Heissiwald Game enclosure in Essen

The Heissiwald, also known as Heißiwald, above Lake Baldeney in the Bredeney district of Essen has hiking trails, a wildlife enclosure and a forest nature trail. The Heissiwald is the perfect place for kindergarten and primary school children to experience nature up close and is also an incomparable nature experience for adults. Hikes around the BaldeneyseeBergisches Land or to Kettwig as well as the game reserve are also among the most popular and beautiful recreational opportunities in Essen.

The game enclosure is located in the center of the Heissiwald forest and has been in existence since 1964. The enclosure, which is also known as the Wildgatter, owes its preservation to the "Wildgatter Essen Heissiwald e.V." support association, which was founded in 1994. The association has set itself the goal of ensuring the preservation of this facility through donations and membership fees, as public funding has apparently not been available for some time. The game enclosure is approximately 6 hectares in size and divided into three areas, which are home to four species of game: wild boar, mouflon, red deer and fallow deer. The wild boar, whose family includes wild boar, is omnivorous and nocturnal. Among the deer species, red deer are of particular importance. Like the wild boar, it also lives in herds. Wild sheep, also known as mouflons, are also pack animals and live mainly in the forest. Fallow deer, also known as fallow deer, are characterized by their brown fur with characteristic white spots. The animals can be observed from four high viewing platforms. These platforms are not barrier-free. Ferienspatz, the vacation initiative for school children, regularly organizes Events at the enclosure.

By car, the route is via Werdender Berg coming from Bredeney or via the path to the Platte coming from Werden. Please note that the road to the Platte in the section below the Heissiwald forest becomes a single carriageway and can only be used by car in the direction of Bredeney. There is a hiking parking lot at Heissiwald from which popular and excellent hiking tours start, including the Bergischer Weg and the circular hiking trails Kettwiger Promenadensteig and Baldeneysteig. There are three circular hiking trails in total, all of which start from the hiking park square. The wild animal enclosure is just a few minutes' walk from the hiking parking lot.

As the wildlife enclosure resembles a plateau in the otherwise steep terrain, young children and older people can also get around easily on the circular path around the wildlife enclosure at Heissiwald . Gastronomic establishments in the neighborhood provide refreshments. Collected chestnuts, acorns and beechnuts can be dropped off at the Forsthaus Am Korintenberg during office hours. There are also bins at the game reserve that can be filled with them. The operator urgently requests that these forest fruits are not stored in plastic bags and/or thrown in. Chestnuts, acorns and beechnuts contaminated with mold spores or mold contaminate everything and make the animals sick, which must of course be prevented.

The Heissiwald is a protected landscape and is around 85 hectares in size. It is part of the wooded northern Ruhr heights in Essen and was formerly known as "Plattenwald". Until the 19th century, Heissiwald was a largely unwooded hilltop that was used as pasture and farmland. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that the landowner Wilhelm Bernsau reforested the plateau into a mixed forest. In 1925, the city of Essen acquired the area and gave it the name Heissiwald. In the immediate vicinity was the former villa of Alfred Krupp von Bohnen und Halbach, built in 1955, with a view of the Baldeneyseewhich was subsequently occupied by Bertholt Beitz and his wife, the longstanding chief representative of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation, and was actually demolished in 2021 for a new construction project.

The forest is made up of many different tree species, including pedunculate and red oak, but also beech, larch and Douglas fir. A large proportion of the conifers that characterize the forest were destroyed in a storm in 1942. In 2000, foresters and trainees set up a forest nature trail, on which many of the tree species mentioned can be found. In addition to its importance as a recreational forest, Heissiwald also fulfills the functions of biotope protection, climate protection and noise protection, as the busy B224 federal road runs below the Heissiwald forest. The flight path of Düsseldorf Airport and the air traffic from Essen/Mülheim Airport should also be mentioned in this context. The game reserve is open around the clock - but it is understandably not possible to enter the enclosures.