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On the wrong track: about exotic trees and a failed experiment near Starnberg

2022-01-26T06:10:12.489Z


On the wrong track: about exotic trees and a failed experiment near Starnberg Created: 01/26/2022, 07:07 By: Tobias Gmach The paulownia plantation between Hadorf and Söcking, near the western bypass of Starnberg, was cut down this winter. I called lumber dealers and sawmills across Germany. Everyone thought the trees were super interesting, but nobody wanted them. The owner of the former paulow


On the wrong track: about exotic trees and a failed experiment near Starnberg

Created: 01/26/2022, 07:07

By: Tobias Gmach

The paulownia plantation between Hadorf and Söcking, near the western bypass of Starnberg, was cut down this winter.

I called lumber dealers and sawmills across Germany.

Everyone thought the trees were super interesting, but nobody wanted them.

The owner of the former paulownia plantation © Andrea Jaksch

First they promised a successful business model, blooming purple-pale blue, then they were the core of a legal dispute, now they were felled and turned into wood chips: about the exotic paulownia trees in a field near Starnberg and a failed experiment.

Hadorf - Paulownias, also called kiri, emperor or bluebell trees, are superheroes among the trees for some growers.

Or also: the aluminum among the types of wood.

Paulownias have wafer-thin bark, are ultra-light and grow back incredibly quickly.

But they didn't keep their hopeful promise - at least on a field between Hadorf and Söcking.

For about ten years, the plantation was the open-air laboratory of the Munich and globetrotter Gerd Voigt.

But the experiment, which in the meantime was linked to a Swiss business model, ended sadly.

The creatures from Southeast Asia, an exotic feature for the county, were felled this winter and made into wood chips for fuel.

Nobody benefited financially.

Voigt only says: "I learned a lot about the trees."

It was already clear in mid-2020 that things would not end well.

A Gilchinger farmer, who wants to remain anonymous in this story, sued the plant dealer Voigt.

As the owner of the area, he demanded the surrender of the property.

Voigt, on the other hand, held that he had a 20-year right of use from the former, deceased owner.

The litigation was expected to last until November 5, 2021.

But who would win it became apparent much earlier: the Gilchinger.

In September, the Higher Regional Court in Munich prophesied that Voigt had “no chance of success”, and the Munich resident then withdrew his appeal.

In the first instance in June 2020 there was a default judgment by the Agricultural Court.

When asked by Merkur at the time, Voigt said he was surprised: his lawyer told him

the hearing was postponed.

But she wasn't.

Today the man from Munich says: "I was not well represented legally." He no longer wants to pursue the legal dispute: "I no longer have the strength for it – and I don't have the financial means either.

Farmer with the better evidence in court

The Gilchinger farmer repeatedly emphasized to Merkur that it wasn't about flattening the plantation.

He just wanted his right to the property, which he had acquired through the former owner's executor.

Voigt felt betrayed that the property had been sold "behind his back".

The statements were opposed to each other, but in court the farmer provided the clearly better evidence.

The fact that the plantation and the wood, which is in demand above all in aircraft and boat construction, does not have a great future in this country, was also recognized outside the courts.

The trees, which bloomed lilac-pale blue in summer, were plagued by mouse bites.

And because of the legal dispute, Voigt no longer invested in the care, he oriented himself towards Greece, where paulownias grow better.

The growing season is too short in Starnberg, he said.

The owner of the three hectares also noticed: "As soon as there is frost, the leaves fall off - and growth is paralyzed." Before he decided to flatten the land, he looked for other solutions.

“I called lumber dealers and sawmills across Germany.

Everyone thought the trees were super interesting, but nobody wanted them.

There weren't even any price negotiations," he says.

Confronted with this, Voigt says: "He doesn't know his way around, he spoke to the wrong people." The man from Gilching also contacted the TU Weihenstephan.

Wouldn't the paulownia be something for a research project?

The answer: not interested.

Negative business versus business model

The farmer speaks of a negative business. He got something for the wood chips, but felling and milling out the rootstocks cost him more. He now wants to cultivate the three hectares sustainably. "I don't need any feed, I don't have to get the maximum out of it," he says.

Plant dealer Voigt meanwhile delivered his findings to people who absolutely wanted it: those from the Swiss company "Green Wood International".

This promotes a business model that has not yet proven to be resoundingly successful: Investors invest in individual trees and should benefit from the sale of the wood twelve years later after the harvest.

You can see your “tree fair likes” growing via webcams.

According to Voigt, however, the more than 2,000 Paulownias near Hadorf since 2012 have not played a major role in this.

He no longer likes to promise such great chances of winning.

Even if his Starnberg experiment failed, Voigt is convinced: If the site conditions are right, the precious woods are actually a great promise.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-01-26

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