Witness Park
Unrealized Project

The Witness Park is a concept for a collection of genetically identical clones of historically and culturally significant trees. As living witnesses to history, they carry on the genetic identity of those trees that have experienced historical events and eras. Many of these events are now beyond the memory of living people, but the trees themselves continue to exist.

The collection includes clones of, among others:

– the Ficus religiosa of Bodh Gaya, under which Siddhartha Gautama is said to have attained enlightenment
– the Hippocrates Tree on Kos, under which Hippocrates is believed to have taught
– the Plane Tree of Gortyna, associated with the myth of Zeus and Europa
– Plato's Olive Tree in Athens
– Isaac Newton's Apple Tree in Woolsthorpe
– the Goethe Ginkgo in Weimar
– the Anne Frank Chestnut Tree in Amsterdam
– the Black Locust in Vienna's Augarten, associated with Ludwig van Beethoven
– the Guernica Oak, a symbol of Basque freedom
– the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest, linked to the legend of Robin Hood
– a survivor tree from Hiroshima

The concept can be implemented in various locations and continuously expanded. Each tree refers to a historical event, a person, or a myth, making history tangible as a living, ever-growing collection.