Converse

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kongeegen in October 2008
Isefjord with Hornsherred - the Jægerspris Nordskov (green)
Kongeegen in March 2008

Kongeegen ( German for  the royal oak ) is a pedunculate oak that, with an age of 1400 to 2000 years, is not only the oldest tree in Denmark , but is also probably the oldest oak in Northern Europe. The only remaining oak is located in the Jægerspris Nordskov nature reserve , which lies between the North Zealand town of Jægerspris and the village of Kulhuse on the Hornsherred peninsula .

The owner of the Kongeegen is the foundation Kong Frederik den syvendes stiftelse paa Jægerspris , which is named after Friedrich VII . The Danish king arranged to meet the Countess von Danner while riding on the oak and thus gave the tree the name “royal oak ”. Kongeegen was first described in 1813 by the Danish historian Christian Molbech (1783-1857). At that time the tree was so hollowed out that there was room for three adults inside.

description

The tribe's circumference, currently ten to eleven meters, was over 14 meters in 1965. In the same year a height of 17 meters and a diameter of 4.45 meters were measured.

By 1600 the tree was already rotten inside. And since it stands on damp, inaccessible terrain from which it was difficult to transport wood, the oak was spared from major logging despite its huge dimensions . After the last large branch broke off in 1973, the sleeve-like tree trunk fell halfway down. Since then, individual plugs have helped to limit the damage and have successfully contributed to the preservation of the oak.

Disease trees

Few trees are so old that they go back in time. So you can no longer find anyone tied to an unbroken tradition. But certain actions on trees can have been carried over from prehistoric times to younger trees. This applies to the "disease trees", some of which can be found in different places in the country. Some are shaped like a narrow gate that children are pulled through to get rid of certain diseases. In the passage through the gate the disease was shed off and the child was born again. Most of the time the child was naked, and after the process a piece of cloth from his clothing was attached to the tree, which became "holy" and was not allowed to be felled (see also Clootie Well or Rag tree). The clothes on the tree are not sacrifices, but were hung up to bind the disease to it. Removing them was contagious.

See also

literature

  • Ingrid Falktoft Anderson: Vejviser til Danmarks oldtid . 1994, ISBN 87-89531-10-8 , p. 271
  • Peter Vilhelm Glob : prehistoric monuments of Denmark . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1968, p. 263
  • Karsten Kjer Michaelsen: Politics bog om Danmarks oldtid . Copenhagen 2002 ISBN 87-567-6458-8 , p. 179

Web links

Commons : Kongeegen  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Dansk Dendrologisk Forening: Kongeegen . Retrieved February 8, 2011 (Danish, English)
  2. ↑ a b c d e Helge V. Qvistorff: Berønte Danske Træer . 1st edition. Danmarks Radio Forlaget, Copenhagen 1995, ISBN 87-7047-522-9 , Kongeegen, p. 12 ff . (Danish).
  3. ↑ a b Kong Frederik den syvendes stiftelse paa Jægerspris: De Tusindeårige Ege . Retrieved February 8, 2011 (Danish)
  4. ↑ The Danske store : Kongeegen . Retrieved February 8, 2011 (Danish)

Coordinates: 55 ° 54 ′ 36.9 "  N , 11 ° 59 ′ 21.2"  E