Detours | The Hauberg System
A Forest for Everyone

Sustainable and communal forest management – in an era of forest dieback and climate change this sounds like just the innovation we need for the future. Yet this was already common practice in Germany’s Siegerland region in the sixteenth century.

By Alina Schwermer

Many countries have committed themselves to halting deforestation completely by 2030. Nonetheless, 6.37 million hectares of forest were lost worldwide in 2023 alone – an area the size of Latvia. Can we really do no better?

Ideas for alternative forms of agricultural management that do not involve excessive removal of natural resources have long existed – in the Siegerland region, for example. Siegen-Wittgenstein is a wonderful destination in any case: Germany’s most densely forested region is a paradise for hikers and cyclists. It’s the perfect place to wander through seemingly endless woods or relax in idyllic villages boasting half-timbered houses. At the same time, you will be embarking on a journey back in time to an idea that has now been revived: for many centuries, a system of sustainable forestry organized by a cooperative was practised in the area around the town of Siegen. It is known as the Hauberg system – a Hauberg being a coppice of oaks and birch trees.

Long ago, people in the Siegerland region found themselves faced with a problem: they had cut down almost all of their forests. Because one of the things they needed to smelt iron was charcoal, they were reliant on local wood. A solution had to be found, and from the sixteenth century territorial lords established a circular system of forest management in which people were no longer allowed to take more out of the forest than would regrow. The woodland areas belonged to the community, and the community shared responsibility for its forest. Like all cooperatives, the Siegerland system of forestry management was organized democratically, with all members having a vote. The communal assets were distributed according to the size of the stake held, and the fallow land could be used for growing crops or keeping cattle.

For centuries, this system was able to feed the local population while nonetheless preserving the forest. Unfortunately, the Hauberg system fell victim to economic shifts in the twentieth century and vanished. In 1991, however, a small section was revived by local residents, and today the Hauberg system is once again being practised at the historic Fellinghausen Hauberg. You can learn exactly how it works by joining one of the numerous guided tours or environmental education events. Or just stroll through the forest yourself, following the Hauberg trail – around 2.3 kilometres long, it features information boards to tell you all about the Hauberg system.

Every year at Whitsun, a charcoal pile is built on the Fellinghausen Hauberg, just as it would have been in the olden days. The pile of wood is then lit in order to produce charcoal – once it is ready a week later, you can buy some and take it home with you.