Where is it used?

The hardest wood in Europe

The hornbeam is also called white beech because its wood is very light - in contrast to the European beechwhose wood is slightly reddish in color.

One cubic meter of hornbeam weighs 800 kilograms. This makes the hornbeam the heaviest and hardest wood that occurs naturally in Europe. It is also called ironwood or stone beech.

The hornbeam used to be used

Because of its hardness, hornbeam wood was used wherever stability was important. Examples of usage were:

• Wood screws
• Gears
• Spokes
• axles
• Chopping blocks
• Sled runners
• Ox yokes
• Tools

White churned butter churns and milk cans were also made from hornbeam.

When iron became cheaper, it replaced the hornbeam, which was ultimately used almost exclusively as an ornamental wood or for fencing in willow trees.

Hornbeam as a weir hedge

Up until the Thirty Years War, weir hedges were made from hornbeam. The trees were snapped off for this. They sprouted new and also formed new shoots from the roots. Over time, almost impenetrable hedges emerged, with which villages and farms effectively protected themselves against attacks.

What are hornbeams used for today?

Hornbeam is not so well suited for use in furniture construction. The grain of the wood is not as pronounced as in other woods.

Today, hornbeam is used to make wooden floors and piano hammers.

Hornbeam is a good firewood

Hornbeam has a very good calorific value and was then, as it is today, used to heat stoves and chimneys.

However, the wood must be shredded as freshly as possible, as the seasoned hornbeam wood is so hard that it can hardly be beaten.

Hornbeam as a remedy

In the Bach flower therapy, hornbeam is used against fatigue. Hildegard von Bingen also used the tree to treat white spots on the skin.