The Ash of Gräfelfing by the Würm

Look up at the top of this ash and you will see a bare dead spire standing out of a green crown. When it was photographed in June 2023 the tree was in full leaf everywhere except that one leader at the summit. Whether storm or disease took it, nobody has said, and we will not guess. What the photograph shows is the rest of the tree alive and leafing. It is a protected natural monument of the Landkreis München, a European ash at the corner of Wendelsteinstraße and Stefanusstraße in Gräfelfing, close to the bank of the Würm. An information board stands beside it, which is the surest sign you have the right tree. Its trunk leans and forks. The pin is honest about its limits. The district's list and the Bavarian state register place the tree about 40 metres apart, both at the same junction, so our pin sits between them. At the corner, look for the tall ash with the dead spire and the board beside it. Nobody has published its age, girth or height. If you know any of them, or if you pass and see how the crown is doing now, tell us. Gräfelfing lies about 12 km west of central Munich, so this is a suburban trip rather than a city walk. Check the S-Bahn for the way out; we have not timed the journey to the tree.