Tausendjährige Eiche bei Reith, geschützte Eiche in Bayern
The Tausendjährige Eiche bei Reith is an ancient oak tree standing alone in a meadow at the edge of the village of Oberthulba in Bavaria, Germany. The trunk is exceptionally wide and the branches spread broadly in all directions, giving the tree a squat and wide-reaching shape.
The tree was placed under protection in 1959 and formally designated as a natural monument in 1987, reflecting its growing recognition as a natural object worth preserving. Before these formal steps, the oak was already known in the village as a remarkable tree, passed down through oral memory from one generation to the next.
The oak takes its name from the belief that it is over a thousand years old, though its exact age has never been confirmed. For the people of Reith, it works as a landmark of the village, and visitors from the surrounding area regularly come to see the massive trunk up close.
The tree stands at the edge of Reith and can be reached on foot along field paths without much effort. Visiting in dry weather is a good idea, as the path across the meadow can get slippery when wet.
On the southern side of the trunk, a large notch runs from ground level up to about 10 feet (3 meters) high, held together with iron pipes to stop the wood from splitting further. This repair is clearly visible from outside and gives a direct sense of how much care an old tree like this one needs to survive.
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