Forst und Köhlerhof

Description

At Forst- und Köhlerhof Wiethagen in Rostock‑Wiethagen, the open‑air museum presents the traditional techniques and everyday history of producing charcoal, wood tar and turpentine by charcoal burners. The ensemble lies on the edge of the Rostocker Heide and displays both the workplaces and the associated production facilities.

The site dates back to permits issued in 1837; in 1839 a large tar oven went into operation. In the 1850s condensation and distillation plants as well as a storage house were added. In 1905 a distillation plant was converted into a smaller tar oven; after a production hiatus during the First World War a new tar distillation house was erected in 1917. Until 1979 the facility supplied wood tar primarily to shipping, fishing and agriculture. After a period of uncertainty the Köhlerhaus, together with the two preserved tar ovens, was granted the status of a technical monument; in the following years the site was restored and structurally renovated, and in 2001–2002 updated with modern technology, heating and new lighting.

The permanent exhibition in the reconstructed cattle barn addresses the life and work of the charcoal burners on the ground floor and the integration of the site into the Rostocker Heide on the upper floor. Ground‑floor displays are colour‑coded sections on forestry, the history of tar production and on the use and significance of charcoal and wood tar. Shown are historical working methods, societal prejudices towards charcoal burners and the diverse uses of these products. In the attic the military use of large heath areas up to 1989, the high‑voltage security installations employed there and the resulting effects on landscape and work are explained; since 2024 a small special exhibition on the work of wood sculptor Harald Wroost has also been on display there.

Technically highlighted are two ovens: A fully functional tar oven from 1905 (13 m³) produces—at up to four burn cycles per year—around six tonnes of charcoal and about 150 litres of wood tar. Operation lasts roughly a week; after a subsequent cooling period the charcoal is removed and the tar is skimmed off in the cellar. The larger oven (48 m³) was in operation from 1839 into the 1960s and today serves as a show oven with cellar visits.

Outdoors, a model trail leads past thirteen different historical charcoal‑burning installations from across Europe, complemented since 2003 by a sculpture trail featuring motifs from the fairy tales and legends of the Rostocker Heide, including figures such as the Ritter der Rostocker Heide, Dietrich von der Lünenburg, the Bernsteinhexe (from the novella by Wilhelm Meinhold) and the heath spirit Gälknöker. A circular path around the farm has served since 1989 as the site for the annual planting of the "Baum des Jahres" in cooperation with the municipal forestry office.