Irrhain, Literary society meeting ground and park near Kraftshof, Nuremberg, Germany

Irrhain is an oak grove near Kraftshof, north of Nuremberg airport, entered through a Baroque stone portal built for the order's 250th anniversary in 1894. An avenue leads to a wooded clearing with memorial stones for members, among them an obelisk for honorary member Christoph Martin Wieland, and a replica of the society's meeting hut. Hedge-lined paths and meadow strips remain from the earlier garden layout.

A literary circle moved its meetings in 1676 from the riverbank to this oak grove near Kraftshof, establishing a new gathering place. This relocation marked the start of a tradition that continued at this location for many centuries afterward.

For centuries this place served as a gathering spot for regional writers and poets who met to discuss their works and share ideas. Visitors today can still see the memorial stones dedicated to literary figures that keep this tradition visible.

The Irrhain lies north of Nuremberg airport in the Knoblauchland, the market-garden belt that supplies the city with fresh vegetables. Since May 2008 the forestry office has barred events here to protect the hermit beetle under the EU Habitats Directive, so no dead wood is cleared and no trees are cut. Signs on dead trees warn of falling branches; stay on the paths and keep to the marked route.

Unlike many German forests, this place deliberately keeps dead wood and fallen trees to provide habitat for insects and forest wildlife. This practice demonstrates an approach to woodland management that gives nature more space instead of clearing and organizing everything.