This plane tree grows on Bebelplatz, the square where the 1933 book burning took place, and nobody has recorded whether it was already standing there to see it. That is the honest version, and it is worth saying plainly, because the temptation with a tree on a square like this is to give it a witness's part it may never have had. What is recorded is where it stands and why it is protected. It grows on the green beside the Operncafe, in the space framed by the State Opera, St Hedwig's Cathedral and the Humboldt University. Berlin made it Naturdenkmal 1-7/B on 2 March 1993, for its beauty and for regional heritage. The register's point marks the trunk itself, so our pin is exact rather than a guess somewhere on the square. So the tree makes no claim on the square's history, and the square makes none on the tree's age. What you get is a protected London plane in the middle of Mitte, free to stand under. Two more of the city's protected trees are a short walk away across Unter den Linden: a red horse chestnut in the university forecourt and a ginkgo in the courtyard behind it. Together they make a walk of a few minutes. The register gives no age, girth or height for this plane. If you have measured the trunk, or know when it was planted, tell us.
bristly seed balls hang on through winter, long after the leaves have goneAutumn colour
The line is our estimate of how much there is to see, not a measurement. Typical for this species where this tree stands; exact weeks shift with the year.
Bebelplatz, green area beside the Operncafe You can recognise it as the plane tree on the green beside the Operncafe. It stands on Bebelplatz, in the space between the State Opera, St Hedwig's Cathedral and the Humboldt University.
Free; public square and lawn between the State Opera, St Hedwig's Cathedral and the university.
Bus 100/300 to Staatsoper; U Hausvogteiplatz about 5 min walk
Sources
Where the facts on this page come from.