Arboretum Main-Taunus

The Arboretum Main-Taunus is a approximately 76 -acre park on surfaces of the communities Sulzbach (51 ha), Schwalbach am Taunus (23 ha) and Eschborn (2 ha).

Between 1937 and 1945, a total of 185 ha site was the German Air Force airfield. After the war it was used by the Americans to the re-commissioning of the Frankfurt airport as the airport. After the site went into the possession of the Federal Republic of Germany and was used by the German Post Office and the Agency for Technical Relief. 1981 acquired the State of Hesse, the freely accessible 76 acres in order to be planted as reforestation for the expansion of Frankfurt Airport.

In the Arboretum grow about 600 different tree and shrub species. While tree farms typically consist of a collection of individual trees - with name tag and name origin - is the state of Hesse took a different approach with the Arboretum.

Describes different forest areas of the earth, each represented by a group of trees and shrubs, as they occur in nature. Between each of the 36 small " forest " there are orchards and wildflower meadows, a nature trail for rock and one for native trees and a wetland that is completely waxed to protect it. A Sulzbacher farmer farmed near-natural farmland and meadows of the Arboretum and an organic beekeeper has set up beehives. The diversity of tree parks comes to the forest area " Southern " good effect. In almost half a hectare are 63 different tree and shrub species present. In the park 17 different oak species are represented.

In the Arboretum, there are not just copies of the most massive tree in the world, the ( North American mammoth ), but also the species with the highest life expectancy ( the Bristlecone Pine ). However, they are still young. The "hedgehog " under the trees, the prickly Chilean Araucaria is represented by three specimens in the Arboretum. They are the only trees in the park with original home on the southern hemisphere. Only those forest communities were selected for planting, which can adapt to the climatic conditions of the Main-Taunus foothills, so for example an average annual temperature of 9 degrees Celsius and tolerate annual precipitation of about 650 millimeters and are also frost resistant.

The responsible for the Arboretum Forestry Office Königstein aims over the medium term at three objectives: First, the park will be a view object for dendrologists, so are the scientists of the customer tree. In the interests of nature that the park should secondly a complex networked structures of forest, nature value farming (11 hectares of arable land, 15 acres of meadow ) and faces form for conservation. In third place is the rest of the population. The Arboretum now fulfilled the function of a willingly utilized recreation area, as well as the carrying of dogs as well as cycling and horse riding is allowed on marked trails.

Former aircraft hangar

Araucaria

Part of the rock trail

Thumb | orchard with Nistwand for insects