Sky spirit chestnut

Himmelsgeister chestnut, Düsseldorf (chestnut summer green).

The Himmelgeister chestnut was a horse chestnut and stood in the field just outside of the nature reserve Himmelgeister Rheinbogen in the Düsseldorf district of Himmelgeist . The freestanding tree was estimated to be between 150 and 200 years old. In 1997 this tree was declared a natural monument by the city of Düsseldorf . Since December 14, 2015, only a 5-meter-high piece of the trunk of the Himmelsgeister chestnut has been transformed into a sculpture.

history

Himmelgeister Kastanie natural monument, photographed on June 11, 2014

In 2006 the tree should be felled due to illness. Some walkers who noticed this got together, called themselves tree spirits from then on, and collected signatures in the Düsseldorf district of Himmelgeist. With the help of this signature campaign and a second report, which confirmed the stability of the tree, it was saved.

Although the tree withstood Hurricane Kyrill in 2007 unscathed, the natural monument was threatened with felling again in 2013.

Despite all safety concerns, the tree was not damaged by the severe hurricane on June 9, 2014, while countless trees in the immediate vicinity were uprooted and snapped by the storm.

Sculpture of the tree spirit "Jüchtwind" in the stump of the chestnut, photographed on January 18, 2016

After an eight-meter-long branch broke out of the crown in a storm in November 2015 and fell to the ground, the end of the tree, which was infected by a fungus and largely dead, was finally decided. This time there were no protests either and on December 14th all branches were removed, only a 5 meter high trunk should be permanently preserved. This was designed into a sculpture in the form of a tree spirit by the chainsaw carver Jörg Bäßler .

Location and postal address

On the day of the tree in April 2007, after the bridegroom oak near Eutin , the chestnut was the second tree in Germany to receive its own official postal address from Deutsche Post AG with its own mailbox and daily delivery by the postman:

Tree Spirit, Himmelgeister Kastanie, Kölner Weg, 40589 Düsseldorf, Germany

In December 2015, Deutsche Post AG deleted the official "address" of the tree after it was felled, but revised this on August 11, 2016.

A group of tree protectors, the “Friends of the Himmelgeister Tree Spirit”, is responsible for receiving and answering the mail. They came together as part of the 2006 rescue operation and in this context also operates the Himmelgeister Kastanie website. During this work the tree spirit "Jüchtwind" was created, which is supposed to live in the tree and in whose name the responses will be made.

The Himmelgeister Kastanie and the bridegroom oak Eutin have been “ married ” since April 25, 2009 .