A 15 meter high Nordmann fir from Thuringia will decorate the Brandenburg Gate and Pariser Platz in Berlin during the Christmas season. The approximately 30-year-old coniferous tree from private ownership was felled on Saturday in light frost and sunshine in the municipality of Lederhose in the Jena-Holzland forestry office area, according to the state forestry institute. The action went smoothly. "Everything was fine," said a spokesman for the State Forest Agency.

For the eighth time in a row since 2015, the probably most photographed German Christmas tree in front of the Brandenburg Gate comes from Thuringia. "Our tree in Berlin is great advertising for our forest," explained Thuringia's Forest Minister Susanna Karawanskij (left).

The Nordmann fir, which according to the forest spokesman has perfect pyramidal growth, was lifted onto a low-loader with great care using a heavy-duty crane so that the branches and especially the crown remained undamaged. This Monday, the tree, which was in the front yard of a private house in East Thuringia, is to be transported to Berlin.

It should be set up there immediately after arrival by the Technical Relief Agency. The plan is for it to be decorated with around 15,000 energy-saving lamps and hundreds of Christmas balls on the 1st of Advent.