Natural monument "Thick Oak"
Date of origin approx. 1650. The "Thick Oak" is a testimony to the old medium-sized forest management, which was operated until approx. 1850. Under an umbrella of large oaks and beeches, young oaks and beeches were felled every 10-20 years - "put on the stick". Your wood is used to produce charcoal or as firewood. The oak bark could be used as tan in tanneries. The rhizomes fell out again (“stick rash”) and grew back into trees until the next harvest. The remaining large oak and beech trees ("overhangs") protected the growing saplings from the weather, especially against sun and drought in summer. The quickly emerging grass growth was used for pasture (see section "Kuhtrifft" in the Great Horst). In autumn, the pigs were driven to the “narrow twig” “for acorn-fed”. With the decline of Bettinger Schmelze (final shutdown in 1860), forestry was converted to high forest management, which aimed to obtain high-quality wood for the construction sector or furniture production. At this point in time, the gnarled "thick oak" was already so powerful that using the tools of the time (hatchet, drum saw, etc.) no longer seemed to make sense. Source: Text information board