Hainich National Park (German: Nationalpark Hainich), founded on December 31, 1997, is the 13th national park in Germany and the only one in Thuringia. One of the main objectives of the park is the protection of an ancient native beech forest. In 2011, the park was added to the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe World Heritage Site because of its testimony to the ecological history of the beech tree and the dynamics of forests in Europe since the Last Glacial Period.