Kunigunden Lime Tree on the Altenberg

The lime tree on the west side of the Kunigundenkapelle is about 1000 years old and thus a natural monument of a very special kind. Supported and preserved only as an old trunk with shoots, it is wider than high. The trunk is completely empty in the middle. Despite its age, Linde drives out every year. According to legend, one of the three veils in the lime tree, which the Empress Kunigunde threw out of the church tower in faraway Bamberg, was said to have been built with the vow to build churches there, where the veils would be found. The tree cave can be entered, it has a diameter of about two meters. How many hikers and pilgrims were already sitting in their shadow?

In fact, the Kunigunden chapel dates from 1230 and was probably built by Heinrich von Hohenlohe. The late Romanesque building has also undergone baroque changes over the years. Particularly noticeable is the high stone wall, which is "pierced" in the west by a very old winter linden tree.It is the 1000-year-old Kunigunden linden tree, in which, according to legend, the veil got caught. In fact, the tree is around 500 years old, but it is still one of the oldest trees in Germany. The growth is particularly interesting. The trunk looks as if it has been split open and huge arms have formed.Thanks to tree renovation measures and the associated pruning, the linden tree now looks like an oversized pollarded willow tree.Source: naturformat.de/joomla/news/item/17-die-heilige-kunigunde.html

Impressive, incredibly great tree!