The Peter-Linde

People once climbed into this tree to drink with a future Tsar. The Peter-Linde grows straight out of the stone wall of Burg Coppenbrügge, and by the early 1700s its crown had been trained into a three-storey timber structure, entered directly from the castle's first floor, that visitors climbed up through the living branches to sit in. It takes its name from Peter the Great of Russia, who is said to have visited in 1697 during the diplomatic meeting later called the Damenfrieden von Coppenbrügge, the 'Ladies' Peace', credited with helping avert a war between Austria and Brandenburg-Prussia. The tree itself predates the story. An engraving by Matthäus Merian shows it in 1654, four decades before Peter supposedly climbed it, so whatever legend attached itself later, the linden was already substantial. Two independent measurements, taken three years apart, both put its girth at roughly 6.6 metres, and its age is estimated at 500 to 700 years. Most of the trained bower is gone now, broken away branch by branch over the centuries. What is left is an irregular crown and a short trunk still rooted half into the masonry it has grown alongside for hundreds of years. The castle museum keeps set hours, but the wall walk and the tree itself are open to anyone who reaches the gate on foot.