The only national park in Thuringia, the Hainich National Park protects a magnificent tract of native beech forest and forms part of the Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany World Heritage Site. It’s one of the last remaining, undissected beech forests to retain distinct Central European characteristics and supports a number of rare and vulnerable species.
The Hainich National Park is surrounded by the towns of Eisenach, Bad Langensalza and Mühlhausen but has remained largely intact due to the area’s use as a restricted military zone for many years. It encompasses ash trees, maples, lindens and hornbeams, as well as summer snowflake flowers and an outstanding diversity of fungi. In addition to its plant life, the national park is home to wildcats, various species of woodpeckers and over 500 different types of wood beetles...