Schlosslinde, Augustusburg

The Schlosslinde stands in the castle grounds of the Augustusburg hunting lodge above the town of the same name on the northern edge of the Ore Mountains in Saxony. The Dutch lime tree was planted in 1421 and is thus one of the oldest trees whose planting is concretely documented. It is designated as a natural monument and has a trunk circumference of about eight meters. The "German Tree Archive" counts it among the "Nationally Important Trees", the most important selection criterion for this being the circumference of the trunk at a height of one meter. Its current shape has been shaped for centuries by weather conditions and the actions of man. Thus, as early as 1549, the lime tree was supported by a wooden framework, and the branches were pulled into shape like a dancing lime tree. In the past, there were 120 dining tables under the wide crown. The history of the lime tree is as well documented as that of hardly any other tree in Germany. Today, the lime tree regularly hosts demonstrations by the eagle and hunting falconry.