The near-natural beech forests (Fagus sylvatica) of Serrahn include some of the beech forests with the highest degree of naturalness in Central Europe. Covering an area of 330 ha, the old-growth beech forests have experienced a low level of human interference over a very long period of time. The last major disturbance events date back to the end of the middle ages. The aim of this study was to analyse the forest structure and dynamics at Serrahn, and to compare the observed structural dynamics with those reported from other natural and near-natural beech forests in order to identify specific structural patterns. Data was collected from an 8 ha sample plot including a permanent plot (0.36 ha) established in 1967. The mean basal area and mean volume of living trees amounted to 33 and 605 m ³ ha ^-1, respectively. The density of living trees ≥7 cm dbh averaged 263 ha ^-1. The mean diameter distribution for 0.25 ha subplots showed a bimodal pattern with the highest density of trees in the smallest diameter class (7-17 cm), a striking scarcity of trees in the diameter range 17-37 cm, and a second peak in the diameter class 57-67 cm. The density of large living trees (dbh > 80 cm) was 13 ha ^-1. These large trees were randomly distributed in the 8 ha sample plot. Between 1967 and 2002, considerable changes in stand structure took place in the permanent plot. During that period, the diameter distribution changed from a bell-shaped to a bimodal pattern. Following the high mortality of upper canopy layer trees, the amount of dead wood rose 25-fold. While no advanced regeneration was present in 1967, regeneration at least 2 m tall covered the major part of the permanent plot in 2002. This natural regeneration consisted almost exclusively of F. sylvatica. Even though individual structural features may be similar at present to those of virgin beech forests, this is a temporary phenomenon. The Serrahn beech forests are still in the phase of recovery from the forest devastation that took place during the 14th and 15th centuries. It takes several beech generations, i.e. many hundred years, for a highly differentiated age structure on a small spatial scale to develop, such as is characteristic for virgin beech forests.