I am in the position to acquire some land with a forest on it in Germany. What could I do with it so it pays for itself in the long run and pays a decent and sustainable profit
Using a forest productively is not easy. Selective logging is IMHO sustainable, but you need all sorts of equipment for it (and training as otherwise it can be quite dangerous). And if you ask someone to do it for you, then basically there is no profit left.
That is why often entire large tracks of forest are felled in one go and then re-planted as this is more or less the only way an forest owner can outsource the work and still make a profit. Of course this is highly damaging to the forest and it basically becomes a tree plantation with little resemblance of a forest afterwards.
Using a forest productively is not easy. Selective logging is IMHO sustainable, but you need all sorts of equipment for it (and training as otherwise it can be quite dangerous). And if you ask someone to do it for you, then basically there is no profit left. That is why often entire large tracks of forest are felled in one go and then re-planted as this is more or less the only way an forest owner can outsource the work and still make a profit. Of course this is highly damaging to the forest and it basically becomes a tree plantation with little resemblance of a forest afterwards.