Besides a dozen or more earlier histories of forestry in Germany,
some of which date back to the beginning of the 19th century, there
are two excellent modern compilations, namely:
_Geschichte des Waldeigenthums, der Waldwirtschaft und
Forstwissenschaft in Deutschland_, by AUGUST BERNHARDT, 1872-75, 3
Vols., 1062 pp., a classic, which treats especially extensively of
political and economic questions having a bearing on the development
of forestry; and
_Handbuch der Forst- und Jagdgeschichte Deutschlands_, by ADAM
SCHWAPPACH, 1886, 2 Vols., 892 pp., which appeared as a second
edition of Bernhardt’s history, abridging the political history and
expanding the forestry part. This volume has been mainly followed in
the following presentation of the subject. In condensed form this
history is also to be found in LOREY’S _Handbuch der
Forstwissenschaft_, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 143-210.
In Schwappach’s history a full list of original sources is
enumerated. These are, for the oldest period, Roman writings, which
are unreliable; the laws of the various German tribes; the laws of
kings (_Capitularia_); the laws of villages and other territorial
districts; “Weisthümer” (judgments); inventories of properties
(especially of churches and cloisters); documents of business
transactions and chronicles. For the time after the Middle ages the
most important source is found in the Forest Ordinances of princes
and other forest owners; forest laws; police orders; business
documents, and finally special literature.
It is generally conceded that both the science and art of forestry are
most thoroughly developed and most intensively applied throughout
Germany. It must, however, not be understood that perfection has been
reached anywhere in the practical application of the art, or that the
science, which like that of medicine has been largely a growth of
empiricism, is in all parts safely based; nor are definitely settled
forest policies so entrenched, that they have become immutable. On the
contrary, there are still mismanaged and unmanaged woods to be found,
mainly those in the hands of farmers and other private owners; there are
still even in well managed forests practices pursued which are known
not to conform to theoretical ideals, and others which lack a sure
scientific foundation; and while the general policy of conservative
management and of State interest in the same is thoroughly established,
the methods of attaining the result are neither uniform throughout the
various States which form the German Federation, nor positively settled
anywhere. In other words, the history of forestry is still, even in this
most advanced country, in the stage of lively development.
For the student of forestry the history of its development in Germany is
of greatest interest not only because his art has reached here the
highest and most intensive application, but because all the phases of
development through which other countries have passed or else will
eventually have to pass are here exemplified, and many if not most of
the other countries of the world have more or less followed German
example or have been at least influenced by German precedent. There is
hardly a policy or practice that has not at some time in some part been
employed in the fatherland of forestry.
One reason for this rich historical background is the fact, that Germany
has never been a unit, that from its earliest history it was broken up
into many independent and, until modern times, only loosely associated
units, which developed differently in social, political and economic
direction. This accounts also for the great variety of conditions
existing even to-day in the 26 principalities which form the German
empire.
Politically, it may be mentioned that out of the very many independent
principalities into which the German territory had been divided,
variable in number from time to time, the 26 which had preserved their
autonomy formed in 1871 the federation of States, known as the German
Empire. Each of these has its own representative government including
the forest administration, very much like the state governments of the
United States; only the army and navy, tariff, posts, telegraphs,
criminal law and foreign policy, and a few other matters are under the
direct jurisdiction of the empire, represented in the Reichstag, the
Bundesrath, and the Emperor.
The 208,830 square miles of territory,[2] which supports a population of
about 60 million people, still contain a forest area of around 35
million acres (26% of the land area) or .61 acre per capita, which
although largely under conservative management has long ago ceased to
supply by its annual increment (somewhat over 50 cubic feet per acre)
the needs of the population; the imports during the last 50 years since
1862, when Germany began to show excess of imports over exports, having
grown in volume at the average rate of 10% to now round 380 million
cubic feet (45 million dollars) or nearly 15% of the consumption.
[2] The statistics in this book do not pretend to be more than
approximations.
The larger part of Germany, two thirds of the territory and population
is controlled by modern Prussia, with a total forest area of 20 million
acres; Bavaria comes next with one seventh of the land area and 6
million acres of forest; the five larger states of Wurttemberg, Baden,
Saxony, Mecklenburg and Hesse, occupying together another seventh of
the territory with 5 million acres of forest. The balance of the area
is divided among the other 19 states.
Fifty per cent. of Germany roughly speaking, is plains country, the
larger part in the northern and eastern territory of Prussia; 25% is
hill country, mostly in West and Middle Germany; and 25% is mountain
country, the larger portion in the southern states.
There are at best only five species of timber of high economic general
importance, the (Scotch) pine which covers large areas in the northern
sandy plain and the lighter soils in the south; the (Norway) spruce and
(Silver) fir which form forests in the southwestern and other mountain
regions and represent, in mixture with broadleaf forest, a goodly
proportion in the northeastern lowlands; the (English) oak, of which
botanically two species are recognized; and the beech. The last two are
the most important hardwoods found throughout the empire, but especially
highly developed in the west and southwest. In addition, there are half
a dozen species of minor or more local importance, but the five
mentioned form the basis of the forestry systems.
* * * * *
The history of the development of forestry in Germany may be divided
into periods variously. Bernhardt recognizes six periods; Schwappach
makes four divisions, namely, the first, from the earliest times to the
end of the Carlovingians (911), which is occupied mainly with the
development of forest property conditions; the second, to the end of the
Middle Ages (1500), during which the necessity of forest management
begins to be sporadically recognized; the third, to the end of the 18th
century, during which the foundation for the development of all branches
of forestry is laid; the fourth, the modern period, accomplishing the
complete establishment of forestry methods in all parts of Germany. For
the later historian it would be proper to recognize a fifth period from
about 1863, when, by the establishment of experiment stations, a
breaking away from the merely empiric basis to a more scientific
foundation of forestry practice was begun.
For our purposes we shall be satisfied with a division into three
periods, namely: first, to the end of the middle ages, when, with the
discoveries of America and other new countries, an enlargement of the
world’s horizon gave rise to a change of economic conditions; second, to
the end of the eighteenth century, when change of political and economic
thought altered the relation of peoples and countries; third, the modern
period, which exhibits the practical fruition of these changes.