| Forest Reforms
| | The Danish tree consumption was great and grew in the 17th and 18th century. Building, heating and armament demanded a lot and after the Swedish wars in the middle of the 17th century the situation was grave. Great parts of the country were ravaged, the ruling operation was untenable and reforms were necessary. The decisive breakthrough came in the 1760´s witht he ideas of von Langen and organized forestry. |
With the royal power’s take over of the monastery land after The Reformation different kinds of interference of the development of the landscape took place. The king was firstly interested in hunting, horse breeding second and other considerations were secondary to this. Thus great parts of the landscape lay uncultivated, but the horse breeding and the development of new hunting forms led to changes in the cultural landscape. An open landscape, marked by a mixed hardwood forest with hay harvest and grazing in the underwood was characteristic of North Zealand.
Tree Growth | 
The Grazing Forest |
The Production Forest
The forest was very much a production landscape in many ways exposed to man´s pressure and influence. The peasants, however few, were important for the operation of the king´s farms and as a workforce in the stud farms and the forests. From of old the peasants had the right to take wood for firewood and mast, from the fences, which surrounded the cultured fields. These activities also left their mark on the landscape. The mast operation and the grazing were very important for the growth of the forest.
The North Zealand Forests Are Destroyed
The Swedish sieges around 1660 put pressure on the North Zealand landscape. The military armament had already increased felling to provide ship’s timber, but the occupation army did not only fell for their own needs, but also systematically for selling and to prevent the future use of oak for the navy.
The loss of the Scanian countries put a further pressure on the forests in North Zealand and wood for buildings and ships had to be imported from Norway and Northern Germany. In reality there was a great need for building timber and firewood.
Wood for Heating |
Enterprising Prefects
The overall administration of the king´s possessions in North Zealand was, after the introduction of the absolute monarchy, in the hands of the king´s prefect in Kronborg and Frederiksborg counties. He had his residence and office in Frederiksborg Castle and dealt with jurisdiction and all kinds of administration. Cases, which were related to the operation of the forest, but also the hunt and the areas, which had to do with agriculture and the operation of the stud farm. The prefects were thus also inspectors in the stud farms.
The prefect office demanded great skills and it was a position of great trust in the service of the absolute monarchy. Prefect Otto von Raben, who held the office in the period 1697-1717, as well as Friedrich von Gram, who took over from 1718-1841, were conscientious and had a lot of initiative. Von Raben had made a career for himself at court as the king´s chamberlain and Lord Chamberlain from 1683. Von Gram had been chamberlain and chief hunter in Zealand´s diocese.
The Charcoal Burners
The peasants in Northern Zealand were impoverished in the beginning of the 18th century. The land did not yield much, mostly due to insufficient fencing and an increasing sand drift. Most peasants therefore had to supplement their income, typically through the burning of charcoal, the manufacture of charcoal, which they sold to the towns and the court. In 1718 1800 barrels of charcoal were delivered to be consumed in Amalienborg and Rosenborg in Copenhagen.
The charcoal burners were paid for the deliveries, but in turn they had to pay for the raw materials, which were allotted by forest keepers. Only leftover wood was used, not cut down trees and windfalls og it reserved for only the poorest of peasants.
Early Reforms
As early as 1703 prefect von Raben tried to diminish the use of wood for the fencing of the fields by putting up stone fences. In this year 14 fathoms were used in Frederiksborg, and the following year they used 200 fathoms and in 1712 they decided that the peasants were to use stone fences instead of wood fences.
Another problem was the mast pigs damage to the forest. In Kronborg diocese there were around 1000 pigs. They ate acorn and beechnut, but they also raked up the soil damaging the growth. In 1703 it was decided that the pigs were to be ringed, i.e. they were furnished with a ring in their snouts, and in 1718 it was forbidden to let in pigs in the king´s stud farm fields. In 17121 a French forester was hired on the request of Frederik von Gram, but he dismissed two years later, and 40 years passed before something happened.
The Cattle Plague
From 1745 the country is ravaged several times by the cattle plague. This meant a decrease in production from the forest. Grazing and hay harvest lessened and the game of the forest became more interesting.
This probably meant that the forest grew, the over wood became more thick and the production of timber was increased. From 1780 it was decided that the game could be hunted in the free game courses and then be sold – a decision, which also reduced the utilization of the forest.
The Organized Forestry
In 1741 chief hunter C.C. Gram took over the management of Denmark´s hunting service and forestry after his father. In 1747 he was appointed chief hunter and in 1762 he proposed reforms in the forestry to king Frederik V. The king approved the proposals immediately and Johan Georg von Langen was sent for. He had earlier reformed the Norwegian forestry and he became the practical leader of the reforms.
Von Langen´s ideas of so-called organized forestry were in short that the forests should yield an equal return, which was to be ensured by an exact description of the rights to the use of the forest, and the division of precise units with a 100-year time of operation.
A new touch, which had a decisive influence for the appearance of the forest landscape, was von Langen´s idea of a greater variation in the number of woods.
Traditionally the forest consisted of hardwood trees, mainly beech and ash, which were kept, but they are supplemented with conifer trees, which thus entered the Danish forest picture.
C. C. Gram | 
Johan von Langen |
Changing character of the forest
Von Langen started changes in Søllerød Beridt, which included Geel Forest and Rude Forest in 1763, and he continued in the period 1764-66 in 7 preserves in the three North Zealand counties. Grib Forest was divided into several preserves and they were drawn into exact forest maps, which remarkably enough did not suggested cooperation with the contemporary topographical records from the Royal Danish Society of Sciences and Letters, which published the first official map of North Zealand.
Thinning by Felling | 
The Forest Preserves | 
Frederik´s Preserve around Elsinore | 
New Types of Wood | 
Pine From von Langen´s time |
The Separation of Hunting, Forestry and Agriculture
In 1778 chief hunter Gram proposed a separation of hunting and forestry, a proposal, which was accepted. In 1781 another reform came, where the main principle was to separate forestry, not only form hunting, but also from agriculture. The typical forest picture was now sharply divided, fenced in and connected areas, which extensively had appeared in connection with the enclosure in agriculture.
With the forest peace regulations of 1805 it was decided that what was once forest, must remain forest. This principle is still in force. At this time they also started to fence in the forest with the characteristic stone fences, which can still be seen all over North Zealand. These fences can still be traced in the place names: Teglstrup Hegn (Fence), Nyrop Hegn, Klosterris Hegn, etc. |