Royal Oak (Salchendorf)
The royal oak (or shepherd's oak ) is at least 300 years old and a natural monument near Salchendorf in Siegerland .
The tree is a pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) with a trunk circumference of 5.25 m (around 1900 4.7 m at a height of 1 m). It stands in the Hofstätter Forest between Salchendorf, Wilden and Eisern at an altitude of approx. 374 m and will be at least more than 300 years old, possibly even 550 to 560 years. The tree is hollow at the base of the trunk at a height of one meter and has already burned there several times. In 1966 the tree was referred to as the "dying old oak in the high place".
Surname
Walter Giebler, a teacher in Salchendorf in the 1950s, wrote a poem with five verses on the name of the royal oak in 1953. The first and last verses are reproduced here:
"An ancestor never told me who gave this giant of our trees the proud name, and he himself is silent like a grave. ...
If your name remains a secret, you stand there like a king, admonish us to stretch ourselves higher, admonish everyone who saw you! "
On the side of the path near the tree is a plaque with verses about the king or shepherd oak . The author of the verses was the late former mayor of Wilnsdorf (1950–1961) and in 1972 appointed honorary citizen of the then city of Eiserfeld, Heinrich Adolf Müller from Eisern. In the verses there is talk of " Kaiser Rotbart " in connection with the still young oak plant, after which the tree should be at least 860 years old. As in an old map in 1600, the cross oak , but not royal oak is registered, this seems unlikely. Another assumption is that the oak was considered the "king" among the other trees because of its good growth. One assumption about the name Schäfer-Eiche is that it originated from the farmstead that used to be nearby and the herdsmen who lived there .
Individual evidence
- ^ Alfred Henrichs: From Salchendorf's past , Braun printing house, Neunkirchen 1966, page 100/101.
- ^ Alfred Henrichs: From Salchendorf's past , Braun Druckerei, Neunkirchen 1966, page 126.
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 48 ′ 31.7 ″ N , 8 ° 1 ′ 39.9 ″ E