Chess piece and cubic meter block

Forester Johann Georg von Langen was brought to Denmark by the king in 1763 to secure the Danish forests, which were close to extinction. The chess piece and the cubic meter block each tell in their own way about von Langen's importance and the history of afforestation.

In the museum's collections there is a small chess piece. It is made of porcelain and shaped like a portrait of a man in uniform. It is the German forester, Johann Georg von Langen (1699 – 1776).

The collections also include a cubic meter block cut in one piece from a large noble fir. It is a tree species that von Langen introduced to Denmark. The tree was planted during von Langen's time and fell in a storm 176 years later. At that time it was 38.7 m. high.

The two objects, each in its own way, testify to a time when Denmark, despite the country originally being covered in forest, had reduced its total forest area to approximately 3,130 hectares by the 18th century. Therefore, King Frederick V summoned von Langen in 1763 to secure the future of the forest and the vital resource, wood.

Von Langen had the forests surveyed, introduced systematic felling and replanting, and understood that it was necessary to think far ahead and make plans for the management of the forests that stretched 100 years into the future. He was also the main man behind the introduction of the fast-growing conifers in Denmark. Today, Denmark has a forest area of approx. 14%.

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