The ‘Illegal’ WWII-Era Forest in Germany That Was Overlooked for More Than 50 Years

The precise origins of the 140 larch trees that formed this symbol remain unclear. Most sources suggest they were planted around a year before the outbreak of World War II. These larches stood out for their unique seasonal changes; unlike the surrounding evergreens, they changed color in both fall and spring, briefly revealing their hidden message for only a few weeks each year.

There continues to be speculation about the reason behind why these trees were planted. One theory is that they were planted to commemorate the Führer‘s birthday, but this idea lacks concrete evidence. Another possibility is that a local resident planted them as a tribute to someone who was imprisoned in Sachsenhausen for secretly listening to the BBC. And another version comes from a farmer who, as a child, claims that he was hired by a forester to plant the larches.

The forest-themed design, visible only from an aerial perspective, went mostly unnoticed after World War II. With the Soviet Union’s occupation of East Germany, private planes were banned, rendering aerial views of the region impossible. Furthermore, because of its northern location, commercial flights from Berlin rarely flew over it.

Despite this, it is believed that the Soviets knew about the symbol. They simply decided not to remove it.

Following the reunification of Germany, the government carried out aerial surveys of public lands, including a forest in the northeast. These surveys uncovered a troubling symbol from above. Fearing the location might turn into a site for pilgrimage, officials opted in 1995 to deploy forestry workers armed with chainsaws to fell 43 of the over 100 larch trees.

Despite these measures, the World War II-era symbol continued to be visible from the air and drew renewed attention in 2000 after a report by Reuters. As a result, an additional 25 trees were cut down, ultimately eliminating the image.

While this may be the most well-known hidden symbol, similar ones have been discovered in forests throughout Germany. There’s also one in Kyrgyzstan, thought to have been planted around the same period 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.