The weather this weekend is ideal for Christmas tree sales. The continuous rain on Friday had already washed away the snow caps. The sun on Saturday will help a lot in thawing away the white masses. “The trees are doing well,” says Andreas Ritter when asked whether the heavy snow of the past few days hasn’t damaged them. Quite the opposite. The evergreen needles of the fir and spruce trees were able to draw a lot of water. Ritter stands in the mud on Theresienwiese on Saturday afternoon in thick boots. He has been working at the Wolf Garden Center, one of the four providers here at Esperantoplatz, for 16 years.
Every company has its fenced area. The competition doesn’t seem to bother them; the needs of the Munich population are great. There are a good 150 open-air sales outlets in the city, not counting hardware stores, supermarkets and specialty garden shops. Business is going well; more than 25 million Christmas trees are sold across Germany every year. Accordingly, the prices vary depending on the provider. This year they are just under 30 euros per meter for Nordmann firs, while spruces cost between 13 and 18 euros per meter.
In the past, the Wolf company had a stand below Bavaria. This place was not allowed this year. “Because of the threat of terrorism,” explains Ritter. The entrances around the Oktoberfest grounds are blocked with bollards. This is how they want to protect the Tollwood Festival. The massive concrete blocks are intended to prevent an attack with a truck like the one in December 2016 on Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz.
English-language winter wonderland music plays from the speaker. Things are happy between the fir trees. A week ago, during the continuous snowfall, things looked a lot more dreary here. Senior boss Richard Wolf comes out of the makeshift office building. He has been selling Christmas trees for 58 years. A lot has changed in this long time. Business starts earlier and earlier. As in the United States, many people now decorate their trees weeks in advance, says Wolf. In his childhood it was only put up and decorated on the 24th. The company offers everything that Munich residents demand: spruces, Nordmann and Nobilis firs, trees with roots in pots that can be replanted after Christmas, and trees from organically certified agriculture.
Richard Wolf takes the time to explain his products. The more he talks, the greater the respect for the evergreen creature becomes. At the same time, however, the question arises as to whether this custom with pagan roots is still justifiable from an ecological point of view. A man-sized fir tree needs around eight years and many liters of water; a 2.50 meter high tree is a good twelve years old.
The Wolfs, like the majority of suppliers, source their Nordmann firs from plantations in Denmark. Why from there? “Because the soil and climate up there are optimal for the trees.” They like the sea air, the humidity. Wetness is good for a conifer, even if it is already chopped off. In the home, daily spraying with water helps prevent drying out and annoying pin-off – even if the tree is already decorated. Water alone in the Christmas tree stand doesn’t do much. Only the bark can absorb it, but a milled trunk can no longer absorb it.
What is striking: Most of the trees have grown densely and evenly and are cultivated accordingly with great effort. There is little space between the branches, which can be problematic for real candles. As it grows, the greenery is regularly pinched off all around, and the trunk is also intentionally injured if the tree is not to keep growing. Their uniformity makes it difficult to negotiate prices as we once did.
Certified organic trees are more irregular in growth and smaller. According to the Federal Nature Conservation Agency, they must not have been fertilized or treated with chemical agents (such as glyphosate) for at least three years before cutting. Richard Wolf has trees from a Lower Franconian organic grower; he charges between 42.50 and 74.50 euros for them. In less frosty years, there are sometimes still a few animals in the branches, similar to trees that you bring into your living room from forest areas (preferably designated for this purpose).
If you don’t want to go into the forest but like to do crafts, you can opt for “No Christmas Tree”. This is a put together wooden stick (100 to 285 centimeters long, for just under 100 to 190 euros) with many holes into which you can insert fresh pine green from top to bottom to create your own tree. The idea has just been awarded the German Sustainability Prize Design 2023. Manufactum still has a few packs of them on the shelf.