The Red Horse Chestnut of the Humboldt University Forecourt
Berlin's register files this tree as a Fleischrote Rosskastanie, a flesh-red horse chestnut, which is the German name for it and does the flowers no favours. In English it is simply the red horse chestnut: the same upright candles as the familiar white kind, in red, and less common. It stands in the forecourt of the Humboldt University's main building, on the western side, and you do not need to go through a gate to see it: it is in plain view from the pavement of Unter den Linden. Berlin made it Naturdenkmal 1-5/B on 2 March 1993, for its beauty and for regional heritage. Come in May. That is when a horse chestnut puts its candles up over the whole crown, and on this one they come out red rather than white. It is also a stop on a very short walk. One of the university's two protected ginkgos stands in the south courtyard a few steps behind it, and a protected London plane grows on Bebelplatz across the road. The register records no age, no girth and no height for it, and neither does any other source we found. If you know when it was planted, or have measured it, tell us.
flowers
May, when the candles come out red instead of white
Unter den Linden 6, Vorhof der Humboldt-Universitaet, western part You can recognise it in May by red flower candles where Berlin's common horse chestnuts carry white ones. It stands on the western side of the Humboldt University forecourt, visible from the Unter den Linden pavement.
Open forecourt of the Humboldt University main building, visible from the Unter den Linden pavement.
S/U Friedrichstrasse, about 8 min walk; bus 100/300 to Staatsoper
Sources
Where the facts on this page come from.