Interest rates in the German forest valuation literature of the early nineteenth century

•Several relatively unknown German authors valuated forest prior to Faustmann.•Nineteenth century is a very lively period concerning choice of the interest rate.•Already at that time publications showed a tendency towards lower interest rates.

Valuation with the help of the present value method can be traced back to at least medieval times. In forest literature the scientific achievement of calculating the present value of forestland is predominantly attributed to Martin Faustmann, whose 1849 publication is truly considered pioneering. However, without cheapening Faustmann's intellectual effort, this paper points to some earlier and relatively unknown German authors. By doing so, it presents the state of knowledge on forest valuation in the early nineteenth century, which is a very interesting and lively period of time with respect to the choice of the interest rate. It is revealed that already at that time publications on forest valuation showed a tendency towards an interest rate that yields a desired result.