I was once "bumped" from behind in my 320i 1987, by a Nissan pickup which
was trying to skip the traffic light for which I was stopping.  The tow
hitch was bent like a twig and the rear of the car was badly damaged.  The
panel shop said that the car would have been a write off if there was not
hitch installed.  I would say, from my experience, that I would not take
that much speed to result in the damage you described.  The driver of the
Forester would have had a foot on the brake also, probably increasing the
damage.

People fit bull bars on the front of vehicles all the time, and even though
they mostly do it for cosmetics, it does protect vehicles from collision
damage.  The Nissan pickup that smashed into me had one fitted, and apart
from the bull bar epoxy coating that was transferred, the Nissan and its
bull bar were both intact.  I doubt very much that the Forester wagon 4x4,
will suffer any long term effects due to this collision.  Replacing a hitch
is cheaper than any fender bender to fix.  The tow hitch saved someone a lot
of money in this case.

MW