Panera (Luven)

La Panera in April 2011

Panera was popularly known as the tallest spruce in Switzerland. It stood in the canton of Graubünden in a forest clearing below Luven (municipality of Ilanz / Glion ) at the transition from the Gruob to the Val Lumnezia .

In 1971 the tree was placed under protection as a Swiss natural monument at the instigation of the then mayor Martin Vinzens.

Surname

La Panera , stressed on the long-spoken second syllable, means "the bread rack" in Rhaeto-Romanic in the idiom Sursilvan . What is meant is a frame that is hanging from mice and has wooden poles arranged in a wreath. The tree got its name from the branch formations in the treetop, which are symmetrically arranged around the trunk like a bread rack.

description

The Panera stood in the Bual hollow, which can be reached from windward via a steep path. The Mulde was cleared by farmers in the 16th century to create grazing land for their animals. The Panera owes its long life and size to its location in the hollow: lots of sun, enough water, the surrounding forest protects against lightning strikes and the ledge above the hollow against squalls.

As early as 1915, the then 33-meter-high tree was noticed by Father and naturalist Karl Hager . A photo from that time shows the Panera with widely spread branches. Meanwhile, however, the main branches are hanging so that they do not break under the snow load.

The tree reached a height of almost 48 meters. The trunk was 5.85 meters in circumference and 1.80 meters in diameter. Its age was estimated to be 250 years; their wood content is around 40 cubic meters. The perfect conical shape of the straight tree contributed to the extraordinary height . A playground with a fireplace was laid out around the tree.

In the course of 2017, the Panera fell ill and died completely over time. On December 12, 2018, the tree was felled for safety reasons.

The rootstock and a sculpture of a pine cone made from Panera wood were protected from the weather by a pyramidal hipped roof. The shelter was inaugurated on August 24, 2019 on the occasion of a summer festival. In addition, four mighty trunk parts are reminiscent of the Panera.