In northeastern Germany, near Zernikow in Brandenburg, there is a pine forest where visitors may easily lose their way if they aren’t careful. The forest’s uniform appearance poses navigational challenges, but it wasn’t always this way. Once, a 0.89-acre grove of the forest displayed a symbol associated with a dark chapter in human history.
The origins of the 140 larch trees that formed this symbol are unclear. Most reports suggest these trees were planted about a year before the start of World War II. The larches were distinctive because of their unique seasonal changes; 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 about why these trees were planted. Some believe it was to mark the Führer‘s birthday, though this theory lacks solid proof. Others suggest that a local planted them as a homage to someone imprisoned in Sachsenhausen for covertly tuning into the BBC. Another version of the story comes from a farmer who, as a child, claims he was hired by a forester to plant the larches.
The forest-themed design, visible only from above, went largely unnoticed after World War II. The Soviet Union’s takeover of East Germany led to a ban on private planes, making aerial views of the area impossible. Additionally, due to its northern location, commercial flights from Berlin rarely passed over it.
Nonetheless, it’s thought that the Soviets were aware of the symbol’s presence. They simply chose not to remove it.
After the reunification of Germany, the government conducted aerial surveys of public lands, including a forest in the northeast. These revealed a disturbing symbol from above. Concerned the site might become a pilgrimage destination, officials decided in 1995 to send forestry workers with chainsaws to cut down 43 of the more than 100 larch trees.
Despite these efforts, the World War II-era symbol remained visible from the air and attracted unwanted attention once more in 2000 after a Reuters report. Consequently, an additional 25 trees were 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, 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.
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