Donation campaign for the “Caspar David Friedrich Forest” reforestation project in the Saxon Switzerland National Park region

The Dresden State Art Collections are launching a fundraising campaign for the “Caspar David Friedrich Forest” reforestation project in the Saxon Switzerland National Park region.

Image above: Bärengarten in Hohnstein © Philipp Zieger | Tourismusverband Sächsische Schweiz

To mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Caspar David Friedrich (CDF), which will be celebrated on September 5, the Dresden State Art Collections (SKD) and the Forest for Saxony Foundation are launching an extensive reforestation project in the Saxon Switzerland National Park region. In honor of the great Romantic artist, donations are being collected for the creation of a three-hectare Caspar David Friedrich forest on the edge of the national park. With just 5 euros, a tree can be bought, planted and cared for for five years.

Melancholy, wide-open landscapes, towering spruces and gnarled oaks at dusk or in the moonlight characterize CDF’s work. The artist found his inspiration particularly on his hikes in nature. Many places in Saxon Switzerland in particular can still be found today that have been incorporated into Friedrich’s drawings and paintings, be it the sandstone cliffs in “Wanderer above the Sea of Fog”, the path along which the “Two Men Contemplating the Moon” walked, or the rock formations that framed the “Rock Gate in Uttewalder Grund” in Friedrich’s time. Sometimes these landscapes have remained astonishingly the same to this day. Elsewhere, factors such as climate change and monoculture have led to considerable forest damage.

Now, with the support of visitors to the Dresden CDF anniversary exhibition in August 2024 and all those who want to do something good for nature, two woodland areas are to be revitalized. The first of these planting areas is located directly on the Malerweg trail at the so-called Bärengarten in the town of Hohnstein, near which CDF’s “Sketches from the Schinderloch” were created. Other areas are not far away in the Hohenstein town forest, where bark beetles have caused the former spruce forest to die. Information boards will soon be in place to show how the Caspar David Friedrich Forest came into being. After consultation with the national park administration, a diverse mixed forest will be planted there, mainly with sessile oaks, hornbeams, small-leaved lime trees, wych elms, silver firs and yews. The first planting is scheduled to start in fall 2024.

Contributions can be transferred to the donation account of the Forest for Saxony Foundation with the reference “Caspar-David-Friedrich-Wald”, IBAN DE34 6005 0101 0001 1121 31. Art and nature lovers can also contribute to regional environmental protection via the website www.skd.museum/caspar-david-friedrich-wald and two donation boxes in the Albertinum and Residenzschloss.

The reforestation project is supported by MUSEIS SAXONICIS USUI – Freunde der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden e. V. (Friends of the Dresden State Art Collections).

About the Forest Foundation in Saxony:

The Forest Foundation for Saxony was established in 1996 by the Free State of Saxony. It aims to protect the precious forest ecosystem, ensure that forests are as natural and climate-friendly as possible and increase the proportion of forest in Saxony. Since its foundation, it has planted a good five million trees. More at: www.mehr-wald-fuer-sachsen.de/

Donation account

Forest for Saxony Foundation
IBAN: DE34 6005 0101 0001 1121 31
Baden-Württembergische Bank
Intended use: “Caspar-David-Friedrich-Wald”
www.skd.museum/caspar-david-friedrich-wald

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