Bannwald

thumb|Information sign Bannwald () is a German word used in parts of Germany and Austria to designate an area of protected forest. Its precise meaning has varied by location and over time.

== Etymology == The word Bannwald is a German compound of Bann (cognate with English ban) and Wald (forest or wood). Bann has many historical meanings in German, one of which refers to an area controlled by and set aside for the use of a landowner in medieval times (comparable to the forests subject to the royal ban in Anglo-Saxon England). A Bannwald was a forest where a nobleman had the prerogative to make use of it and the creatures in it. For most of the time it was aimed to prevent people from collecting fire wood, harvesting young trees for posts, or collecting nuts and berries, farmers would bring in pigs temporarily to feed on acorns. A royal ban forest existed at Dreieich for a very long period, and its charter was one of the most primitive. The (obsolete) French literal equivalent bambois (also: banbois) is still the toponym of local forests in areas which once were part of the former Holy Roman Empire.