Trees with Russian inscriptions are cut down

They date from the time the area was used by the Russian military from 1945 to 1994. The group of trees that are to be felled suffer from beech complex disease, which was caused by drought stress, soil conditions and pests.

A remaining trunk will be preserved as a memorial to the time of the Soviet Potsdam “Military Town No. 7” and for ecological reasons as a so-called Hochstubben, it was said. The second carved trunk will be presented as an exhibit to the Leistikowstrasse memorial and meeting place in the former KGB prison in Potsdam.

It was said that the trees in the Mirbach forest on Große Weinmeisterstrasse should be felled on Wednesday. They suffered from beech complex disease. Three beech trees would be replanted as replacements. There are numerous old trees in the gardens designed in 1862 between the New Garden and the Pfingstberg.

Trees are severely damaged

The beech complex disease is a tree death caused by drought stress, soil conditions and pests. Various factors such as the age-related decline in vitality, the high intensity of solar radiation and the infestation with the beech bark ball fungus and the beech woolly scale insect worked here simultaneously or one after the other.

According to the SPSG, a visible symptom of the disease is the death of areas of bark of different sizes starting from the crown. As a result, trunk rot occurs, which could lead to wood degradation, branch breakage and ultimately trunk breakage. In April 2024, a leafy branch broke out on one of the beeches and fell onto the park path, the foundation said. Road safety was restored in the short term through treetop work.