Poland's Mysterious 'Crooked Forest'

Take a stroll inside the pine forest near Gryfino in Northwest Poland and you will feel like you were just transported to Harry Potter's 'Forbidden Forest' - thanks to the 400 eerily curved pine trees.

The odd part is that the pine trees surrounding this tiny area, dubbed 'Crooked Forest' are all straight as arrows - Just the way they are supposed to be. So how did these specimens turn out so cool-looking?

While nobody knows for sure, the theory is that the trees are shaped this way, thanks to human intervention, with the saplings allowed to grow for about ten years and then pinned down in a way that they emerge with a 90° bend, before straightening out again. Some locals believe it was the handiwork of special carpenters from the German special forces in the 1930's - for use in boat hulls and furniture. But, the trees were never harvested because of the chaos created when the World War 2 broke out in 1939.

However, the expert lumberjacks of the Gryfino forest disagree - Given that pine trees are not good for either furniture or boat hulls, they think that the trees in this area just naturally grew in this eerie manner. Whatever the real reason, we sure are glad they are here for all of us to enjoy!

Resources:Dailymail.co.uk, news.discovery.com