Publius Cornelius Tacitus, a famous Roman senator and historian, was the first to write about the forests in the land of the ancient Teutons, a Germanic tribe. His brief study Germania founded the myth of the eerie forest that housed barbarians and robbers alike — a forest so dense that it helped the Teutons keep the Romans off their backs.

But even in the first century AD, these forests were by no means virgin forests, said Hansjörg Küster, professor of Plant Ecology at the Institute of Geobotany at Leibniz University Hannover.

"The Germanic tribes farmed, too," he told DW, adding that crops planted in a forest won't get enough sunlight. Humans changed the face of the forest long before Tacitus came along, he says. But to the Romans, it was a hostile-looking jungle.

Read more: From destruction to rejuvenation: When forest fires are a good thing

Roman hisotiran Tacitus shaped the idea of the mythical, dense German forest

The limit to Europe's forest-clearing

The kind of land clearing that is currently devastating the primeval Amazon rainforests has existed in Europe for more than 7,000 years. Wood was urgently needed to build ships and houses, for smelting iron ore and to make glass. Demand increased until the late middle ages and early modern times.

"In the 17th and 18th centuries, forests in Central Europe were down to a minimum," says Küster, adding that Europe had the same problem Brazil has today.

People realized something had to be done, and since then forests have been systematically replanted with an eye to sustainability.

Nature conservation as we know it today is based on German forestry laws and management, including a tradition of replanting, Küster said. That's something to be proud of, he added — even if German forests are now struggling in the face of climate change.

Read more: Germany's forests on the verge of collapse, experts report

Don't be alone in the woods: German forest idioms Germans and the forest The Germans' relationship to the forest is a long-standing love affair. Not only are the woods a dominant theme in German art and literature — appearing in the works of Goethe and Caspar David Friedrich alike — the forest also holds a special place in the hearts of many Germans. That adoration for the woods has filtered into the language: "Wald," pops up in numerous German phrases.

Don't be alone in the woods: German forest idioms Holz in den Wald tragen There are a number of German idioms and proverbs that make use of the word forest. "Holz in den Wald tragen" — literally, to carry wood into the forest, is to do something pointless. You could compare it with the English phrases to "carry coals to Newcastle" or "bring owls to Athens," which also mean to undertake a task that is redundant.

Don't be alone in the woods: German forest idioms Den Wald vor lauter Bäumen nicht sehen The German equivalent of the idiom "can't see the forest for the trees" portrays the idea that someone is so concerned with the details of something that they fail to grasp the situation as a whole. Sometimes being too preoccupied with the smaller things can mean missing the bigger picture. The expression first became popular in German thanks to the works of poet Christoph Martin Wieland.

Don't be alone in the woods: German forest idioms Pfeifen im Walde Translated word for word, "pfeifen im Walde" means whistling in the forest. The English phrase "whistling in the dark" is not so different. Both mean to try and stay brave or convince yourself that everything is alright in a bad situation. The forest is often presented as mysterious, concealing something sinister, for example, in fairytales like "Hansel and Gretel" recorded by the Brothers Grimm.

Don't be alone in the woods: German forest idioms Ich glaub', ich steh' im Wald In English you might have once said something along the lines of "Well, I never!" or "Blow me down!" The same idea lies behind this German exclamation. The direct translation of "Ich glaub', ich steh' im Wald" is "I think I'm standing in the woods." It is a colloquial form of expressing astonishment. Why not try it out next time you're feeling surprised?

Don't be alone in the woods: German forest idioms Wie man in den Wald hineinruft, so schallt es heraus This saying reflects the idea that "what goes around, comes around." It literally translates as: The way you shout into the forest, the way it echoes back out. If you treat someone badly, you'll eventually be treated badly yourself. Many German proverbs stem from a time when everyday life involved hunting in the woods. Folk wisdom was passed on using relatable experiences like an echo in a forest.

Don't be alone in the woods: German forest idioms Sich wie die Axt im Walde benehmen In German if someone is acting like an axe in a forest, they are behaving like a bull in a China shop. Both expressions describe rough, boorish or destructive behavior. The German colloquialism conjures an image of an axe being wielded in a forest destroying surrounding trees, whereas "to behave like a bull in a China shop" evokes pictures similar to the one above — but the sentiment is the same.

Don't be alone in the woods: German forest idioms Es herrscht Schweigen im Walde Directly translated as "there is silence in the forest," the colloquial German term describes a situation in which no one dares to say anything out of embarrassment or fear. The best idiomatic English equivalent is perhaps the informal phrase "the cat's got their tongue." Author: Tessa Livesey



Cultural differences

The forest is still today regarded as a symbol of German identity, celebrated over the centuries by poets, writers and painters. Other European cultures that also have dense forests have a more distanced relationship to their woodlands.

Forests appear in folk songs and myths. It's interesting, Küster notes, that Father Christmas allegedly lives at the North Pole in most countries while his German counterpart shows up come Christmas time from "deep in the forests."

"The Chasseur in the Forest"

In the early 19th century, the myth of the "eerie forest" emerged once again. As Napoleon's troops marched toward Germany, citizens thought to plant trees along the borders to France, hoping the French would get lost in them just as the Romans did so long ago — after all, says Küster, "both spoke a Romance language, and consequently they knew nothing about the forest." As a result, the German forest was glorified even more.

The Romance period marked the height of arboreal mythology. In 1774, German painter Caspar David Friedrich painted a lost French soldier in a painting entitled The Chasseur in the Forest. It shows a lone man in the forest, tiny, peering around at the tall, tall trees.