber for buildings and fruit for the cattle) and thick foundations of bush and stool shoot (firewood). The forest area of a village was divided into 18 lots. Each year, only one lot's undergrowth was cut. The cattle was allowed to pasture, when the young stands had grown higher than the cattle's mouth. The forest belonged to all village house owners in the march in common. They elected a "Timber Duke" (Holzgräfe) for a limited time. This type of forestry was sustainable. At the close of the Middle Ages, Roman laws encroached, which recognized private property, only. The resolutions of the cooperatives were not yet acknowledged and parts of the forests were destroyed by self-interest. Therefore, the sovereigns issued forest laws and installed forest officers, who observed the well-proven rules of the orders explained above.