Northern Woods - A Tribute to the Ancient Forests of the North | Free Documentary Nature

so [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] my [Applause] it seems as if time stands still in the forest life takes place in the dimensions here and follows different views human lifetime is too short to discover the secrets of forests [Music] hmm [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] forests had already existed for a long time before people populated earth during these times they could spread extensively around 300 million years ago the antecedents of our conifers developed from lycopods ferns and horsetails much later only about 100 million years ago deciduous trees arose and developed to be the dominant parts of forests [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] but soon there was another danger ahead for the young forest [Music] the ice age the last glaciation continued until about 10 000 bc the average yearly temperature was minus 3 degrees celsius in the alpine foothills there wasn't much left of the forest under the ice cover the plant growth only increased again slowly when the temperatures rose [Music] many plant species died out because of the ice age and their remigration from the south was made difficult by the high barrier of the alps and therefore a much species poorer flora than the one before the ice age developed in the north of the alps so so-called pioneer species like birch trees and pines prevailed first followed by hazels and spruces [Music] step by step the steadily growing flora created a base for the existence of wildlife again [Music] uh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] soon after the last ice age rhodius reconquered the area north of the alps their greatest enemy was the wolf the most widespread predator in those times not only in the forests of europe but throughout the world after many conifers had succeeded to become indigenous mixed oak tree forests spread about 9 000 years ago due to the rising [Music] [Applause] [Music] temperatures [Music] people have lived in the forests north of the alps for around 700 000 years but they only became sedentary during the neolithic age which was about 7 000 years ago much later during the middle ages the population was growing steadily now people intervened in the circle of forests more and more [Applause] [Music] [Music] hmm [Music] two [Music] it is a little miracle that these riparian forests as the ones here in the meadows of the river ezar in upper bavaria have succeeded to survive to this day the forests stricken with floods with their nutrient-rich oxbow arms have been a paradise for many species of animals and plants in past and present [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] trees as well as flowers mainly reproduced by their seeds this is called sexual reproduction the blossoms are their sexual organs they have their egg cells and their ovaries which are fertilized by the male pollen grains due to pollen flight which means by wind or by insects the male pollen reaches the female blossoms [Music] there are trees which have male and female blossoms separately as an example oaks beaches and field maples belong to these monicious trees diocese trees are the ones that consist of only male and only female trees poplars willows or sycamores for example are diocese [Music] wind or insects take on the work of pollinating mono and delicious trees a clever move of nature there is nothing that could prevent forests spreading almost nothing golden eagles were widely spread in the forests of central europe previously but like other raptors too they were systematically traced nearly wiped out in the second half of the 19th century today golden eagles in germany only breed in the alpine region [Music] trees have always had an immense meaning for humans abraham learned that he would be the founding father of a great people in renault and vikings believed that an ash tree named eugrasil even embodied the entire cosmos [Music] [Laughter] [Music] so [Music] so foxes in fables are regarded as especially clever animals from time immemorial and they were able to spread widely in the european forests their greatest enemies were and still are humans do so [Music] wherever humans settled down they had to clear forests first to make a place for their farms the peak of clearance was reached in the 12th and 13th century so many names of villages in germany founded in those times ended in right right or road all originated from the german word roden which means clearing woods [Music] [Music] previously forests were regarded as a dangerous wilderness and denounced an area outside the civilized world the english word forest the french foray or the german forest derived from the old latin forest which means out or outside [Music] [Music] the high growth of trees north of the house can be explained with the extremely distinctive seasons between this area sufficient rainfalls and moderate temperatures make trees grow stronger especially in spring trees can grow to a height of more than 60 meters and become more than 1 000 years old [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] sedentary people used to cut trees for heating and construction thereby they learn to appreciate the advantages of teamwork so for example initially primitive techniques of construction and handicraft were developed in the fine study [Music] the social development during the middle ages led some more and more specialists the craftsmen were proud of their professions and used them as their surnames for example zimmerman which means carpenter [Music] [Music] the forests north of the alps needed around 10 000 years to recover from the last ice age [Music] but already in the middle ages people stop this development at many places by radical clear-cutting [Music] vast areas of denmark ireland and iceland were simply cleared for war merchant fleets around the north sea only far away from the coasts the forest could be preserved [Applause] [Music] if a forest is dominated by deciduous larch trees it is called sparse tiger on the other hand the dark tiger is combined of pines spruces or furs species of trees which also shape the appearance of the hills and mountains of germany [Music] beech trees grow in france as well as in sweden during the middle ages beech tree forests covered wide areas of europe people liked the solid timber of beech trees for construction works [Music] [Music] not only trees but also animals had to adapt themselves to the sometimes odd climatic conditions this is difficult in areas where only as sparse growth of trees and plants is possible due to the altitude or the location in the north [Music] do musk boxes are survivors of the last ice age while they have nearly died out by the beginning of the 20th century in between they have been able to become indigenous again in europe about 300 of them live in the norwegian dover mountains today [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] there are no more bears in great britain or germany but there are about three thousand of them in sweden the last bear which was born in germany was shot in upper bavaria about 180 years ago [Music] but bears had been hunted systematically much earlier and during the middle ages they were forced back into forests and highlands which were difficult to access in those times people steadily strived for higher ideals whoever could now afford it built his house of stone [Music] whereby the towers of castles and especially the columns of cathedrals had a natural ideal the tree [Music] the high nobility lived high up in their castles the lower classes live down in the valleys where forests were forced back further and further towards the slopes because of pasture farming [Music] [Laughter] the nobility in the church like to declare that their forests will banned areas where ordinary people had no place in the middle ages people who violated this hunting ban had to face draconian sentences [Music] in the 14th century the pestilence raged in europe and carried off the complete population of villages the pestilence could not do any harm to forests wood and sorrow grow every day as an old german saying actually the forests were able to recover during the late middle ages [Music] still around 1500 gustav vasa the king of sweden announced we must be diligent and grub to obtain ground for cultivation the useless forests must be cut down [Music] [Music] besides bears and wolves also golfers and elks have died out since the middle ages but the fox was clever enough to keep out of people's way [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the forests play an important role in many germanic sagas for example in the saga of parsival or an evine written by hartman von auer [Music] forests also appear in each second fairy tale collected by the brothers grimmer they are described as deep dark and sinister most of the time they are places of hostile forces like the witch in hansel and gretel [Music] but the german forest is also a home of good spirits like the grey little man in the golden goose it can even be a place of idyll like in the fairytale snow white that's all about the cliche of the german enchanted forest in reality the everyday life of people in the good old days often was a struggle for survival and these fights quite often happened in the forests [Music] in these days the forest did not only serve as an energy and timber supplier but also as pastures livestock was systematically driven into the forest for fattening especially in the autumn [Music] it was common parlance to say the best bacon grows on oaks a good year of fattening was able to secure the survival of entire villages and regions [Music] [Applause] forests were an important natural source for charcoal burners they produced charcoal in a controlled combustion of logs in their charcoal kilns [Music] charcoal was the energy source in the middle ages it was five times lighter than wood and still had a higher energy density [Music] charcoal was easy to transport and it was the only combustible material which could be used to reach a temperature of more than one thousand degrees in the eighteenth century however to produce one ton of light people still the need were devastating and the motor of progress it rotated quicker and quicker hmm time [Music] [Music] good [Music] foreign [Music] even if people talk about it all the time today sustainability is not an invention of the 21st century [Music] you should not drop your old clothes until you have new ones it's said to be a citation of hans karl von karlakis the inspector of mines working in service with the king of saxony is responsible for the firewood supplies is regarded as the spiritual father of sustainable economic activities he was a long way ahead of his time [Music] you [Music] in the 20th century deciduous trees became obsolete spruces promised fast growth quick [Music] profit [Music] if you want to destroy a forest go and plant spruces nothing but spruces actually there was one problem the spruce bark beetle it destroyed and damaged massive amounts of spruces [Music] but when this finding had already reached the whole country there were already different problems [Music] [Music] trees and plants transform carbon into oxygen animals and humans use oxygen and transform it to carbon dioxide a circle [Music] [Music] a single beach produces about two kilograms of oxygen per hour in summer this quantity is sufficient for 10 to 20 people to breathe for an hour [Music] or for a car to run a distance of 15 kilometers [Music] cars are insured against damages by law trees are not [Music] with an amount of about 180 billion tons mankind has combusted half of all oil deposits within 50 years only for this purpose around 360 billion tons of oxygen [Music] um [Music] at first glance they are well off this was not different at the beginning of the 1980s when suddenly a certain fear spread in germany forest decline however the damage and harmful substances from chimneys and exhaust pipes was not easily detected by layman even though people already knew that they were responsible for acid rain scientists sounded the alarm in 1983 the first survey about the condition of forests was conducted in germany [Music] a short time after the launch of the catalytic converter followed additionally exhaust gases from chimneys had to be filtered from now on since that time germany has gained the image of a pioneer in the matter of environmental protection [Music] however in germany the yearly co2 emissions are still very high with around nine tons per person which is higher than in the industrialized nations of denmark sweden great britain italy and china [Music] the challenges of today have a global nature in 2013 the emission of carbon dioxide reached a peak value of 36 billion tons in the same year an area of the size of greece was deforested paradox we need forests more urgently than ever before but globally less and less of them are [Applause] left [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] even at the beginning of industrialization nobility preserved large groups of roads and red deers for their feudal hunts the population of the animals increased and they even ate young shoots to rescue the forests ordinary people were forbidden to cut trees and even forbidden to go hunting in the winter of 1843 180 000 defenses against forest laws were put in record only in the palatinate region three-quarters of all trials dealt with effects of wood the people revolted and as a result the german revolution took place in 1848 [Music] at the beginning of industrialization timber was still the most important energy source but it was soon replaced by coal and buy mineral oil later on today there are more environmentally sound alternatives they are urgently needed as the earth's atmosphere contains some 40 more carbon dioxide than before the beginning of industrialization in the 19th century [Music] [Applause] it seems as if time stands still in the forest life takes place in other dimensions here and follows different rules human lifetime is too short to discover the secrets of forests [Music] but maybe it is sufficient to understand that we need them [Music] [Music] do [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] so you

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Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), nature documentary, Free Documentary Nature, Wildlife, Wildlife Documentary, Northern Woods, Wood, Northern Forest, Forest, Forest Documentary, Medieval Forest, life in the forest, Living With Nature, Bears, Wolves, Eagles, Deer, Nat Geo Wild, National Geographic, BBC Documentary, Best Nature Documentaries, Germania, Celts, Teutons, Middle Ages, Roden

Id: x-wBJnxy4Dg

Length: 52min 21sec (3141 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 02 2021