For more than ten years the people of neukenroth have been worried about their oak tree. It was a slow decline of the tree giant. The extreme summers of 2018 and 2019 have now given it the rest. The more than 200-year-old natural monument has finally lost the battle. The once powerful crown looks almost accusatory and ghostly at the same time.
Every local knows the mason’s oak and it is as much a part of the townscape as the church st. Catherine. Nature conservation has been in place since 1937. The appearance has been imposing to date. After all, the oak has a height of 25 meters and a trunk circumference of 4.50 meters. There are estimates of twenty solid cubic meters of lumber.
Over the last 200 years, this natural monument has seen a lot of action. After the battle of the people in leipzig, a troop of russian hussars invaded the village. From august 1885, the railroad line to ludwigsstadt passed within sight of the oak tree. And in december 1906, a fire started by two 19-year-olds from neukenroth destroyed the schoolhouse, the theater hall, the annex to the parsonage and five barns. The house of worship could just be saved. 50 meters next to the oak tree, the people of neukenroth received a new school in 1908. In 1912 the tree formed a magnificent backdrop to the commemorative picture in the teacher’s garden on the occasion of peter ochs’s first mass. And in the spring of 1945 american troops set up their command post in this school.
Naturally, the people of neukenroth are puzzling over the reasons for the slow death of the building. Hans maurer remembers lightning striking the oak tree a few years ago. In the trunk a deep crack is visible. And former horticultural district chairman ernst knobloch points out that the root area of a tree is twice as large as its crown. Since the 80s of the last century, the church road has been paved in the area of the root flat.
The oak tree on the property of farmer hans maurer even has its own file in the district administration office, which refers to its protection in april 1937 (reichsnaturschutzgesetz). As engelbert singhartinger from the lower nature conservation authority informed them, this tree is included in the list of natural monuments in bavaria. At present there are only 18 natural monuments in the district of kronach. The death is more than regrettable.
The honorary chairman of the folkstrachtenverein zechgemeinschaft neukenroth, edmund sprenger, also sees a piece of home in the maurer oak tree. "This natural monument is something like the landmark of neukenroth." However, they could not help but say. The lower nature conservation authority, the municipality of stockheim and landowner robert maurer want to try to find a mutually agreeable solution. After all, safety is a priority. Engelbert singhartinger can imagine a tree torso remaining standing, for the sake of wildlife.