The mighty pedunculate oaks often served as a model for the members of the Kronberg painters' colony. The fact that these "1000-year-old oaks" stand there so gnarled and decorative as solitaires is due to natural circumstances, but also to the centuries-old hat industry.
In earlier times it was common practice to drive the pigs into the forest to be fattened. Old oak stands were particularly suitable as a shelter forest. They delivered 600 to 1200 kilos of acorns per hectare. The Schwanheim forest was so fertile that swineherds even drove their animals there from the Vordertaunus. Once the Wutze were released, there was no stopping them: They literally milled their way through the undergrowth and rummaged around the ground in search of tasty grubs. Result: The forest could not rejuvenate. It became lighter, only a few older trees remained.
The fact that the oaks are so bizarre and gnarled at this location just behind the Schwanheim development line is due to the subsoil. It's sandy and lean. Just a little further, on the Schwanheimer Wiesen, there is fatter clay soil - and the oaks are taller and straighter in growth. However, these also do not have the proverbial 1000 years under their belt. The trees are usually a good 500 years old.