Tree species: Winter linden (Tilia cordata)
Location: Forster linden
Trunk circumference: 10 meters
Trunk height: 15 meters
Age (approx.): approx. 1000 years
The exact age of this lime tree is not known. The famous garden architect Prince Pückler-Muskau is said to have visited the tree in 1852 and estimated its age at 800 years. This would make the Forster lime tree around 1000 years old! The tree has to be stabilized with ropes. Arboricultural measures are carried out regularly to preserve the lime tree. At the base of the trunk, this winter lime tree is over 9 meters thick; further up, the trunk forks into several stems.
It is assumed that there was an aldermen's house nearby. The Forster lime tree could therefore have been a court lime tree in the past, under which many a sentence was passed: A "Galgenpley" is also located nearby. Lime trees grow very old and often stand in prominent places, have a common connection and history with the places and mystical or historical attributions.
Today, lime trees are often planted as street trees, which earns them a dubious reputation: their rich and sugary blossoms with their sweet, typical scent often attract aphids - and these secrete honeydew, which drips down - and stains cars and the like ...
City of Aachen / Heike Lachmann