Berlin's oldest tree
The Dicke Marie (fat Mary) tree has experienced a great deal. About 800 or 900 years ago, when it first buried its roots in the Brandenburg sand, there were still bears living in these forests. And when the name of Berlin was officially mentioned for the first time back in 1244, Marie was bigger than the tallest house and was growing strong. As she grew, she saw the medieval city grow too, and she witnessed robber barons and the plague. A little later, she was visited by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Finally, in around 1800, she got her name. Two boys, who lived not far away in Tegel Palace, named her after their cook: fat Mary. The two boys are thought to have been brothers Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt.
This is how 'fat Mary' became the oldest tree in Berlin. This striking, gnarled English oak (Quercus robur) now stands 26 metres high. Her trunk has a circumference of almost seven metres and a diameter of more than two metres. Marie stands to the north of the Grosser Malchsee lake in Tegel, just a few minutes' walk from the Hafenbrücke bridge. A visit to the tree can be easily combined with a lovely walk to Tegel Palace or a riverboat cruise on Lake Tegel.
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Address
An der Malche 1
13507 Berlin Reinickendorf
