Babisnau poplar

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Babisnau poplar
Babisnau poplar
place Babisnau
country Saxony , Germany
Tree species Black poplar
Height above sea level 330  m
Geographical location 50 ° 58 '27 "  N , 13 ° 44' 59"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 58 '27 "  N , 13 ° 44' 59"  E
Babisnauer Poplar (Saxony)
Red pog.svg
Status natural monument Yes, since 1936
Age 212 years (2020)
Trunk circumference
(chest height)
5.13 m (2007)
Tree height 17.3 m (2007)

The Babisnau poplar is a black poplar ( Populus nigra ) near Babisnau , a district of the Kreischa municipality in Saxony . It stands exposed on a plateau south of Dresden and is visible from afar as a landmark . The Babisnau estate owner Johann Gottlieb Becke planted the poplar in 1808 as a border tree on the border of his property. It has been designated as a natural monument since 1936 . The poplar lost a large part of its round crown in strong storms in 1967 and 1996. It is 17.3 meters high, the trunk has a circumference of 5.1 meters.

The tree is a popular destination because of the view on all sides and to the city of Dresden. During the German War of 1866, the poplar tree served as a lookout with a temporary observation frame. A fixed observation scaffold next to the tree was built in 1885 and was renewed in 1922, 1963 and 1999. The poplar was propagated vegetatively several times from 1993 . According to legend, the poplar with its blossom, which does not appear every year, indicates the approaching end of a war. Twice a year, a popular run around the poplar takes place with the Wendelauf .

location

The poplar stands on the treeless 335 meters above sea level high Zughübel with a clear view in all directions, especially to Dresden, located at about 110 meters above sea level, and the Saxon Switzerland . It is about nine kilometers south of the inner old town of Dresden and about 800 meters west of Babisnau, stands about 220 meters above the Elbe and is surrounded by agricultural fields. The poplar is located directly on the corridor border between the districts of the Kreischa district Babisnau and Golberode , a district of Bannewitz . There is a viewing platform in close proximity and the Bismarck oak planted in 1890 about ten meters away . The panorama from the poplar and the platform encompasses in the north over the wide expanse of the Elbe valley the wooded steep slope that delimits the west Lusatian hills and mountains to the south. This can be followed from the Borsberg, 361 meters above sea level, to the Loessnitz heights . In the east the relief of the table mountains of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains can be seen. In the south, the ridge with the Quohrener Kipse , the Hermsdorfer Berg and the Wilisch frames the Kreischa basin .

The poplar stands on a Cretaceous ( turon ) planer sandstone slab that ends at a height of around 320 meters. In accordance with the weak collapse of the sandstones, the table inclines with gently sloping slopes of two to four degrees to the north towards Golberode. At the Zughübel a pronounced, west and south-west facing, about 40 meter high stratum delimits the table against the area where the Possendorfer brook can be broken down. On the sandstones there is a flat loess clay cover on which shallow cover loess parabrown soils have developed. Due to these geological conditions on the Zughübel, the poplar was able to thrive in this location. The poplar belongs to a genus that usually grows in damp lowlands and not on a mountain range.

Panorama (March 18, 2009)

history

Landowner Johann Gottlieb Becke from Babisnau planted the black poplar in 1808 as a border tree to the neighboring Golberoder Flur at the highest point of the drawbar. It is not known whether this was done as a permanent marking on the corridor boundary because of a dispute with the neighbor or in agreement with him. It is also not known how old the tree was when it was planted. In 1858 Maximilian Eckhardt provided his graphic View of Leubnitz from the North with a tree signature of the poplar on the horizon. In 1866 the stately poplar is said to have served Saxon pioneers as an observation point from a built-in scaffolding during the Austro-Prussian War . The fighting took place further south in Bohemia , so that the poplar remained undamaged. The platform then served as a vantage point with a panoramic view and was visited more and more by day trippers. How long it existed is not known. The oldest known photo of the tree is from 1878.

The route from Babisnau to Golberode and Possendorf led past the border tree . In 1883 the intention was to relocate this communication route, and the landowner Gießmann wanted to cut the poplar trees. He feared that the numerous day trippers would use his dirt road to the poplar after the path was relocated and that this would impair the yield of his neighboring field. However, the poplar had already become the landmark of the Elbe Valley near Dresden and the tree also served as a target for geodetic and similar work. In order to prevent the felling, a delegates' meeting of the mountain association for Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland , founded in 1877, took place on January 27, 1884 . Negotiations were made with the owner of the poplar and on March 23, 1884, the mountain association bought the tree for 300 marks. The surrounding area of ​​150 square meters was leased. On May 6, 1884, surveyors set the boundary stones. After buying the poplar, Ernst Wilhelm Zöllner founded the Golberode-Babisnau mountain club section, which was also able to win the landowner Gießmann as a member. On May 17, 1885, the first four to five meter high observation tower erected by the section for 360 marks was inaugurated. The viewing platform was about three meters high and 16 steps led to it. Underneath, within the observation scaffolding, there was an open shelter as weather protection. Later it was partially closed.

Tree trunk view from the platform (November 2012)

In 1886 the April issue of the mountain flowers reported, illustrated leaves of the Strehlen section on the poplar with a drawing that shows it with an almost spherical crown. The members of the Strehlen and Golberode-Babisnau mountain club sections planted four oaks next to the poplar between 1887 and 1896. The first of these, the Wettin oak , probably died after a short time. That is why another oak was planted on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the Wettin House in 1889. Also in 1889, the Mountain Association bought the 150 square meter surrounding property for 12 marks per square rod . The next oak was planted in 1890 as the Bismarck oak in honor of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck . The last to be added in the spring of 1896 was the King Albert Oak in honor of King Albert . For a while the poplar was surrounded by three oaks. The Bismarck oak is the only one that is still standing. A photograph of the poplar from June 1897, on which the viewing platform can also be seen, shows it again with a round crown. In 1899 the rotten and partially deliberately damaged observation scaffolding was repaired.

On September 21, 1922, the Golberode-Babisnau mountain club section celebrated the inauguration of a new four-meter-high observation tower as the client after a two-week construction period. A hawthorn hedge was planted in 1925. An ordinance issued by the district chief Dresden-Bautzen on December 28, 1936 identified the poplar as a natural monument under the Reich Nature Conservation Act (RNG) 128 years after it was planted . From 1944 until the end of the Second World War , an anti-aircraft squadron was stationed near the Poplar . After the German lines on the ground no longer held up, the poplar was in the middle of the war. It was to be felled shortly before the end of the war, as it was viewed as a dangerous visual marker. However, that did not happen. In 1945 the mountain association dissolved and the parcel with the poplar and the Bismarck oak was taken over by the municipality of Bärenklause-Kautzsch . In 1957, Babisnau was incorporated into the Bärenklause-Kautzsch community in the Freital district. One year later, on August 23, 1958, the Council of the District (RdK) Freital designated the poplar as a natural monument for the second time with its resolution 108/58 . In the second half of the 1950s, the observation scaffolding was closed by the building authorities, as it had become unusable and dangerous due to the weather and willful damage. Freitaler Heimatfreunde built a new, steel viewing platform in 1962/63. On June 21, 1961, the Babisnau poplar with parcel 36a and the two surrounding parcels 35a and 40 were declared public property, making them subject to state administration. However, care remained with the community. In a strong thunderstorm on July 20, 1967 with hail after temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius, the poplar lost a third of its now large crown. One of the three main shoots going up broke and the crown lost its spherical shape. The height decreased from about 26 to about 20 meters. Because of its size, it took two tractors to haul away the broken branch. From then on, the now large crown of the Bismarck oak increasingly took on the role of an eye-catcher from afar.

Rope-secured branches (2012)
Viewing scaffold (2012)

The first maintenance measures on the poplar took place on 9 December 1991 on behalf of the Freital District Office. The stump of the branch that was broken out in 1967 was also sawn straight. On the night of December 30-31, 1993, vandals set fire in the poplar cavity. Around midnight, the fire brigades from Bärenklause-Kautzsch and Kreischa were on site to fight the smoldering fire in the hollow tree trunk. It is not known who alerted the fire brigade. The entire water content of a fire engine was pumped into the cavity, but the stormy wind did not let the embers go out. In the early New Year's Eve, the fire brigade drove to the poplar again to extinguish with another tank load of water. In addition, sand was poured into the opening of the trunk; the holes in the root area were plugged with earth so that the chimney effect of the hollow trunk diminished. This ended the smoldering fire. If the fire brigade had used foam, the poplar would have suffered greater damage. The Freital district, to which Babisnau belonged, merged with the Dippoldiswalde district in 1994 to form the newly formed Weißeritz district . On August 23, 1995, the poplar was designated a third time as a natural monument by ordinance of the Weißeritzkreis district office. In 1996, founded on 1 January 1993 took over local group Babisnau in country club Saxon Homeland Security the parcels 35a and 36a of the district Babisnau and 1997 the parcel 40 of the district Golberode the symbolic price of each one mark. Because the viewing platform had dangerous rust spots, on December 1, 1996 the board of the Saxon Homeland Security Association commissioned the Babisnau local group to remove it. For the next few years, the poplar area remained without a viewing platform. On the night of July 5 to 6, 1996, the second main branch broke off in a violent storm. It was badly rotten at the junction of the branch that broke off in 1967. Due to the considerable length of about seven meters, it could not withstand the storm. The crown of the poplar now only existed to a third with one of three main branches. The characteristics of the poplar had changed significantly and is characterized by a main branch.

Poplar with Oak and Viewing Scaffolding (2005)

After the groundbreaking on June 1, 1999, the new observation tower was inaugurated on July 2, 1999. The scaffolding and the design of the surrounding area were financed with funds from the Dresden Regional Council and sponsors. In the course of time, a crack had formed on the wound of the branch that had broken out in 1996, and it continued to widen. To prevent the tree from breaking apart, metal straps connected with a steel cable were attached to the remaining crown in 2000. Towards the end of December 2003, a large branch broke out. The volume of the crown decreased again. The poplar only towered over the crown of the oak standing next to it with a few branches. A porling grew at the point where the branch broke out . In the spring of 2006 there were several such fungi, so there was a risk that the branch that branches off at this infested place broke off prematurely. To counteract this, he had to be exonerated. The large branch was severely shortened on April 11, 2006, so that its mass decreased. The height of the crown was reduced again to 17 meters. This means that the poplar is lower than the oak next to it. In addition to the metal straps, flexible safety belts were attached. On August 16, 2008 over 500 visitors celebrated the 200th anniversary of the poplar planting. At the same time an exhibition about the tree took place in Babisnau. On May 21, 2009, a stone table and benches, sponsored by a Dresden family, were inaugurated as a resting place.

description

Trunk circumference and height
year scope height
1896 4.30 m (1 m high) 23 m
1934 4.50 m (1 m high) -
1957 4.70 m (1.3 m high) 26 m
1974 4.75 m (1.3 m high) 20 m
1983 4.78 m (1.3 m high) 20 m
1991 5.00 m (1.3 m high) -
2007 5.13 m (1.3 m high) 17.3 m

The trunk of the poplar is evenly and completely preserved. At a height of around four meters, it used to be divided into three large branches that formed the round crown. Today there is only one branch from which the irregular crown emerges. The breaking of the branches opened the trunk. In 2004 the crown had an extension of 14 to 19 meters. The height of the tree has reduced to 17.3 meters after several branches have broken out.

The poplar was measured at different times. When it was first measured in 1896, the trunk circumference was about 4.30 meters at a height of one meter. The tree was then 23 meters high. In 1957 it had reached its greatest height of 26 meters. The trunk circumference at a height of 1.3 meters, the so-called breast height diameter , was 4.70 meters. In 2007 the circumference had increased to 5.13 meters at the same height. The German Tree Archive , which documents the old trees in Germany, specifies trees that tell stories to have a circumference - measured at a height of one meter - of 5.00 meters. Due to its location, the poplar has probably never reached the measurement data of black poplars of the same age that were raised in a species-appropriate environment.

various

Turning

In 1991, the first Wendelauf around the Babisnau poplar took place on New Year's Eve . Since then, the annual fun run has established itself in Dresden's sports calendar. By the end of the 1990s, over 300 runners, hikers and cyclists took part in the Wendelauf, which is not a competition. The Wendelauf takes place twice a year, as a summer solstice race and as a new year 's Eve race. At this fun run, the start and finish point is arbitrary, but the turning point at half of the route is always the Babisnauer Poplar , where there is free mulled wine in winter and sparkling wine in summer. Food is also given out there. The type of movement does not matter. Skiers have already taken part in winter, and there was already a rider. There are always different routes of different lengths that lead to the poplar in a star shape.

Different names

Information sign (2012)

Today the poplar is exclusively referred to as Babisnau poplar . However, this has not always been the case. In the magazine Bergblumen the poplar was referred to in the festival edition for the tenth anniversary of the Strehlen section in 1888 and in two photographs from 1897 as well as on postcards that were published later as the toller poplar . This name probably went back to the then chairman of the Strehlen section of the mountain association for Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland, the Strehlen Privatus Ernst Wilhelm Zöllner, who had bought the poplar on behalf of the association in 1884. At the turn of the century, the name Babisnau poplar became common again in hiking books . Another name in some hiking guides and on postcards of the time is white poplar . The poplar was entered in the list of natural monuments as the German poplar .

Legend

According to legend, the poplar always blooms when the end of a war is imminent. A black poplar does not bloom every year, which in botany is called the natural economy of plants and trees. The poplar is said to have bloomed in 1870 and marked the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. The tree bloomed again in 1918 at the end of the First World War . In the spring of 1943 the poplar was in bloom again and bore fruit in abundance. The German Romanist Victor Klemperer wrote in his diary on May 23, 1943 that the Babisnau poplar was in bloom and that superstition would soon end after the war. In 1947 Klemperer mentioned this legend in his work LTI - Notebook of a Philologist . He wrote that the Babisnau poplar rarely bloomed and that he had been told that it bloomed during all other wars in the 19th century. When the poplar blossoms in 1943, the legend of the end of the war was known far beyond Dresden. For example, it was reported from Upper Silesia that there is a poplar near Dresden, and when it blossoms the war will end. People who had heard of the miracle blossom came from far away to look for the poplar. Two years later, in May 1945, the world war actually ended. The "blooms" perceived by people are, however, the already ripe woolly fruit clusters, the actual poplar bloom is very inconspicuous.

Vegetative propagation

New Babisnauer Poplar (2012)

The Saxon Forest Research and Research Institute Graupa tested the poplar for its genetic purity. She came to a positive result and thus ruled out that it was a bastard black poplar . In February 1993, Rudolf Schröder, the then head of the Dresden Botanical Garden , cut cuttings from the poplar . In the years that followed, Steffen Ruhtz, the chairman of the Babisnau local group in the Saxon Homeland Security Association, looked after the cuttings, which had the same climatic conditions as the old tree when growing up. In 1997 one of the young trees was planted on the grounds of the observatory in Radeberg near Dresden. On April 8, 2006, the year when the black poplar was voted tree of the year , Babisnau members of the regional group Goldene Höhe of the state association planted a second black poplar next to the Babisnau poplar. At the beginning of November 2007, the young tree was 8.20 meters high.

literature

  • Magdalena Flügge: The round poplar at Babisnau . 2nd expanded edition. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812320-1-1 .
  • Uwe Kühn, Stefan Kühn, Bernd Ullrich: Trees that tell stories . BLV Buchverlag GmbH & Co. KG, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-405-16767-1 .
  • Karl Lemke, Hartmut Müller: Natural monuments. Trees, rocks, waterfalls . 2nd Edition. VEB Tourist Verlag, Berlin / Leipzig 1990, ISBN 3-350-00284-6 .
  • Karen Trinks: Regional nature conservation: Natural tree monuments in the Upper Elbe Valley / Eastern Ore Mountains region . Ed .: State Environmental Agency Radebeul. UBIK-Verlag, Radebeul 2004.
  • Victor Klemperer: LTI: a philologist's notebook . 10th edition. Philipp Reclam jun., Leipzig 1990, ISBN 3-379-00125-2 .

See also

Web links

Commons : Babisnauer Pappel  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Karen Trinks: Regional nature conservation: Natural tree monuments in the Upper Elbe Valley / Eastern Ore Mountains region . Ed .: State Environmental Agency Radebeul. Chapter wrk 001 Babisnauer Pappel , p. 102 .
  2. ^ Sächsisches Landesamt für Umwelt und Geologie: Geological map of the areas covered by the Ice Age in Saxony, sheet no. 2668 Dresden, scale 1: 50,000.
  3. ^ Academy of Sciences of the GDR (ed.): Between Tharandter Wald, Freital and the Lockwitzgrund (=  values ​​of our homeland . Volume 12 , E 9). Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1973, p. 84-85 .
  4. Magdalena Flügge: The round poplar in Babisnau . 2nd expanded edition. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812320-1-1 , chapter A black poplar with botanical peculiarities? , S. 14 .
  5. According to some sources, his last name was Beck, cf. Information sign on the tree.
  6. a b Maximilian Eckardt: The Babisnauer Poplar . In: "Mountain Flowers". Illustrated sheets in the publishing house of the “Section Strehlen” of the mountain association for Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland . No. 4 , 1886.
  7. a b Magdalena Flügge: The round poplar at Babisnau . 2nd expanded edition. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812320-1-1 , chapter from 200 years of eventful history , p. 6 .
  8. a b c d e Uwe Kühn, Stefan Kühn, Bernd Ullrich: Trees that tell stories . BLV Buchverlag GmbH & Co. KG, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-405-16767-1 , chapter Don't change trees! Black poplar near Babisnau , S. 64 .
  9. Magdalena Flügge: The round poplar in Babisnau . 2nd expanded edition. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812320-1-1 , chapter from 200 years of eventful history , p. 7-8 .
  10. a b Magdalena Flügge: The round poplar at Babisnau . 2nd expanded edition. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812320-1-1 , chapter A special visitor magnet at all times - the viewing scaffolds , p. 29 .
  11. Magdalena Flügge: The round poplar in Babisnau . 2nd expanded edition. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812320-1-1 , chapter from 200 years of eventful history , p. 8-10 .
  12. a b Magdalena Flügge: The round poplar at Babisnau . 2nd expanded edition. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812320-1-1 , chapter time table , p. 55 .
  13. A remarkable natural monument at the gates of Dresden. Retrieved October 21, 2012 .
  14. a b c Karen Trinks: Regional nature conservation: natural tree monuments in the Upper Elbe Valley / Eastern Ore Mountains region . Ed .: State Environmental Agency Radebeul. Chapter 6. Natural monuments in the Weißeritzkreis , p. 100 .
  15. Magdalena Flügge: The round poplar in Babisnau . 2nd expanded edition. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812320-1-1 , chapter From 200 years of eventful history , p. 10 .
  16. Magdalena Flügge: The round poplar in Babisnau . 2nd expanded edition. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812320-1-1 , chapter A special visitor magnet at all times - the viewing scaffolds , p. 30 .
  17. a b c d Magdalena Flügge: The round poplar at Babisnau . 2nd expanded edition. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812320-1-1 , chapter dangers from 1866 to the present , p. 32 .
  18. a b c d e Magdalena Flügge: The round poplar at Babisnau . 2nd expanded edition. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812320-1-1 , chapter A black poplar with botanical peculiarities? , S. 15 .
  19. Magdalena Flügge: The round poplar in Babisnau . 2nd expanded edition. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812320-1-1 , chapter From the oldest illustration to today's appearance , p. 22-23 .
  20. a b c d Magdalena Flügge: The round poplar at Babisnau . 2nd expanded edition. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812320-1-1 , chapter time table , p. 56 .
  21. Magdalena Flügge: The round poplar in Babisnau . 2nd expanded edition. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812320-1-1 , chapter dangers from 1866 to the present , p. 34-35 .
  22. a b Magdalena Flügge: The round poplar at Babisnau . 2nd expanded edition. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812320-1-1 , chapter A special visitor magnet at all times - the viewing scaffolds , p. 30-31 .
  23. a b c Magdalena Flügge: The round poplar at Babisnau . 2nd expanded edition. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812320-1-1 , chapter time table , p. 57 .
  24. Babisnau poplar. Regional group “Goldene Höhe” in the Saxon Heritage Protection Association, accessed on October 24, 2012 .
  25. Karen Trinks: Regional nature conservation: Natural tree monuments in the Upper Elbe Valley / Eastern Ore Mountains region . Ed .: State Environmental Agency Radebeul. S. 103 .
  26. ^ "Wendelauf um die Babisnauer Poplar" on New Year's Eve: Once planted as a border - now a traditional meeting place for runners . In: Dresdner Latest News . Dresdner Nachrichten, Dresden December 28, 1998, p. 20 .
  27. ↑ Drinking mulled wine on the Babisnauer Pappel: runners, walkers and hikers meet for the 17th time for the turn of the year . In: Dresdner Latest News . Dresdner Nachrichten, Dresden December 19, 2006, p. 12 .
  28. ↑ Popular sport: New Year's Eve run to the Babisnauer Pappel: An "old lady" in the center . In: Dresdner Latest News . Dresdner Nachrichten, Dresden January 2, 1999, p. 20 .
  29. Magdalena Flügge: The round poplar in Babisnau . 2nd expanded edition. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812320-1-1 , chapter from 200 years of eventful history , p. 12-13 .
  30. a b c Magdalena Flügge: The round poplar at Babisnau . 2nd expanded edition. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812320-1-1 , chapter The legend ... , p. 38-39 .
  31. ^ A b c Victor Klemperer: LTI: notebook of a philologist . 10th edition. Philipp Reclam jun., Leipzig 1990, ISBN 3-379-00125-2 , Chapter X: Autochthonous poetry , p. 71 .
  32. Magdalena Flügge: The round poplar in Babisnau . 2nd expanded edition. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812320-1-1 , chapter A black poplar with botanical peculiarities? , S. 16 .
  33. Magdalena Flügge: The round poplar in Babisnau . 2nd expanded edition. Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz, Dresden 2008, ISBN 978-3-9812320-1-1 , chapter The different neighbors , p. 27 .
This article was added to the list of excellent articles on December 18, 2012 in this version .