Lime tree & Zur Linde inn

          
The square around the lime tree planted by the Höchberg Beautification Association in 1929 at the upper end of Brunnengasse used to be a lively place where children romped around during the day and people enjoyed meeting up in the evening after work, playing music and discussing day-to-day worries. It was not a village lime tree in the traditional sense, under which meetings were held or justice was dispensed.

The actual village lime tree, which was the meeting place for the citizens, stood as usual near the church and the inn, roughly on today’s market square next to the Lamm inn.

The Höchberg lime tree here is a winter lime tree (Tilia cordata). These trees can grow up to 30 metres tall and live for several hundred years. The lime tree blossoms are an excellent source of food for insects, especially bees.

The minutes of the Beautification Association meetings show that Fritz Wilhelm, who lived in America, ‘wanted to donate a bench to the association and asked for a suitable place to be found. The site at the upper end of Brunnengasse, which had become vacant following the demolition of the bakery was suitable. 3, 4

To mark the planting of the lime tree by the Beautification Association, a village festival was held in July 1929 with all the townspeople, children’s entertainment, a flower raffle, music, singing and dancing. The tree was already 12 years old when it was planted. 1, 2

In the 1990s, some heavy branches were relieved by steel cables to prevent them from breaking off.

Zur Linde Inn
A former inn still stands just a few steps away from the lime tree. In 1929, the owner at that time, Heinrich Wiesen, gave his restaurant the name Zur Linde on the occasion of the inauguration of the lime tree. As early as around 1814, Wolf Mohr and later his son Moritz ran a kosher Jewish inn there.5

There was a pump well in front of the building until around 1910. Its shaft was closed after it was no longer needed due to poor water quality and fell into oblivion. It was only rediscovered and rebuilt in 2019 during roadworks.

Poem The lime tree on the mountain
In 1942, Martin Wilhelm dedicated a poem to the lime tree, which his friend Josef Schmitt set to music.