The Plane Tree of Poortershoes
NetherlandsGroningenOosterpoort
This plane is older than the building it fronts. The Poortershoes at Oosterweg 13 went up in 1881 as a school for the children of Groningen's bargemen, but the city's own archive dates the tree in front of it to 1846, thirty five years earlier, which makes it a monument in its own right rather than a landscaping choice that came with the building. It has had the last laugh since. The school closed long ago and the building is now a neighbourhood community centre for Oosterpoort, while the plane keeps growing against it: the register notes the tree leans slightly from competing with the facade for light, and its roots have started pushing against the wall hard enough to crack the masonry. Nobody has cut it back for that. At roughly 180 years old it is healthy and in good structure by the city's own assessment, standing right on the public street rather than behind any gate, in front of a building that has already outlived one purpose and is well into its second.
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.
Oosterweg 13, in front of the Poortershoes, GroningenYou can recognise it by its slight lean against the building's facade, roots visibly pushing and cracking the wall beside it. It stands on Oosterweg in front of the Poortershoes.
Free, stands along the public Oosterweg street in front of the Poortershoes, now a busy neighbourhood community centre; open at any time
About a 20-25 minute walk or short bus ride from Groningen Centraal station, in the Oosterpoort neighbourhood
Sources
Where the facts on this page come from.
- In the official register: Landelijk Register Monumentale Bomen (Bomenstichting), no. 1696114
- Landelijk Register Monumentale Bomen v2024 (LRMB), Bomenstichting (nr 1696114)
- monumentaltrees.com
- services-eu1.arcgis.com