Berlin Boulevard 'Under the Stumps'

Berlin's centre strip Unter den Linden ("under the linden trees/ Under the Limes) is a boulevard (images) in the heart of the city. The middle strip was once lined with 2000 Linden. Flâneurs enjoyed to wander along the scent of the lime blossom.

Today 54 of the healthy, 60 year old trees are being given the chop. Between Komischer Oper (Glinkastraße) and Staatsbibliothek/ Berlin State Library (Charlottenstraße) fossil fuel machinery is moving in. Per tree it takes them 25 minutes to fell the ancient giants.

Why? The new underground railway U-Bahnlinie 5 is being built there, 20 metres deep The new Berlin building site will go on until 2019

After construction finishes in 2019, the 54 trees will be replaced with 8 to 10 year old trees (Tilia pallida), each costing 108,000 Euro.

There was apparently no protest.

Sources:
Images, Berliner Zeitung
Erste Bäume am Lindenboulevard gefällt, rbb news
Unter den Linden fallen die Linden, Focus online
Berlin's iconic boulevard Unter den Linden ("Under the Limes") have suffered under increasing temperatures recently. Spiegel
Unter den Linden boulevard trees are being killed by traffic fumes, The Telegraph 2001
European lime trees, Kew
Ja, Freund, hier unter den Linden kannst du dein Herz erbaun,.. Briefe aus Berlin. 1822, Heinrich Heine,

Music:
Der Lindenbaum by Franz Schubert, Winterreise , Prof. Scot Weir, tenor, Folkwang Gitarren Duo, video

Image:
Corinth, Lovis Berlin, Unter den Linden 1922 via Zeno

Clearing Berlin Mitte 07 - 08

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More eradicationg trees in 2007

Logging Berlin (Mitte) continued...

Unfortunately more of the same: More trees have to go: Weinberg Park,(stumps in 'protected public green space': 080407, trees go whilest more space is privatised) Tieck str.,Acker Str. (2 stumps in front of new development).

Disappearing trees, grave and ambience...Berlin/Mitte

Once there was a green park with sculptures reminding of violence against the Jewish population in Grosse Hamburger street, Mitte. In 1943 the Gestapo ordered the destruction of the cementery. Moses Mendelsohn rested at the park entry. Now the Mendelsohn grave-stone and most mature trees have disappeared.

Participatory tree-mapping tool for urban landscapes

Logging Berlin seems to coincide with developmental needs rather than moths or dead-wood-dangers in this urban environment.

In some cities bottom-up organisations look after their urban landcape by planting and caring for trees. Residents get involved in improving their immediate habitat, enhancing the value of their homes and doing something about climate change. Friends of the Urban Forest in San Francisco have now launched an open-source tree-mapping tool (MapGuide)for all to participate in. Through various electronic fieldguides the neighbourhood can access the database of public trees through “an interface a la Google Maps - color illustrations over aerial photography that's easily recognizable and packed with information. “ The economic or environmental benefits of maintaining green streetscapes can be directly translated though Stratum (for Street Tree Resource Analysis Tool for Urban Forest Managers) . Each tree can get a monetary value attached to it. The software can be linked to Google Earth and Wikipedia.

And here in Berlin? There are enough geeks innovating, often the First Life is not deemed to be a field worth doing things with. Maybe one day when toddlers in Mitte are being taught not the car brands but get to name a tree or a bird in their habitat, - then...

Logging Berlin

A look at Berlin from above shows the perpetual buildingsite made of cement and stuff. Green spaces are rare (or are converted). The few urban trees are chopped and no one seems to notice. These are some views of Wilmersdorf (Well-being arcades!),Mitte (logged parks) and Friedrichstraße.