Word of the Week: Kappen

This German word of the week is kappen, which is a verb meaning 'to pollard'. I didn't even know what the English word meant, but I have seen evidence of it in almost every city we have visited in Europe. I'll leaving the technical explanation to the guys at The Royal Horticultural Society, and just show a picture to demonstrate the meaning:

Strasbourg, France, in April

So, in English we would say, "Wow! Check out all those pollarded trees!" and the Germans would say, "Wow! Guck mal, an die gekappten Bäume!" (or something pretty close to that). I have seen them in rows along rivers or in courtyards, in clusters at a garden, and sometimes standing alone in front of a building.

Konstanz, Germany, in March

Berchtesgaden, Germany, in April

The amount of pruning varies (not all trees are cropped as severely as these), but the purpose is to prevent the trees from growing too big for the area that they are planted. It seems like it would make more sense to plant trees that just don't grow that large, but who can argue with centuries of happy tree trimmers?

Lucerne, Switzerland, in March

St. Gallen, Switzerland, in March

However, pollarded trees are undeniably weird looking during the winter, with no leaves on their club-like limbs.

Königswinter, Germany, in February

But in the spring they begin to sprout tiny, bright green leaves on gangly shoots...

Strausbourg, France, in April

And by summertime they look like tall tree hedges and you can hardly detect their strange limbs under all the foliage...

Augustusburg Castle grounds, Brühl, Germany, in May

Augustusburg Castle grounds, Brühl, Germany, in May

Augustusburg Castle grounds, Brühl, Germany, in May

So next time you visit Europe you can sound very erudite and point out all those gekappten Bäume!

Lucerne, Switzerland, in March