The Beethoven Plane

The thickest protected tree in Prague has a trunk seven and a half metres around, and its most famous story is almost certainly false. Local guides say Ludwig van Beethoven rested beneath this plane during his 1796 visit to Prague, dreaming of a 19 year old countess while lodging at the nearby Golden Unicorn inn. He was in the city in February. Prague historians point out that picturing a composer dreamily sitting under a bare tree in midwinter is more charming than credible. What is verified is the trunk itself: 752 centimetres around as of 2013, up from 670 in 1996. It grows in the garden of the Grand Priory Palace on Velkoprevorske namesti, towering over the wall that has carried John Lennon graffiti since the 1980s, tall enough that most people photographing the Lennon Wall never look up to notice the tree that shades it. Its exact age is disputed: the Order of Malta's own legend claims the 12th century, which is botanically impossible since this hybrid plane did not exist before 1700, while official records put the planting between 1725 and around 1810. Either way it is very likely the oldest plane tree, and the most massive protected tree of any species, in Prague.