regional customs
“Chancellor fir tree” set up
A fir tree decorates the Federal Chancellery in Berlin at Christmas time. photo
© Carsten Koall/dpa
It has already become a tradition: Thuringia is once again putting the Christmas tree in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin this year. The fir tree in front of the Chancellery is already up – after a breakdown.
After teething problems, the so-called Chancellor’s fir tree in front of the Federal Chancellery was in place on Saturday Berlin was set up. The 17.5 meter high spruce from the Eberswalder city forest in Brandenburg is to be officially handed over to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) next Wednesday.
There was a breakdown before the tree was felled on Friday. The tractor got stuck in the soggy ground of the forest not far from Berlin, and the low-loader first had to be pulled out of the mud with a truck and an excavator.
Another Christmas tree is yet to come to Berlin: an approximately 23 meter high fir tree from East Thuringia for Pariser Platz at the Brandenburg Gate. The approximately 30-year-old conifer from the state forest was felled on Saturday in Mohlsdorf-Teichwolframsdorf, as the Thuringia State Forestry Agency announced. The event went smoothly in snow and wintry temperatures. “Everything worked out, the tree is perfect,” said a spokesman.
This is the ninth time in a row since 2015 that the tree in front of Berlin’s landmark has come from the Free State. The fir tree is supposed to be put up this Monday, as it was said. It then takes six decorators almost a whole week to decorate the tree with 15,000 energy-saving lamps and hundreds of Christmas baubles.