The Crooked forest is a grove of strangely formed pine trees near the town of Gryfino in western Pomerania, Poland.
The area was so named because of the 400 deformed pines. These trees are curved 90° about 40 cm above the ground, the curve runs about 1-3 m, after which the trees grow straight up again. Due to this growth form, the trees are reminiscent of upside down question marks. Due to pest infestation and other destructive events, about 100 of these conifers are currently still standing. The pines themselves are between 11 and 15 m high, the age of the forest is estimated at around 70 to 80 years. These pines were planted in 1932 when Pomerania was still German and cut to form curved wood for the needs of carpentry ,manufacture of chairs and rounded furniture when the former province of Pomerania was still part of Germany.
The place is open to the public and serves as a remarkable tourist attraction in the area.
Access : Coordinates: 53.213889, 14.475 / Crooked forest located in northwestern Poland, four kilometers south of the town of Gryfino.
Highlights :
- Theories : The most widespread theory so far is that the trees were deliberately shaped in this way in order to use them, for example, to build furniture, ships or the like.
Another theory is that the young trees were crushed by heavy tanks during World War II when the erea came under fire.
Another theory defended by a team of German researchers claims that this plot would have been exploited for the production of Christmas trees using a silviculture technique close to stump management: the trees are cut above the first level of branches, allowing the stump to regrow and be exploited again a few years later. - The Forest Appeared in Season 1, Episode 4 of The UnXplained on History, entitled “Unnatural Nature,” which premiered on August 9, 2019.
Go next : The town of Grifino, a tourist base for two natural parks – the Lower Odra Valley and Beech Forest in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship.
