Weilheim: Only one torso remains of Prachtbaum

The signs are bad for one of the stately and cityscape-defining trees in the green area between the Stadttheater and Unterer Graben: the crown has to go, all that remains is a torso.

Weilheim - The crown will soon be removed from the old robinia, which is southwest of the city theater - directly on the retaining wall facing the street.

Only the trunk remains, around four to five meters high, as an “inner-city habitat for insects and birds”.

The construction committee of the Weilheim city council decided unanimously in its most recent meeting.

Reason: The Robinia shows "considerable trunk damage".

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After it had to be thinned out and severely cut back several times in the past few years, the tree commission of the city and municipal utilities no longer sees any future prospects after the latest assessment.

At this point, "greater attention should be paid to traffic safety", explained Manfred Stork, the head of the municipal building management: The Untere Graben directly below the tree is heavily trafficked, and there is also access to the theater square and to the other side of the green area Downtown.

"There will be follow-up cases in the next few years"

According to Stork, the arborists of the Stadtwerke therefore recommended that the crown of the robinia be cut off completely and that the trunk be left as a torso for insects - or that the tree be felled and a corresponding replacement planted. The building committee liked the former much better: one should leave the torso standing, advocated Mayor Markus Loth (BfW). along with a “sign why you are doing this”. This was also supported by Gerd Ratter (ÖDP) as a councilor for species protection and Rupert Pentenrieder (BfW) as a green advisor. The trees on the left must also be thinned out, added the latter, "there will be subsequent falls in the next few years".

Alfred Honisch (Greens) noted that such a tree torso initially looked “took some getting used to”, referring to an example at the fruit press: “But then you notice the power that is still in it.”