A g I F T F r O M J A PA n JOE P DE V IS SE R T R AC E S T H E U N USUA L H IS TORY OF BE R L I N ’S CHER RY BLOSSOM TR E E S Photog raphy by Marga van den Me ydenbe rg
Cherry blossoms are mostly associated with Japan,
of Teltow-Sigridshorst and Teltow-Seehof, which was
where the annual hanami (flower viewing) is held to
renamed Tv-Asahi-Kirschblütenallee in April 2012,
celebrate the beauty of these flowers. The custom
and where hanami has been celebrated since 2001.
dates back to the eighth Century, but nowadays
The largest number of cherry blossoms was planted
there is even a blossom forecast that predicts how
at the landschaftspark nord-Ost, at the border
the Sakura season will develop.
of lichtenberg and Brandenburg: a total of 1,434 trees. Closer to the city centre, 45 cherry trees
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In Japan, cherry blossoms usually open around
were also planted at the lohmühlenbrücke at the
the end of March, though they can sometimes
border of Alt-Treptow and neukölln; in addition, a
appear up to two weeks earlier in the south than
memorial stone was erected at this location to thank
in the northern island of Hokkaido, for example.
and remember the Sakura campaign.
During the 20th Century, Japanese cherry trees were exported to countries such as Brazil and the
A similar memorial stone was also erected at the
uSA. The first American hanami was celebrated in
pathway underneath the bridge of the Bornholmer
Washington D.C. in 1935, with subsequent events
Straße, where one can find 215 Japanese cherry
such as the International Cherry Blossom Festival in
trees. The last trees planted to date, in november
Macon, georgia – the self-declared Cherry Blossom
2010, are the ones at the Platz des 9. november,
Capital of the World.
where the first east Berliners broke through the borders and the first pieces of the Wall fell.
In 1990, a Japanese television show asked people to give donations to plant cherry trees in Berlin, in
All told, Berlin’s former “death strips” are filled
order to bring peace and rest to the hearts of the
with 9,000 cherry blossom trees – all thanks to
citizens, freshly reunited after the fall of the Berlin
the Japanese television broadcast campaign. And
wall. Since the process of german unification was
there are lots more too in public places such as
widely followed in Japan, about 140 million yen (€1
parks, childcare centres, houses for the elderly and
million) were gathered via the television show.
graveyards. Outside Berlin, yet more have been planted along the innerdeutsche Grenze (inner
Over the next 20 years, 9,000 cherry trees were
german border) between east and West germany.
planted in the german capital. The first ones were planted in november 1990 at the glienicker
The only place you have to pay to view the blossoms
Brücke, one of the city’s key symbols of division
is at Marzahn’s Gärten der Welt, where 80 trees can
and reunification. Another 1,100 were planted at
be found in the splendid Japanese garden, alongside
the former Totestreifen (death strip) at the border
lots of other beautiful, blooming specimens.
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