Mulberry by Schermen
The Schermen mulberry tree is an unusually old white mulberry in the village of Schermen in Saxony-Anhalt and has been designated a natural monument .
The tree is located south of the Schermen village church and has a trunk circumference of around 4.90 m. It was planted around 1750 and was part of the efforts of the Prussian King Friedrich II to establish his own silkworm breeding in Prussia . In order to provide the food for the silkworms, mulberry tree plantations were set up. Six trees were to be planted per hoof land. Silkworm inspector Borchard from Burgreported in 1755 that there were 111 usable mulberry trees in Schermen. Six of the trees stood in the churchyard of the neighboring village church Schermen, which may have included the one that had survived. The Möckern sexton Hoppe fetched the leaves of the Schermen mulberry trees with a handcart .
In 1941 the tree was placed under nature protection. The mulberry tree was also known locally as the sugar cone tree because the school cones of the first graders were attached to it. Silkworms were kept in the school until the 1960s.
In the 1990s, the area around the tree was transformed into a village square. A mulberry tree festival has been held once a year since 2002 . The mulberry tree is also on the Schermen coat of arms.
literature
- Dr. Reinhard Ritter: Schermen: The mulberry tree in the coat of arms goes back to an ancient tradition, Volksstimme Magdeburg / Burger Rundschau, December 19, 1998.
- Dr. Reinhard Ritter: The coat of arms and the mulberry tree, commemorative publication of the community of Schermen on the 610th anniversary, Dorise-Verlag 2007, pp. 27-30
- Dr. Reinhard Ritter: Display board on the Schermen mulberry tree (since 2000)
Coordinates: 52 ° 13 '53.3 " N , 11 ° 49' 3.1" E