Why crooked forest poland

Near the small town of Gryfino in West Pomerania, Poland sits a peculiar forest in which each tree is bent identically at its base. To this day, no one has satisfactorily explained why the Crooked Forest is just that.

Despite internet rumors of trees, there are actually only 80 pines spread over two hectares, according to Gryfino Forest District managers. They were likely planted between and Each pine bends 90 degrees at its base, with the bend 10 to 50cm from the forest floor. The trees ranged from 7 to 10 years old when they were planted, and most of the bends point north. Sometime in the s, pines of varying lengths were planted, then flattened by German tanks when they were young.

The nearest city of Szczecin was under Nazi control at the time, so it is understandable that people would think this. But the curvature of the trunks is too smooth for such destruction, and the tanks would have destroyed the entire forest, not just this section of trees.

The bent trees have inspired many conspiracy theories. Photo: Pixabay. The suggestion is that during the s, local farmers planted and manipulated the trees for ultimate use as a construction material , for example for pieces of furniture or, more likely, ship building. An extract from a piece entitled Wooden Vessel Ship Construction even supports this idea:. The invasion of Poland during World War II would have likely interrupted this activity, preventing the farmers from being able to finish the job and thus leaving this peculiar forest that we still see today.

The local town was also devastated during the war and was not reestablished until the s when a new power plant was built in the area. This would explain why none of the locals have the foggiest idea why the trees look like this. Ultimately, no one can be certain of what caused the curvature of these trees since there are no witnesses that can testify one way or another, but the last explanation certainly seems the most plausible.

However, the curvature of the trunks way too smooth for such destruction, and the tanks would have wiped off the entire forest, not just the young pine grove. Others suggest that heavy snowstorms, gravitational pulls, genetic mutation, aliens, etc. It is also said that the growth of the pine trees near Gryfino was deliberately tampered with by the local farmers with the object of creating naturally curved wood for shipbuilding or making furniture.

As Gryfino was mostly abandoned in the early stages of World War II until the s, the natives who lived before the war near the forest and likely had the answer to the mystery behind the Crooked Forest are probably no longer alive.

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COM in 30 languages. Deutsche Welle. Audiotrainer Deutschtrainer Die Bienenretter. Environment Our beautiful planet: The mystery of Poland's Crooked Forest In western Poland, the strange shape of a grove of pine trees have left locals and environmentalists guessing.

Read more: African deforestation: 'We may lose everything' Many hypotheses have been put forward to explain the Crooked Forest.