Any hangers in Germany at the presentHello Han time?

**RtTraveler** · 05-23-2014, 17:53

Hello Hang Nation,

Any body out there in the Ramstien area og Germany?

**DuctTape** · 05-23-2014, 18:44

Hutzelbein is from Germany. Not sure of the exact region though.

**hutzelbein** · 05-24-2014, 03:42

Hi RtTraveler, welcome to the forum! As DuctTape said I'm from Germany. Unfortunately not from around Ramstein, but the Bavarian Forest.

There are a couple of Germans who post here, but not regularly as far as I have seen. Funny, I was just PMing with another German, and we were thinking of opening a German thread. There was some interest in getting a group hang organized, but we would need to find a legal hanging site.

Other than that, if you (or any other German hanger) is looking to meet up and do some hiking/hanging, I would be up for it.

**jofish** · 05-24-2014, 05:47

I know it may seem a long way for you Germans, but living with 3 hours of each other means pretty close here in the US especially when you're talking about organizing a hang!

Hoffentlich können Sie ein Gruppehang (?) organisieren.

Please pardon the poor German - I'm way out of practice.

**RtTraveler** · 05-24-2014, 17:43

Thanks for the reply hutzelbein.
When you say"legal" I am assuming that one "cannot" a hammock and head out in the forest, get off the beaten path and set up for a day hang-- or so? I have no idea what the regs are or where to look for them! Please educate before I get hung by thr Forest Mister.
Let's talk about setting a forum, getting together and educating ourselves on hanging in the German Forests.
Thanks
RtTraveler.

Have you heard or seen anything on the Sierra Madre Shelter. System? Amazing!

**hutzelbein** · 05-25-2014, 01:01

I was referring to sleeping (as opposed to "resting") in the outdoors. I'm sure you know that it's not legal to sleep in the woods without some kind of a permit by the owner of the forest? I have been reading quite a few discussions on the topic. Every Bundesland has its own rules and regulations. In some areas you are apparently not even allowed to enter the forest after nightfall. In most areas it seems to be OK to sleep out in the woods (not National Forests etc.) if you are not using a shelter. Hammocks are a grey area. Without a tarp they seem to be not counted as "shelter" - but the use of a tarp probably makes them like tents, which are illegal if you are using them to spend the night.

Most people ignore the rules, and in most cases this seems to be OK. But it depends if you get caught, and what the opinion of the officials in question is. In most cases, if you don't misbehave, they put a blind eye on it. But if you are unlucky, you get fined and asked to leave immediately. It seems that the latter happens rarely, but it happens.

I haven't yet camped in the wild in Germany, but am planning to do so in the near future. There are a couple of longer hikes in the Bavarian Forest that look nice. But for a hangout of a bigger group, I wouldn't want to stealth camp. In the Pfalz there are a couple of wilderness camps where it is completely legal to stay, but I think you have to book (and maybe pay). Other than that, I guess it's necessary to find a private site (farm? backyard?) with trees and get the permission of the owner to organize a gathering.

**jolunder** · 05-25-2014, 11:09

Hi another one from Germany here, but from the far north (Hamburg).
The legal situation is, to say the least, confusing. As hutzelbein already said, the rules differ from Bundesland to Bundesland, and rarely are very clear.
Of all the people I know that occasionally do camp "wild" none ever had problems. Discretion its your friend. My own experience is rather thin, only three "wild nights" so far, and all without a hammock but rather tent or just pad and bag.
I think the most important thing not to let all these rules slow you down too much and take away your passion. Plan according to what you feel comfortable with and be responsible and discrete when bending the rules or unsure if doing so.

**DasBushbaby** · 05-25-2014, 15:47

Originally Posted by hutzelbein

In the Pfalz there are a couple of wilderness camps where it is completely legal to stay, but I think you have to book (and maybe pay).

www.trekking-pfalz.de

Price per tent with up to 3 people or 3 people with hammocks: 10 EUR/night

@RtTraveler: You are not allone in the Palatinate Forest

**Dave-O** · 05-28-2014, 15:49

I did a 3 day/2 night trip with my son in the Palatinate. I believe it was between camp sites 3 and 5. We did an out and back and used our hammocks. It was a great time. We still talk about it.

You can purchase the maps of the area mentioned on the site that DasBushbaby mentioned at a local place called Der Rucksack, http://www.rucksack-kaiserslautern.de/inhalt.html. Or you can order them from Amazon.de. You can log in and purchase from the Amazon.de site with your US Amazon username/password and have them shipped directly to your German address. Google translate makes the process a little easier.

Having a GPS with a topo map helped us out a lot. The campsite are slightly hidden and the most direct trail might not be marked very well.

I'd love to meet your there, but I'm no longer living in Kaiserslautern.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Sincerely,
Dave-O

**Honig** · 06-02-2014, 10:10

Hi another German here.
Also my first post...

I do a lot of wild camping and never had a problem.

In case there is an interest doing a group hang, i'm sure i can organize a nice campside from some friends. I did this for tenting camping with friends lot of times, so finding a spot for hangig should be pretty easy.
My region is the Fränkische Schweiz (http://www.fraenkische-schweiz.com/)
And i'm pretty sure, some of my tent camping friends would join us too, to see different setups.