How the forest became wilderness. The Bavarian Forest National Park, founded in 1970, has led to the emergence of "wild nature" in 14 German national parks today. Wild nature is becoming wilderness, which was viewed very negatively 30 years ago. However, two-thirds of our fellow citizens now desire more wilderness, which they are eager to experience. Not only cultural heritage but also natural heritage—a term that was not found in any dictionary in the 1980s—is now being protected. This book does not present how over 15,000 hectares of wild forest, with a diversity of species and habitats unimaginable in the early years, has developed in the national park in the form of a technical documentation, but rather through stories from the beginning until the end of the 20th century. The author and first director of the park.