Ulrike Mohr
Betula Pendula
30. November 2012
Simple and beautiful, inconspicuous and unobtrusive (at first glance), a small historical tree grows in the green Sauerland, a birch that comes from a building that no longer exists and from a country that no longer exists either; a birch, a wild, anarchic plant that landed and grew like a freedom fighter or foreigner on the roof of the communist headquarters of the GDR; a birch that, as a witness and sculpture, offers the potential for stimulating conversations about history, homeland and migration.
"Betula Pendula" is the enigmatic title of Ulrike Mohr's project in Arnsberg. You try to decipher it (e.g. read it the other way round as "Aluteb Aludnep") and find little explanation. Only an internet search tends to provide a solution - with the Latin name of "Birch". Theoretically, Mohr could also have chosen the title "Birch", as it is indeed a birch. However, the title "Betula Pendula" sounds like a fairytale for a reason and conceals a rare story.
The story begins with an adventurous seed that landed on the roof of the Palace of the Republic several years ago and happily took root. Birch trees are often planted by people in fertile soil and don't want to grow - but this is a birch tree with a particularly strong character that finds its feet, survives and flourishes on the cemented roof of an asbestos building. The seed grows into a beautiful birch in the surroundings of a rare wild biotope, right in the historic centre of Berlin. Voluntarily or not, this birch tree became a witness to an exciting chapter in German history and was almost lost with the demolition work on the Palast der Republik, had it not been discovered by the artist Ulrike Mohr shortly beforehand. Mohr succeeded in stopping the demolition work on the Palace of the Republic for one day (4 April 2006) in order to dig up and save the five little palace trees.
The trees were then exhibited at several art venues, such as the Berlin Biennale, the Neue Nationalgalerie and the Skulpturen Park Berlin, on a project-related and temporary basis. In 2012, the Kunstverein Arnsberg succeeded in finding a new and permanent home for the first of these palace trees in the classicist Bürgergärten Arnsberg.
The project was realised with the kind support of:
Förderverein-Bürgergarten e.V. and
Tree nursery and plant trade Michael Krass.