It is still early in the morning and dusk has just set in when the worker starts up the chainsaw in a residential area of Schifflange for an important job – the first stages of getting the chosen Christmas tree ready for Luxembourg City’s most prominent festive market.
The tree, which will take pride of place in the Place d’Armes in the capital, is a stately Nordmann fir, 35 years old and 12 metres tall. It was selected by the City of Luxembourg’s park service.
Christian Joly from the City of Luxembourg’s Park Service team supervised the transport of the tree. © Photo credit: Luc Deflorenne
As it does every year, the city council opts for one Christmas tree out of the many offered by residents from all over the country. This year, it is the turn of the Pleim family from Schifflange to celebrate, as their tree was selected ahead of the other applicants to decorate the square at the capital’s main Christmas market.
Delicate transfer process
At 7:00 on this Saturday morning, while it is still completely dark, the eight employees of the council’s park service team drive up to the area in a lorry with a loading crane to transfer the tree to the capital.
“We apply minimal pressure so that it lifts a few centimetres once the trunk is cut,” explained Christian Joly, head of the council’s Services Généraux department, which takes care of transport tasks within the park service. This method has another advantage: it means that the tree does not tip over to one side and there is no impact that could break branches.
Fifteen minutes later, the Nordmann fir is already lying on a special platform on the tipper lorry and the workers are securing it with thick straps.
The platform is shaped in such a way that the trunk is held a good metre above the floor by supports. This protects the branches, which can float freely in the air. The Place d’Armes’ future Christmas tree is now ready for its journey to the capital.
“Everything went well. There were no complications,” Joly said.
Owner’s delight
Rita Pleim-Zurek is delighted that her family’s tree has been chosen. “I still think the tree is beautiful, but it has simply grown too big over the years. It was also very close to the wall of the house. We had moisture damage there. I suspect that the roots have pushed the wall away,” she said, adding that it would have cost over €1,000 to hire a private company to fell the tree.
Rita Pleim-Zurek is proud that everyone on the Place d’Armes will soon be looking at her tree. © Photo credit: Luc Deflorenne
She is proud that her tree was chosen for the capital’s main Christmas market. “I’m happy when thousands of people walk past it every day and look at it,” said Pleim-Zurek, adding that she plans to replant the spot with a smaller tree.
The tree arrived in the capital an hour after departing Schifflange, following a journey along the motorway at 70 km/h with accompanying vehicles.
Many offers from all over the country
“Now the other departments [of the council] can decorate the Christmas tree and string it with fairy lights. Then the Christmas market will be set up,” explained Joly, who is confident that the tree will still look fresh and green until mid-January.
“The fact that the Christmas trees shed needles is actually more of a problem in the warm air of a living room. Outside in the rain and snow, they all usually last until January,” he said.
Only when the Christmas season is finally over will a private company dismantle the tree, process it into wood chips and burn it in a heating system – just like the other 10 Christmas trees that the City of Luxembourg puts up in public places such as Clausen and Merl Park.
All 11 trees are donations from citizens whose trees have outgrown their properties or who would like to replant their gardens. Every year, the City of Luxembourg receives 30 to 40 offers from citizens, which are reviewed before the most suitable trees are selected.
According to Joly, everyone benefits from the arrangement. “The city gets beautiful trees. It’s good for the environment because no trees are felled from the wild. And in the end, the tree also provides heat in the form of wood chips.”
(This article was originally published by the Luxemburger Wort. Machine translated, with editing and adaptation by John Monaghan.)
