Küster, H..

Hedendaags onderzoek naar bosgeschiedenis in Duitsland: doelstellingen, methoden en resultaten.

Historisch geografisch tijdschrift 31 (2013) 143 - 150.

Onderzoek van de bosgeschiedenis is gebaseerd op zowel filologische en ecologische methoden. Bosgeschiedenis als een filologisch onderwerp houdt zich vooral bezig met schriftelijke bronnen, terwijl pollenanalyse de centrale methode is van ecologisch onderzoek in de bosgeschiedenis. Uiteraard kan onderzoek gebaseerd op geschreven bronnen alleen omgaan met periodes van waaruit historische documenten beschikbaar zijn. Daarom wordt vaak aangenomen dat de recente geschiedenis van de bossen kan worden geschetst aan de hand van schriftelijke bronnen, terwijl pollenanalyse inzicht geeft in eerdere perioden. Een dergelijk onderscheid is te gemakkelijk, de twee manieren om inzicht in de ontwikkeling van de bossen te krijgen zijn veel meer verbonden dan aangenomen. Bovendien karakteriseren die twee manieren van onderzoek de bossen op verschillende manieren. Dit kan worden aangetoond door het bespreken van de centrale doelstellingen van het boshistorisch onderzoek in Duitsland.

Contemporary research in forest history in Germany: aims, methodology and results.

'German nature', certainly, is one of the main reasons why written sources on forest history have been assigned a prominent meaning in Germany since the 18th century. These documents present how German foresters were able to reintroduce woodlands. But it must not be overlooked that this development is mainly influenced by an idea and not only by economic necessity. Besides all nationalistic interpretations, the model is too simple: that natural woodlands, be they stable or not, were destroyed by human impact and re-established by foresters. Rather woodlands were never stable. Their development was influenced in different ways by different land-use strategies. They were not restored completely as broad-leaved trees dominated before human land-use began, whereas mainly conifers were planted since the 18th century. As natural woodland ecosystems were never stable they were also never sustainable. Sustainability, therefore, is not characteristic of natural ecosystems but can only be established when aimed at for science-based economic or cultural reasons. It seems to be more important to stress these results from forest history research than only to tell how woodlands developed through time. It is possible to obtain from these results general and essential information on woodlands. As they were in the past, are in the present time, and will be in the future in some respects predictably, in others unpredictably changing ecosystems. Men, who aspire to manage them as a stable and sustainable basis for their life, influence them.