© Steiermark Tourismus; Foto: Lanxx
Thousand Year-Old Oak of Bierbaum
At around one thousand years old the Bierbaum Oak is the oldest in Europe! When the young tree forced out its first leaves from an acorn, Austria had just been documented as "Ostarrichi". In 1278 the Habsburgers replaced the Babenbergs as rulers of Austria. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Turks did not only invade Vienna, but did so continuously in Eastern Styria. In 1918 the k.u.k monarchy fell, in the Second World War Austria was on the losing side and the allies freed it from the unspeakable Third Reich. This oak could tell much more. What is certain is that it has survived all of these European upheavals.
Today its trunk has a diameter of almost three metres and it has reached a height of around 25 metres. Another superlative? On a hot summer's day this tree evaporates about 500 litres of water: that is almost two bathtubs full.
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