Anne Frank Tree - Recent Events

Recent Events

Concerns about the tree's health date back to at least 1993, when a soil analysis revealed that leakage from a nearby underground domestic fuel tank was endangering the tree's root system. The city of Amsterdam spent €160,000 on a soil sanitation program to save the tree. For the last several years the tree was attacked by a particularly aggressive fungus (Ganoderma applanatum, also called "Artist's Conch" or "Artist's Bracket") which rotted the wood and undermined the tree's stability. Additionally, horse-chestnut leaf miner moth caterpillars (Cameraria ohridella) ate the tree's leaves, causing them to turn brown prematurely and fall off.

On 26 May 2005, the tree's crown was drastically trimmed after a six-month study by botanists concluded that this was the best way to ensure the tree's stability. However, the disease continued to thrive and a 2006 study estimated that 42% of the wood was rotten. Some botanists concluded that the tree's death was unavoidable and the owner of the property decided to ask for a permit to cut the tree down in order to eliminate the risk of the huge tree collapsing.

In September 2007, an appeals panel made two decisions: one upholding the right of the tree's owner to have it cut down any time in the next two years, and one granting a request by the country's Trees Institute to investigate the possibility of saving it. Property owner Henric Pomes of Keizersgracht 188, adjacent to the building that is now the Anne Frank Museum, agreed to wait for the institute's proposal, due before 1 Jan 2008.

On 2 October 2007 and later the Dutch Tree Foundation (Dutch: Bomenstichting) was involved in the discussions. on 15 November 2007 it claimed the tree was healthy enough to cause no danger, based upon second opinion analysis by Neville Fay (a famous English expert of ancient trees) and by Frits Gielissen (a Dutch expert from O.B.T.A. De Linde).

On 14 November 2007 a pulling test was banned, but four days later this assessment of the strength of the tree was conducted. Boom-KCB, an engineering firm specialized in trees, determined that the tree was "storm-proof", and able to sustain itself, eliminating the need for outside interference as it did not pose a danger for the public.

On 13 November 2007 the Borough Amsterdam-Centrum declared that it would cut down the tree on 21 November 2007. A court hearing involving the Tree Foundation was held the day before the scheduled removal. On 21 November 2007 it was decided to stop the removal. On 21 November 2007 the Borough and the Anne Frank Foundation held a press conference during which they repeated their claim that there existed an “acute danger”. They urged the Mayor of Amsterdam, Mr. Cohen, to proceed with emergency cutting.

On 17 December 2007, the working committee Support Anne Frank Tree presented its alternative plan to preserve the tree (the report has English abstracts & conclusions) which included a construction to prevent the trunk from breaking down. Some weeks later, tree experts from both sides presented a joint evaluation of the tree. Their judgment was that the tree had a life expectancy of at least 5–15 years. To ensure safety, the supporting construction should be built.

The supporting structure, finished in May 2008, was designed to make it possible for the tree to survive at least five more years.

Eleven saplings from the tree were distributed to various sites in the United States in 2009.

On 23 August 2010 the tree was blown over in a rain-and-gale storm, breaking off about a meter above the ground. It fell across a garden wall and damaged garden sheds but did not damage anything else.

On 24 August 2010 it was reported that a small side shoot was growing out of the stump below where it broke, and it is hoped that it will grow into a new tree. There are plans to keep large pieces of the fallen trunk and its large branches. The fallen tree is estimated to weigh about 27 metric tons.

The fallen wood has now been removed.