1. Montane heathlands are among the most threatened semi-natural ecosystems across Central Europe. Nevertheless, empirical studies on the effects of rejuvenation and restoration of montane heathlands have been scarce thus far.2. The aim of our study was to analyse the long-term effects of heathland rejuvenation and restoration on carabid beetle assemblages. Our study took place in the Rothaar Mountains, one of the most important strongholds of montane heathlands in Central Europe. We considered four different successional stages: (i) earlysuccessional heathlands as a result of rejuvenation measures (EARLY), (ii) restored heathlands (RESTORED), (iii) late-successional heathlands (LATE) and (iv) windthrows (WIND).3. Our study revealed that the composition of carabid beetle assemblages differed