Naturwald Kleinengelein, Protected forest in the Steigerwald, Germany

Naturwald Kleinengelein is a 53-hectare protected forest in the northern Steigerwald, split between the municipality of Rauhenebrach in the Haßberge district and the unincorporated Wustvieler Forst in the Schweinfurt district. It lies northwest of Untersteinbach and is bordered to the north by the much larger Naturwald Knetzberge-Böhlgrund. Its core is an old beech forest with individual trees surviving from the Thirty Years' War and many more from the 18th century.

The forest was first documented in written records around 1023, when it fell under the control of the Diocese of Würzburg. It only received formal protection status in 2010 after centuries of commercial use.

This reserve shows how German forest management changed from medieval times to today's conservation approach. Walking here reveals what a forest looks like when left to develop naturally without human intervention.

The forest lies northwest of Untersteinbach, on the boundary between the Haßberge and Schweinfurt districts, and is reached on foot from the surrounding villages. No forestry is carried out apart from traffic-safety and forest-protection measures, so paths can be obstructed by fallen wood. The adjoining Weilersbachtal nature reserve, with its small moor, lies to the east.

Kleinengelein is the only known beech stand in Germany where four flycatcher species breed at once: the Red-breasted, Collared, Pied and Spotted Flycatchers. The Collared Flycatcher is the rarest of them in Central Europe.