Station: [115] Reichwalde Wood

You’re standing in front of the unique remains of a Last-Glacial period wood! When temperatures rose at the end of the last glacial period the landscape in Saxony underwent fundamental changes. The herb-rich Mammoth Steppe gave way to light pine and birch woods.

A beautifully preserved pine and birch wood was located at the forefront of the brown coal opencast mine near Reichwalde in Oberlausitz. Using dendrochronology the pines were dated back to 14.100 to 13.300 BC. The wood disappeared when a lake developed, but the trees fell and were buried in the turf. The roots, and up to 20 metre-long trunks of over 1.500 trees were uncovered in an area of around 6.000 square metres. The average age of these late-glacial trees was 80, but this went up to 250 years old.