Green madness against the fairy forest of the Brothers Grimm

German Reinhardswald is the birthplace of legends, fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and a habitat for animals. Now part of the fairytale forest must give way to wind energy development. This is the fight of environmental and climate defenders, writes German ‘Junge Freiheit’.

Deforestation has begun in the Reinhard Forest for the construction of wind turbines. The forest, known from various Brothers Grimm fairy tales, contains trees up to 200 years old. They are now being cleared for the construction of public roads. Because 18 wind turbines will be built in the forest around Sleeping Beauty Castle in Sababurg (photo).

Nine out of eleven mayors of neighboring municipalities oppose the construction of wind turbines.

The project is headed by the current Minister of Environment of Hesse, Priska Hinz (Green Party), since the forest does not belong to any of the neighboring communities, but to the state of Hesse. The green politician defended the project in an interview with Bild: “Wind energy makes a decisive contribution to the energy transition and conservation of nature. This is the only way to preserve forests and important ecosystems.”

Since construction began on the 241-meter-tall wind turbines, animals have begun to abandon the area, including lynx, which numbered only about 130 in 2018. Not a single climate activist spoke out against deforestation and destruction of rare animal habitats.

Winner of the Federal Cross of Merit, Hermann-Josef Rapp has been working in the forest since 1972, first as a forester and in retirement as an expert who has led about 1,000 excursions here. He is considered the "voice of Reinhardswald". He said: “This is a treasure trove of European forests. An ensemble of a special class. You can’t sacrifice that for a greedy wind energy league.”

The main driver for the construction of wind turbines is Berlin. By 2035, all electricity supply should be switched to wind and solar energy. This is exactly what Economy Minister Robert Habeck of the Green Party wants. Earlier this year, he legislated that expanding the use of wind turbines is in the best public interest and serves the state's public safety.

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