Priorlinde, Natural monument in Priorei, Hagen, Germany

The Priorlinde is a lime tree in the Priorei district of Hagen, on the street Zur Priorlinde. Its trunk is a torso 5.4 metres high, from which thin branches rise steeply; the main branches once spread horizontally at about 2 metres before turning upward like a candelabrum. The tree is now about 10 metres tall, with a trunk circumference of 3.5/8 metres and a crown circumference of 10 metres.

The linden in Priorei is estimated to be around a thousand years old. Its location, and the old name Briggerigge, point to a former court and thing site. It was placed under nature protection in 1947 and is now a natural monument of the city of Hagen.

The name Priorei points to a monastery that never existed there; Old High German instead suggests an ancient court and thing site dominated by a linden. Locals also call the tree Briggerigge, likewise a court place. Dance festivals were once held beneath it on special occasions, and the former inn Zur Priorlinde stands just north of the tree.

The tree stands on Zur Priorlinde street in the Priorei district of Hagen, with the former Zur Priorlinde inn just north of it. Its south-facing, sheltered position and the moisture from the Tiefentalbach stream keep the roughly 10-metre-tall torso alive.

The tree's local nickname, Briggerigge, also refers to a court site, matching the old German reading of Priorei as a Thing place under a linden. The former inn Zur Priorlinde stands just north of the trunk.