Ivenack Oaks

Seven ancient oaks stand in a former deer park at Ivenack, survivors of a wood pasture where grazing kept the canopy open and let individual trees spread; the largest, sometimes called the thousand-year oak, has a trunk circumference of over eleven metres and the greatest measured trunk volume of any tree in Germany, with age estimates ranging from around six hundred to a thousand years. They were declared a National Natural Monument in 2016, the first in Germany, a designation held by only a handful of sites. A treetop walkway opened nearby in 2017, running through and above the canopy with a tower at the end.

The landscape

• The great oak - over eleven metres in girth, the largest trunk volume in Germany.
• The seven survivors - ancient trees from a former grazed deer park.
• The treetop walk - a canopy path and tower beside the trees.
• The national monument status - a designation held by very few German sites.

When to go

April to October; the treetop path is open year-round with reduced winter hours and closes in storms. The trees are fenced and viewed from paths.

Before you go

The trees are fenced off for protection and cannot be approached closely. The treetop walk is separately ticketed. The site is small.

Nearby

The Müritz park lies southwest; Neubrandenburg is east.

Key facts