In northeastern Germany, near Zernikow in Brandenburg, lies a pine forest where visitors can easily become disoriented if not careful. The forest’s uniform appearance can make navigating it a challenge, but this wasn’t always the case. In the past, the forest contained a 0.89-acre grove marked by a symbol associated with a dark chapter in human history.
The origins of the 140 larch trees that formed the symbol remain unknown. Most accounts suggest the pines were planted about a year before the outbreak of World War II. What set them apart was their unique seasonal transformation; unlike the surrounding evergreens, they changed color in the fall and spring, revealing their hidden message for only a few weeks each year.
Speculation remains regarding the motive behind the planting of these trees. Some suggest it was to commemorate the Führer‘s birthday, although this theory lacks concrete evidence. Others propose that a villager planted them as a tribute to someone who was imprisoned in Sachsenhausen for secretly listening to the BBC. Another account comes from a farmer who, as a child, claims he was paid by a forester to plant the larches.
Given the forest-based design could only be viewed from the sky, it went relatively unnoticed following World War II. When the Soviet Union took control of East Germany, private aircraft were banned from taking to the air, meaning they never flew over the area. As for commercial flights from Berlin – well, the location is too far north.
That being said, it’s believed the Soviets knew of the symbol’s existence. They just didn’t do anything to remove it.
in the wake of the reunification of Germany, the government initiated aerial surveys of public lands, encompassing a northeastern forest. These surveys captured the unwelcome symbol from above. Fearing the site would become a pilgrimage destination, officials made the call in 1995 to dispatch forestry workers armed with chainsaws to fell 43 of the over 100 larch trees.
However, the unwanted symbol of the Second World War remained visible from an aerial perspective, with the forest’s layout attracting unwanted attention again in 2000, thanks to a Reuters report. An additional 25 trees were then cut down, finally erasing the image.
While this is arguably the most famous hidden symbol, similar ones have been found in forests across Germany. There’s also one in Kyrgyzstan, which is believed to have been planted around the same time as the one in Brandenburg.
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Theories abound as to its origins, with the most popular being that it was either planted by prisoners of war (POW) on forestry duty, it was erected as a tribute to the non-aggression pact between the USSR and Germany, or that it was planted by laborers.