Natural monuments
They represent unusual and naturally formed landscape elements that are protected. Often just a single tree, but also striking rock formations or entire areas up to five hectares in size, such as a park. In Aachen, these are mainly very special trees such as the Forster lime tree, a winter lime tree, the giant sequoia in the city garden on Passstrasse or the impressive plane tree on Abteiplatz in Burtscheid.
© City of Aachen / Jonas hellmann
But prominent groups of trees also have the status of natural monuments, such as the avenue of English oaks on Heyder Feldweg in Horbach or the hornbeam group in the Schildchensweg cemetery in Kornelimünster, which is popularly known as the "homage throne". It is said to have been the site of ceremonies to swear allegiance to the new abbot of Kornelimünster Abbey.
An extraordinary tree in Aachen has not only become a natural monument, but also a national heritage tree: the sweet chestnut in Vaalserquartier, on the corner of Schildstraße and Alte Vaalser Straße, which is estimated to be around 450 years old, has a trunk circumference of 8.04 meters at a height of 1.3 meters and is 18 meters high, is one of only 100 trees in the whole of Germany that have been included in a list of national heritage trees that are particularly worthy of protection.