Oberförsterei Hammer, Forest administration complex in Groß Köris, Germany

Oberförsterei Hammer is a listed ensemble in Löpten, part of Groß Köris, built as a hunting lodge in 1897–1898 from yellow brick fired in a Löpten brickyard. The single-storey main house has a slightly H-shaped ground plan with eclectic decorative elements. Around the courtyard stand a horse, cattle and pig stable, a barn, an earth cellar and a game gallows: an open wooden frame with a roof, wide enough for a cart to drive in and hang the shot game.

The forest office was founded in 1737 after land acquisition under Frederick William I, with August Wilhelm taking charge of operations. Later it became the center for royal hunting activities, with the final court hunt taking place in 1913.

The forest office ran representative court hunts until the last one on 8 November 1913, when 53 wild boar and 270 fallow deer were killed. Today the Landeswaldoberförsterei Hammer sells game meat and holds cultural events, including a cinema and a Christmas market. A 20 km reading trail, Lesefährten Waldweisen, with 50 lecterns of poetic texts about the forest, was created with Austrian artist Wolfgang Georgsdorf and has one of four starting points here.

The site operates as a working forest administration office where visitors can explore the exterior of the buildings and their arrangement. Game meat sales and cultural events held here make it worthwhile to plan time for a visit and check what events might be scheduled.

The main building has a slightly H-shaped ground plan with eclectic decorative elements; its yellow brick was fired in a brickyard in Löpten. At the southwest narrow side of the forest house stands a Wildgalgen, an open wooden frame with a roof, where hunters could drive in with a cart to hang up the game they had shot.