Bienwald
Encyclopedia
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
near the towns of Kandel
Kandel
Kandel is a town in the district of Germersheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated near the border with France, approx. 18 km north-west of Karlsruhe, and 15 km south-east of Landau....
and Wörth am Rhein
Wörth am Rhein
Wörth am Rhein is a municipality in the southernmost part of the district of Germersheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approx. 10 km west of the city center of Karlsruhe and just north of the German-French border....
. The western edge defines the eastern extent of the Wissembourg Gap
Wissembourg Gap
The Wissembourg Gap is a corridor of open terrain approximately six kilometers wide that is situated between the hills of the Palatinate Forest and the Bienwald on the Franco-German border. The gap is dominated by the town of Wissembourg, Alsace, France...
, a corridor of open terrain between the Bienwald and the hills of the Pfälzer Wald. In the northwest, the forest is bounded by the so-called "Cattle Line" , running from Schweighofen to Kandel. In the north, the forest reaches as far as Hatzenbühl and Rheinzabern. The eastern boundary largely runs along the bank of the Rhine from Jockgrim
Jockgrim
Jockgrim is a municipality in the district of Germersheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approximately 15 km north-west of Karlsruhe....
to Hagenbach
Hagenbach
Hagenbach is a town in the district of Germersheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated near the border with France, on the left bank of the Rhine, approx. 10 km west of Karlsruhe....
and Berg (Pfalz). The southern boundary follows the valley of the Lauter River along the border of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Germany. The bulk of the forest belongs to the municipality of Wörth am Rhein
Wörth am Rhein
Wörth am Rhein is a municipality in the southernmost part of the district of Germersheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approx. 10 km west of the city center of Karlsruhe and just north of the German-French border....
. At its greatest dimensions, the Bienwald is approximately 17 kilometres (10.6 mi) broad along its east-west axis and 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) in extent along its north-south axis. The forest has an area of some 163 square kilometres (62.9 sq mi). Approximately one-third of the forest is deciduous
Deciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
woodland with the remainder coniferous. The forest has an elevation of 100 meters above sea level by the Rhine, and rises to 150 meters above sea level in its western extremities.
The sole town inside of the Bienwald is Büchelberg, which lies inside a clearing in the forest and is administratively part of the town of Wörth am Rhein.
On August 13, 1793, a battle of the War of the First Coalition took place in the Bienwald. Austrian troops under Marshal
Marshal
Marshal , is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. The word is an ancient loan word from Old French, cf...
Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser
Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser
Dagobert Sigismund, Count Wurmser was an Austrian field marshal during the French Revolutionary Wars. Although he fought in the Seven Years War, the War of the Bavarian Succession, and mounted several successful campaigns in the Rhineland in the initial years of the French Revolutionary Wars, he...
pushed the French Army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
back and frustrated the relief of Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
. In March 1945, during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the U.S. VI Corps and the French First Army
French First Army
The First Army was a field army of France that fought during World War I and World War II. It was also active during the Cold War.-First World War:...
assaulted German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Siegfried Line fortifications in the Bienwald and penetrated German defenses in the forest during a week of heavy combat. The forest is still marked by trenches and bunker ruins from World War II. There are also older French earthworks (redoutes) in the southwestern parts of the forest where it borders the Lauter River and the Mundat Forest .
The proposed construction of a multi-lane controlled access highway through the forest is disputed. The proposed highway would connect the French A35 Autoroute
Autoroute
Autoroute may refer to:* Controlled-access highway, particularly in French speaking countries* Routing , when routes to wires in a design are automatically assigned...
and the German A65 Autobahn.
European wildcat
Wildcat
Wildcat is a small felid native to Europe, the western part of Asia, and Africa.-Animals:Wildcat may also refer to members of the genus Lynx:...
s have taken up residence in the Bienwald in the last few years, often using the ruins of destroyed bunkers for shelter.