Germans and their trees

Trees play a big role in the ancient religions of the Germanic people.  According to one tradition, the universe was supported by the great ash tree Yggdrasil, whose roots and branches extended into the heavens, the earth, and the underworld.  Near one of the roots of the tree flowed the fountain of Mimir, in whose sacred waters all the wisdom of the universe flowed.  Near another root dwelled the Norns, who represented fate. (The concept of fate was one of the most important beliefs of Germanic religion; everything, even the gods, was subject to it.) In the tree's branches perched a sacred bird, who, with the god Heimdall, warned the gods when an attack from the giants was imminent.

This passage about the discovery of runes is from Havamal (stanzas 138, 139)

I know that I hung on a windy tree
nights all nine,
wounded with a spear and given to Odin,
myself to myself,
on that tree of which no man knows from where its roots run

No bread did they give me nor a drink from a horn,
downwards I peered,
I took up the runes,
screaming I took them,
then I fell back from there

Odin and his brothers, Ve and Vili, were the creators of the first man and woman. They took two pieces of driftwood from a beach and gave them human shapes. Odin then gave them the breath of life, Vili gave them wit and emotions, and Ve gave them senses and speech. These two people, Ask ("ash"), the male, and Embla ("elm"), became the progenitors of all humanity; they lived in Midgard. The postage stamp shown above from the Faroe Islands is a picture of Ask and Embla.

Around the year 722, St. Boniface went to Hesse, Germany, in order to root out the pagan superstitions which seriously affected the stability of his converts. On a day publicly announced, and in the midst of an awe-struck crowd, Boniface and one or two of his followers attacked with axes Thor's sacred oak. These German tribes were tree-worshipers. Thor, god of thunder, was one of the principal Teutonic deities, and this ancient oak, which stood on the summit of Mt. Gudenberg, was sacred to him. After a few blows, the huge tree crashed to earth, splitting into four parts. The terrified tribesmen, who had expected a punishment to fall instantly on the perpetrators of such an outrage, now saw that their god was powerless to protect even his own sanctuary.

On October 1, 2010 a huge protest erupted in Stuttgart over the felling of some nearby trees in the park adjacent to the train station, which is in the center of town. Thousands of protestors showed up, and more than 100 people were injured when their attempts to protect trees marked for felling for the €4.1bn project was broken up by police with water cannon and teargas. Some of the trees were hundreds of years old, and people cried when the trees fell. 

Although Germany often has street demonstrations by leftists, local officials in Stuttgart were not ready for the size and duration of the protests and the cross section of the traditionally conservative population that is taking part, with retirees and middle-age professionals standing alongside college students.

A new turnstile was installed at work recently. The first thing to do when deciding where to put it is make sure no trees are in the way of the new sidewalk. In this case, the new sidewalk ran along the side of a building, then did a little jog in order to go between two trees. The turnstile was installed at the end of the jog.