Press releases

Aachen's avenue of love trees will be created in the Müschpark on the Lousberg in 2025. 14 new trees will be planted on February 14, Valentine's Day, near Kastanienallee. All citizens are invited to apply for a tree sponsorship by sending a message of love. The sponsorship is free of charge and the love messages can then be accessed via a QR code on signs in front of the trees.

Mayor Sibylle Keupen was delighted at the presentation of the project on Monday, October 28: "We are creating something unifying with the avenue of love trees. That's why I was immediately enthusiastic about the idea of the avenue of love trees. Projects like this can be a unifying anchor in turbulent times. We have beautiful parks in our city that enrich our lives and those of our urban society." She also thanked Eine Welt Forum Aachen e. V. as the initiator of the project. The location on Kastanienallee was chosen to expand the tree population there. Chestnuts are also particularly resilient climate trees.

Preserving urban trees - a challenge and a joint project

Heiko Thomas, Councillor for Climate and Environment, City Operations and Buildings of the City of Aachen, explained the challenges that arise in the care and preservation of city trees: "Natural age, construction measures, climate change - these are all reasons why we unfortunately lose more trees every year than we have been able to replant so far. We are therefore very pleased that since last year we have had a tree planting team in the city council's tree crew, which works intensively on planting new trees and caring for the seedlings. This enabled us to increase the number of newly planted trees to 450 in the last planting period." In addition, the preservation of urban trees is a community task that should not be lost sight of in terms of intergenerational justice. Many committed tree sponsors and donations are already particularly important. After all, the work is not done once the trees have been planted: "Like small children, we have to look after and raise new trees for several years. They have to be watered and pruned for two to five years," explained Maurice Vonhoegen, head of the tree inspection team at the city council.

A declaration of love to the Aachen crumble roll?

The tree sponsors are selected by a jury. The jury consists of representatives of the project's cooperation partners: Eine Welt Forum Aachen e. V., Aachener Stadtbetrieb, Stiftung Umwelt und Entwicklung des Landes and the City of Aachen. Madeleine Genzsch from Eine Welt Forum Aachen e. V. and initiator of the project is hoping for many incoming messages of love: "The messages of love will hopefully be very diverse. It's not just couples who can publicly proclaim their love, but also friends, kindergarten groups who make a declaration to their favorite playground or a declaration of love to the Aachen crumble roll." It is important that the messages of love have a connection to Aachen's urban nature. Alongside creativity and diversity, this is an essential criterion for the selection.

All interested parties are cordially invited to apply for a free tree sponsorship with creative messages of love. This is also possible in video format, for example, at https://liebesbaumallee.de/.