As of: February 27, 2024, 3:06 p.m
By: Anne Franziska Rossa
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Due to the risk of breakage, the lime trees on the Penzberg town square are now surrounded by construction fences.
© Anne Rossa
The Penzberg building committee discussed the tree report on the three linden trees on the town square.
The result was clear.
But then everything turned out differently.
Penzberg - At short notice, the result of the report on the three linden trees on the town square on Bahnhofstrasse was placed on the agenda of the most recent building committee.
The city said the issue was too explosive to allow much time to pass.
The result was sobering: “Not break-proof” was stated three times in the report by the Großkarolinenfeld tree expert Karla Melka-Müller for trees 17, 19 and 20.
Tree 20, the striking lime tree that stands at the main intersection of Bahnhofstrasse/Karlstrasse, was also classified as having an “acute risk of breakage”.
Carl-Christian Wippermann, head of the environmental and climate protection department at the town hall, informed the members of the building committee that the decision to make the decision was valid.
The committee had already decided on felling and replanting in April 2023 - with two votes against.
Wippermann expressly pointed out the city's traffic safety obligation.
The question raised at the time as to whether the trees were historical linden trees from the “Penzberg Murder Night” of April 28, 1945 (on which the Nazi henchmen hung some of their victims) was not discussed in more detail in the committee.
Monument Association: Honor the tree as a monument
The
Association for Monument Preservation and Penzberg City History
has been committed to preserving the linden trees on Bahnhofstrasse since the felling decision in April 2023.
The association had commissioned the report, which the building committee was now discussing.
The members donated for this, as chairman Max Kapfer announced.
According to Kapfer, Erich Sczepanski from Penzberg had already sent an inquiry to the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation.
The association sees its assumption that the
linden trees were already there during the “Penzberg Murder Night”
confirmed.
“The lime tree at the intersection of Bahnhofstrasse and Karlstrasse is over 100 years old,” Kapfer quotes tree expert Karla Melka-Müller’s estimate.
The tree directly at the intersection has an “important historical significance,” Kapfer continues: Albert Grauvogel was hanged here on the “Penzberg Murder Night.”
The tree is “a silent witness to these terrible events”.
The association calls for the tree to be recognized as a monument.
Despite the tree's vitality being certified as "sufficient", the expert recommended that it be felled due to the risk of breakage.
But in order to take the special circumstances into account, the expert, according to Chairman Kapfer, gives another option: a metal scaffolding could be built around the linden tree to secure the tree.
The report is available to the Rundschau.
It says: “Preservation with a metal frame securing the tree is possible due to the historical appreciation of the tree”.
The building committee discussed the linden trees on the Penzberg town square
However, it was agreed that the trees should be removed as carefully as possible so that they cannot be destroyed and used for a possible monument.
Hardi Lenk (SPD) interjected that the location could be appreciated in another way.
One should not forget the events of that night.
It was important to Martin Janner (PM) that in the case of new planting, people learn from old mistakes.
The base of the trees needs to be better protected so that the next trees can stand there longer.
Due to various damages, the verdict of the report on the three lime trees on the Penzberg town square was: risk of breakage.
© City
Armin Jabs (BfP) took up the suggestion in the report to shorten the trees to two meters or to secure them with a steel structure.
The monument function should be preserved.
The proposal met with little support.
The finding is “clear and clear,” warned Wippermann.
The report represents an “urgent recommendation for action”. The administration will implement the decision made in April 2023 with immediate effect, the department head announced.
The linden trees on the Penzberg town square are now a monument
When the Rundschau asked Wippermann last Monday, a twist arose.
“We’re keeping our hands off all three trees for now,” he said.
The linden trees were supposed to have been felled on Monday.
But a message from the Weilheim district office put a stop to the plan.
Tree 19 and Tree 20 have now been classified as architectural monuments, said the department head when asked by Rundschau.
This means there is a “barrier to change in the trees,” he explained.
How the city will now proceed because of the acute risk of tree breakage must be “urgently clarified”.
The plan to cut down the linden trees will be pursued further, said Wippermann.