Historic Hauberg Fellinghausen
In the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein, the most densely wooded district of the Federal Republic of Germany, you will find one of the oldest mining regions in Europe. Ore mining and iron smelting have a millennia-old tradition here. In particular, the high demand for wood and charcoal for iron smelting forced a very intensive use of the Siegerland forest. Out of the endeavor to preserve and protect the natural resources in the long term, the Siegerland Haubergswirtschaft developed a highly developed form of coppice management. For centuries it shaped not only the face of the forests but also the lives of the people due to the annually recurring working cycles. The forest use in the form of Haubergswirtschaft exists since the 14./15. Century.
However, the winning country Hauberg also had great significance for the leather industry, which was developing in the 19th century. This massively consumed the so-called Gerbrinde, an important raw material from the oak tree.
Around 1900 in the Siegerland still on about 30,000 ha forest Haubergswirtschaft operated. This was mostly owned by so-called Hauberg cooperatives, which are still in existence today and continue this successful model, albeit under different circumstances, to this day. For where once stood Hauberge, today are mainly coniferous and oak high forests.
In the urban area Kreuztal however on a forest area in the property of the Waldgenossenschaft Fellinghausen this old economic form lives on. The state of NRW, represented by the Landesbetrieb Wald und Holz, has concluded a contract with the Waldgenossenschaft Fellinghausen, which receives this historic Hauberg. On this basis, the forest cooperative undertook in the project to continue a forest area of about 24 hectares out of their forest property in historical Haubergsnutzung, in order to contribute to the traditional care and ensure that at least a small part of the forest area of Siegerland lives on in many ways unique Hauberg culture.