Duisburger Stadtwald, Urban forest in Duisburg, Germany

The Duisburger Stadtwald is a roughly 600-hectare forest east of central Duisburg, stretching from the A 40 in the north to Bissingheim in the south, with the A 3 as its western edge. Beech dominates most of the woodland, mixed with oaks, holly and alder and birch along the streams. Marked hiking trails cross the whole area, and the Ruhrhöhenweg and Neandertalweg long-distance paths run through it.

The Duisburger Stadtwald is the remnant of a large imperial forest bounded by the Rhine, Ruhr and Düssel. In 1065 King Henry IV gave the woodland, together with the imperial court of Duisburg, to Archbishop Adalbert of Bremen. In the 14th century the right of use passed to the Dukes of Berg, and the forest belonged to the city, which granted use to a limited circle of citizens called Walderben. A ducal wild-horse stud existed until its dissolution in 1814, when 2,500 helpers drove a herd of 260 animals to Angermund and sold it.

The forest's name recalls its medieval role: it was a Reichsforst, and from 1065 the wood was granted with the Reichshof Duisburg to Archbishop Adalbert of Bremen. Use rights passed to the Dukes of Berg in the 14th century. Citizens called Walderben held shares, while poorer residents could gather fallen wood and leaf litter and pay to drive pigs in for mast. Five sculptures by Duisburg artist Regina Bartholme stand along the Kammerweg, Rundweg, Berg- und Talpfad and Eulenpfad.

The forest has multiple access points with parking areas, and public transit connects the site directly to the city center. Visitors should follow the marked trail system and bring water and sturdy shoes depending on their planned route.

The forest's subsoil is about 30 million years old, from the Oligocene. The primeval North Sea deposited Septarian clay here, then the Saale glaciation added gravel, sand and till around 200,000 years ago. On the western edge, west winds blowing through the Rhine valley left wind-blown sand.