Berlin’s oldest tree, the English oak known as Dicke Marie, or Fat Mary, is showing visible signs of drought stress, particularly in its crown, forestry officials warn.
The tree stands in the northern district of Tegel and is estimated to be between 500 and 600 years old.
“But we hope that it will remain standing for a few more decades or even centuries,” Marc Franusch, head of the Tegel forestry office, told dpa. He said increased rainfall this spring would help the tree recover.
Despite the damage, forestry officials do not plan to prune the gnarled oak. Instead, the focus is on preserving the tree’s vitality by preventing it from being crowded by surrounding vegetation.
“We want to stabilise the tree and its situation very gently and carefully in order to support its vitality as much as possible,” Franusch said.
A tree with historic roots
Once a popular destination for day-trippers, Dicke Marie now stands quietly off a wooded path near the north-eastern tip of Lake Tegel.
The tree was granted National Heritage Tree status in 2021 by the German Dendrological Society, which aims to raise public awareness of Germany’s oldest and most remarkable trees.
According to local lore, Dicke Marie was named by famed naturalists Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt, who spent their youth at nearby Tegel Palace, a manor house. The name is said to honour their corpulent cook, Marie.
Source: dpa
