Tilleul de la danse de Bergheim

Bergheim

In the little garden of the Herrengarten, all that remains of the great lime is one living main limb, propped on iron bars, patched, on crutches, on a trunk 1.80 m in diameter and 6.3 m in girth; but it carries seventeen metres of foliage and flowers every year. The commune calls it the thousand-year-old lime, the oldest tree in the district; history, more soberly, gives it seven hundred years. According to tradition, it was planted in 1313 when the Habsburgs granted Bergheim its privileges, the right of justice, that of asylum, that of striking coin and of levying a toll. From the 14th century, says the town hall, popular festivities were held in its shade, and it is a Tanzlinde, a dancing lime, such as the villages across the Rhine have kept, where dancing competitions were organised. In 1848, the revolutionary committee delivered its speeches there, and until 1902 the tree hosted all the public festivities and all the political speeches of the town. Damaged by bad weather and by an arson attack on 25 June 1917, it has been raised up, hooped and supported. It is today the meeting place of pensioners who have adopted it, the guardians of the lime. Nominated for the Tree of the Year competition in 2016, it received the Arbre remarquable de France label on 28 June 2017. None of the sources consulted cites a document of 1313 mentioning the tree: the date is that of the privileges, and the lime's real age has not been measured.

Wikipédia — Tanzlinde de Bergheim ↗

Getting there : Bergheim is on the Wine Route, a few kilometres north-east of Ribeauvillé; the Herrengarten is a freely accessible public garden, at the entrance to the fortified town, with a car park nearby. The lime, hooped and propped, can be seen in every season; it flowers in June. The ramparts circuit and the Witches' Tower are a few steps away.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound