The silver fir – timelessly beautiful
The Echtle sawmill is inseparably connected to the silver fir and so is all of the Black Forest. Contrary to the spruce, the silver fir has always been native to the Black Forest and today still occupies a share of 80% of the area in some forestry districts… and we are right in the middle of them.
So what would be a better fit than processing the raw material that’s growing in the immediate vicinity of the company seat?
And that raw material is the silver fir, botanical name Abies Alba. The tree species that immediately makes you think of the Black Forest – or the other way around.
Although the fir is „silver“ by name, it has given the Black Forest its name. While the bark is a silverish grey, the needles are dark green and appear almost black from a distance.
That’s why the Romans called this mystic forest „silva negra“, meaning „black forest“.
As the silver fir in the past decades has somewhat sunk into oblivion compared to the spruce, it now experiences a revival in the local forestry and silviculture. As a tree species in the woods it brings:
- a higher resiliency against climatic impacts than the spruce (and others)
- very good rejuvenation rate, even in the shades (planting not necessary), effecting stepped reforestation with high biodiversity
- higher resistance than the spruce or other species to storm and bark-beetle infestation
- good growth performance
and is thus an important staple to natural forest cultivation today and tomorrow.
In a processed form, it has a wide range of uses. By now it has been realized that the silver fir doesn’t only fit rustic, traditional Black Forest farmsteads but that it is also very suitable to make exclusive, elegant surfaces that don’t take second place to other fine wood. For example, they find use for:
- commercial and interior fittings
- facade engineering
- furniture manufacturing
- restoration of old buildings as well as modern design of new constructions
- and even as construction timber, the silver fir is not second to spruce.
The silver fir – timelessly beautiful
then and today, a tree species in high demand
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Further information on the silver fir is available on the website of the Silver Fir Forum, an association co-founded and actively supported by the Echtle sawmill.