Actually SHOCKED by this in GERMANY - not clickbait 

The reason for the many chopped down trees most likely really is the "Borkenkäfer" - the insect you are talking about. That happens all over Germany. From the late 19th century up to the year 2000 the forests were mostly planted with Spruce (and sometimes fir) trees. Mostly because it grows fast and wood was always a very important raw material. (Most well known example for that is the blackwood forest, which was completely chopped down in the 17th century and replanted with fir and spruce to look like it does today). There are multiple issues with a forest mostly consisting of one or two types of trees. First of all it really makes it terribly easy for the insects to spread, and if you look at the Harz Forest you see that there are big parts of the forest that are dead due to that - but the harz is a national park so the wood is not cut down and used as raw material but left to rot there in place (at least mostly) to be the base for a more natural forest - they did the same thing with the "Bayrischer Wald" national park - it took quite some time but it is really lovely now. The second issue - apart from the insects is that the needles change the soil to contain more acid which is bad for many native types of trees and bushes. So what they usually do is to cut down the infected fir and spruce trees and replant with a variety of typical trees for the area to get a healthier forest in the long run.

Hey Lauren, in addition to the Borkenkäfer, there has also been an ongoing drought in Germany that has severely affected the forests and also made them more susceptible to the insects. I've put Meppen on my "to visit" list. Thanks!

Moin Lauren, und vielen Dank dafür, dass du uns immer die kleinen Schönheiten unseres unseres Landes zeigst! Liebste Grüße, Ben❤

Hello Lauren, thank you again for another stunning video. My mother was born in Meppen and her uncle (one of my favourite great-uncles) served as a priest there, first in St. Vitus and after WW2 he founded the parish of St. Maria zum Frieden in Meppen-Esterfeld. He died in 2001 and was buried next to the church. His name was Rev. Josef Orgaß. Happy mother's day ! Miriam

Hi. A few possible insights about the massive clearcuts: Indeed, it may well be due to an infestation with the Borkenkäfer (bark beetle / pine beetle). Once trees show infestation, they need to get removed from the forest very quickly. Otherwise, it will spread, destroying everything. It may be that they had neglected the forest, came too late and now have to remove a massive amount of trees, because they are all infested by now. Secondly, ever since approximately WWII, our German forests have sadly often been planted in what is called „Monokultur“, meaning they had planted the forests using only one type of tree - which is typically the Fichte (spruce). They did this because spruce grows rapidly, thus maximizing profits when it comes to selling the lumber. Today however, we know that Monokultur brings with it many problems: 1.) Spruce is a „Flachwurzler“ (shallow root tree). So since it’s roots don‘t run deep, this tree is particularly vulnerable to storm damage. When we had major hurricanes in past decades (a phenomenon occurring more and more often due to climate change), often giant spaces of forests got wiped out within a matter if hours. It then is an almost impossible challenge to remove the thousands of trees quickly enough. The result: Bark beetles are infesting the dead and damaged trees, are spreading like wildfire and are then spilling into even the remaining population of healthy trees. 2.) Biodiversity: Monoculture forests can in extreme cases be almost entirely „dead“: Very little light passes through the densely planted spruce trees - plus, the floor is packed with a thick layer of pines. Meaning little to no underbrush, few places for the many critters usually to be found in a healthy forest to hide. And every species that is missing leads to many others, who depend on it to also go missing. So what has been a trend in German forestry in past decades is to gradually transform former monoculture forests into the much more healthy and resilient „Mischwald“ (mixed forest). If you return to the clearcut areas in a few months, you will likely see that they will have planted thousands of new trees. 🙂

I’ve traveled many times through Meppen but never stopped. Thanks for showing me! Re the trees: It is really really upsetting to walk into a large area of forest of completely dead trees. If you keep visiting Forests, you may come across this at some point and it may deeply affect you - be prepared. To me it feels slightly better to see them chopped down and new - hopefully more resilient - species replanted, as it feels more hopeful. Eco-grief is a thing and that may explain what you feel at seeing those chopped down trees.

Leider sieht es zur Zeit in sehr vielen deutschen Wäldern so aus. Unter anderem eine Folge der Monokultur Bepflanzung mit Nadelhölzer. Gut das man dies erkannt hat und man wieder dazu übergeht auf Mischwälder zu setzen. In Meppen war ich bis her nur einmal als unser Verein dort Fußball gespielt hatte. Es hat mir aber ganz gut gefallen dort. Ich wünsch euch einen schönen Sonntag und dir alles Gute zum Muttertag.

Another lovely video. Thank you. The trees. Yes, unfortunatly those little beasts love our trees. But they are not grateful. There`s never a sign which says thank you for meal 🙃. Have a nice sunday

I just realized that you remind me of my niece and goddaughter. She is also a performer. She sings opera and lives in New York City (USA). You both share a positivity that is rare nowadays. Keep the videos coming.

Wieder was gelernt, danke Lauren! Schönen Sonntag allen!

The first logs you showed were beeches and those were harvested regularly by taking out only the best of the trees. The second pictures show spruces and they suffer tremendously from the droughts and most of them are killed by the bark beetles. Those forests have to be restored completely with mixed tree species which do better in a dry and warm environment. So coming to the battle against the romans, it is not so easy, and as far as I know, the Teutoburger forest was thought to be the place and was named after the battle in the 19th century. Only recently they found the true place which is in Kalkriese and where they have restored some of the fortifications which the germans build to attack the romans.

This time I especially liked the scene starting at 2:08 with the sunrays building up a halo. Your holiness St. Lauren in Germany 😉

Thanks for this video! A friend went to Meppen once to meet a potential employer. It wasn't as promising as it was advertised and he returned quite disillusioned. Travelling there wasn't a good experience for him too. Hence his account wasn't exactly a recommendation to go there. You've corrected that significantly.

Hallo Lauren, wieder ein sehr schönes Video, das mir zeigt wie schön gerade die Kleinstädte in Deutschland sind. Vielen Dank, dass du gerade diese schönen Kleinode zeigst. Der Borkenkäferbefall in unseren Wäldern ist schon sehr traurig, auch hier in bei uns in BW ist auch teilweise arg. Ich bin besonders traurig, weil ich den Wald so sehr liebe. Wünsche noch einen schönen Sonntag.

Hello, I like your channel. Your view on Germany and the people is refreshing. As a German sometimes I lose the positive view on the country and people - especially because I live in Saxony... It's a bit healing to watch your videos and the positivity. Thank you!

How nice of you dear Lauren , that you always let us participate with new videos of German history. Our final class trip in the 4 th class of the elementary school also went to the Teutoburg Forest to the youth hostel in Bad Iburg. We took the bus there and also visited the Hermanns memorial.There are fond memories of my childhood. I wish all mothers a happy mother`s day.🙂💞🌷

Hi Lauren, this is a nice video of yet another interesting town. Regarding the Teutoburg Forest there is quite a lot of history going on. Over the years there have been several archeological digs along the route were the ambush-battles happened. A few years ago, a friend had the pleasure of working at one of the dig sites. Newer sites prove to be more productive and getting better at zeroing in on the actual battle sites. I sure hope you get to go there again.

Hi Lauren I enjoy your videos as it reminds me of my time living in Germany, in the beautiful town of Lemgo, which is very near to Herman’s Denkmal. I really recommend this place. I hope you manage to visit this place as it is full of medieval buildings and interesting history. I too am Welsh and adore old buildings. Thanks again for your lovely videos. ❤️

Meppen looks really lovely indeed. And I am so sorry the forrest came as such a shock. My dad was a Gartenbaumeister who had worked in a Baumschule so I grew up with him explaining the consequences of pushing for Monokulturen and ignoring global warming.

thanks for this very informative one. love your videos so much. happy Sunday!

Another reason for chopping down whole areas of "forrest" could be, that it is not a actual forrest but an agricultural area growing trees instead of corns or vegetables.

6:10 Actually the battle of the Teutoburg Forest did not take place in the Teutoburg Forest. Most archaeologists agree now that the battle took place near Kalkriese (where they actually found the relics of defeated Roman legions) a bit north of Osnabrück, about 90 km northwest of the Hermann monument. The hills nowadays known as the Teutoburg Forest where formerly known as "Osning", and Reformer Philipp Melanchthon was the first to assume it (or Kassel) as the place of the battle, based mainly on the localization by Tacitus around rivers Lippe (north of the Ruhr region) and Ems (which runs through Meppen). In 1616 geographer and historian Philipp Clüver was the first to call the "Osning" the "Teutoburg Forest", which was then propagated by Ferdinandus liber baro de Furstenberg, Prince-Bishop of Paderborn and Münster.

Lovely town. I always go into the churches every town I visit. For the architecture and history. The cutting of trees is sadly everywhere. These insects have ravaged the whole continent. At least they don't let them rot and fall. They can replant and use the wood before its good for nothing. I want to visit that historic site also. Thank you for your lovely videos.

It must be like a fairytale for americans to go to those old towns. For many germans it's just everyday life but there are people that have only seen such things in movies.

In eastern Lower Saxony Meppen is used to emphasize how far away something is or huge dimensions of anything. Too loud- das hört man ja bis Meppen! Too far away- ich renn doch dafür nicht bis nach Meppen! Thanks for reminding me that Meppen is a real town, too ☺️

My mother-in-law lived near Meppen, but I didn't see the beauty that clearly.

haha nice komme aus Meppen vielen dank für das tolle video

The destruction you have seen is a combination of the works of the bark beetle,draught & high temperatures in the last summer months. Here in Hessen the Taunus looks just like that. The former Green hills are brown and barren now I do not have any high hopes for the future

4:30 The banner was the Misereor "Hungertuch" (lit. famine cloth) 2023. Misereor is the development aid and relief organization of the Catholic church in Germany (like "Brot für die Welt", "bread for the world" by the Protestant churches), and their main fundraising time is during lent, the 40 days before Easter, which is signalized by such a cloth at or above the altar, designed by an artist from one of the countries highlighted in the year's campaign. Therefore I presume you visited Meppen in the days before or around Easter. Right?

The last few years have been very dry and this has severely attacked many of the conifers - especially pines - so that they could no longer defend themselves against the bark beetle. They had too little water to form against this resin. As a result, many trees died and were felled afterwards to slow down the spread of the bark beetle. Reforestation is now beginning with species that are better able to cope with the expected drought due to climate change. Among them are mostly deep-rooted deciduous trees. However, pine trees will disappear from German forests in the future. These are actually located in humid, mountainous regions and were only planted in the German low mountain range because they grew quickly and could be used quickly for the timber industry. As shallow roots, they are not suitable for the coming drought. The previous German commercial forest will therefore disappear in the long term.

A stunning town. What a shame about this blasted beetle but I love the forest

Danke, dass Sie Ihren Blick auf Deutschland mit uns teilen

There is a duplicate of Hermann the German's statue near me, in the city of New Ulm, Minnesota. I',ve visited both- could not resist!

P.S.: When you let your dogs run free in the forest, make sure they are always in your close vicinity. I am saying this because hunters are allowed to shoot dogs, who are running free in the forest. The reason for this being that some dogs will go after deer, badly injure them and then leading to the deer suffering in agony until they either succumb to their wounds, or get finished off by a hunter. Usually, hunters are not going to shoot a dog when a person is nearby. It has, shockingly happened on rare occasions, though. Bottom line, however: You must not panic, and you can still let your dogs off the leash in forests. Just keep in mind to ALWAYS have them in your sight.

My evening treat! 🥰

Thank you for those beautiful pictures of Meppen! I would never have even thought of visiting that town, but now it's on my bucket list. Greetings from the middle east 😂 of Niedersachsen.

Thank you Lauren for your interesting video! I don't know that part of the country. Big hug. Lynettex

Well, I guess it is indeed because of the beetle infestation. If you look around, the trees still standing dont look so well either. To the Varus battle: as far as we know today, it did not happen in the Teutoburger Wald where the monument is, near Bielefeld. Instead, archeologists have found evidence that it happened west of Melle, which is closer to the Wiehengebirge. Which is also very nice btw., for example the Weser valley in the region of Porta Westfalica. I live not too far away from there.

The Romans wouldn't have got lost in these chopped down forests and thus Arminius never would won have against them nowadays so Germans can be glad the the bark beetle only appeared due to global warming in such a destructive way ... Thank you for your empathetic videos!

Danke Lauren für das schöne Video

Wenn ich das richtig gesehen habe waren das hauptsächlich Nadelbäume, welche relativ schnell nachwachsen. Zumindest schneller als Buche, Eiche, etc. Holz ist im Moment aber auch sehr teuer in Deutschland, weshalb viele damit jetzt ein gutes Geschäft machen.💓

Amazing video again! I like the look of the buildings in Meppen. By the way look for Meppen Tank Silencer. Nearby Meppen, the german army has got ab armour development center. Just let you know for knowledge. I tis because of that insect and because of climate change. If you walk around the forest, be aware there are maybe wolves running around. they likely wont do anything against you. But just let you known. And if you enjoy nature, you may want to visit old trees? Look for Markante und alte Bäume in Bayern.

It's Murphy's Law: many detrimental things came together at the same time. First - vast areas of mono culture, mainly spruce, which have been planted everywhere and densely for economical reasons. Secondly, droughts as an effect of the climate change. Lastly the bark beetle, which now found an ideal environment to propagate - their most favorite food (spruce) weakened by drought and standing close together. The lesson was learned, though, and the reforestation efforts are now mostly avoiding mono culture, plus focusing on drought resistant and diverse new trees. I know, that you've been to the Harz region several times, but what you've seen in the Teutoburger Wald is happening there magnitudes worse. now You won't recognize that region anymore.

In times where most people could not read and write, not even the gentry, higher education schools (that's what a Gymnasium is) were oftentimes in the hand of monastic orders. Monks were the only ones who could provide education given that they at least could read and write, oftentimes had even studied, and monsastic orders were also in demand for educated young men as their followers . Given that the number of schools war sparse, boarding schools were common, and that was also something monks were good at taking care of. Faith, education and religious supervision coincided. This is why the school also has a church. Normally it would have just been a chapel, and the existence of a grand church speaks of the eminence of the school and the worldly wealth of the order to erect it!

Beautiful. Thank you again.

Small correction here. The Romans experienced plenty of defeats in its long history,..think of Hannibal. And like those defeats, they enacted their revenge.

Oh, "Meppen!" 🤦 For some reason, I thought you were saying "Melbourne" which I _knew_ wasn't right. Okay. That clears that up.

Dear Lauren, there is hardly any real forest in Germany. Most of the forests you will ever see here are nothing but timber plantations. Fast growing trees like pine and spruce for construction wood dominate our landscapes, conifer monocultures in which the trees stand straight and centre in lines like tin soldiers. These monocultures are the source of the bark beetle issues and from time to time, when prices for timber are high, there's enough wood grown in a piece of plantation that it's worthwhile chopping it down, the trees will be cut down. Germany. A country where not an inch of land is spared from having money for someone squeezed out off it. One can get a bit sick of it, really. I am very happy to see that near my home town of Troisdorf things changed a bit, in the forest around Cologne/Bonn airport, trees have been allowed to actually die by themselves and rot where they fell in the recent years, so something that actually looks like central European forest may grow there.

💋

Ja, so ist es nun hier in Deutschland, ich erkenne meine Heimat schon längst nicht mehr, bin nur noch fassungslos und traurig :-((

Are you Single Lauren?