The Molkenkur Linden
roughly 200 yearsLimepin approximate
Hollow inside and completely vital. That is the local paper's verdict on this linden, and the two halves of it are both true: the trunk is empty, the tree is in no trouble, and for the last twenty years its crown has been held together with cables so that it stays that way. The city has no intention of felling it. It stands at the Molkenkur, the shoulder of the Königstuhl directly above Heidelberg Castle, where the funicular makes its stop and where people come for one of Heidelberg's best-known views. The linden has been a protected natural monument since October 1958, so it has spent the whole postwar life of the city on a register. Its age is given as roughly two hundred years by the newspaper that wrote it up, and nobody has done better than that. No ring count, no girth measurement, and the register does not even settle which linden it is, large-leaved or small-leaved. Treat two hundred as the middle of a wide band rather than a fact. One thing to know before you climb. Our pin comes from the register's map tile rather than a reading taken at the trunk, so it puts you in the right place at the Molkenkur and not on the exact spot. Look for the cables: a hollow veteran wearing steel is not hard to pick out.
The button above opens directions in your maps app. Heidelberg funicular (Bergbahn) from Kornmarkt to the Molkenkur stop, a few minutes; also reachable on foot via the Klingentor path from the castle, roughly 15-20 minutes uphill.
The pin marks the right spot roughly, not the tree itself. It stands here, but we have not confirmed the precise position on the ground yet. Know exactly where it is?
- Species
- Lime (Tilia sp.)
- Age estimate
- roughly 200 years
- Location
- Molkenkur, Heidelberg (below the Schlosshotel Molkenkur, on the Königstuhl slope above the castle) (Molkenkur, above Heidelberg Castle)
- Access
- Free, public viewpoint area at Molkenkur; no ticket needed to reach or stand by the tree.
- Getting there
- Heidelberg funicular (Bergbahn) from Kornmarkt to the Molkenkur stop, a few minutes; also reachable on foot via the Klingentor path from the castle, roughly 15-20 minutes uphill.
Trees nearby
Ticking this one off, walks past several more, and your collection growing city by city: that is the Ancient Trees app.
Get the appThis page was researched from a distance. If you know this tree, you know things we do not: the species, the age, the size, whether the photo shows the right tree, or that it is gone. Every field on this page can be corrected.
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