In northeastern Germany, near Zernikow in Brandenburg, there is a pine forest where visitors can easily become lost if they do not stay aware. The forest's uniformity creates navigational difficulties, but it hasn't always been this way. Once, a 0.89-acre grove of the forest displayed a symbol linked to a dark period in human history.
The origins of the 140 larch trees that created the symbol remain unknown. Most accounts suggest the trees were planted about a year before the onset of World War II . These larch trees stood out due to their unique seasonal changes; unlike the surrounding evergreens, they changed color in the fall and spring, revealing their hidden message for only a few weeks each year.
Speculation remains regarding the motive behind the planting of these trees. Some suggest it was to commemorate the Führer 's birthday, although this theory lacks concrete evidence. Others propose that a villager planted them as a tribute to someone who was imprisoned in Sachsenhausen for secretly listening to the BBC . Another account comes from a farmer who, as a child, claims he was paid by a forester to plant the larches.
The forest-themed design, which can only be seen from above, went mostly unnoticed after World War II. When the Soviet Union took control of East Germany, private planes were banned, making aerial views of the area impossible. Furthermore, due to its northern position, commercial flights from Berlin rarely flew over it.
Nonetheless, it's thought that the Soviets were aware of the symbol's presence. They simply chose not to remove it.
After the reunification of Germany , the government conducted aerial surveys of public lands, including a forest in the northeast. These revealed a disturbing symbol from above. Concerned the site might become a pilgrimage destination, officials decided in 1995 to send forestry workers with chainsaws to cut down 43 of the more than 100 larch trees.
Despite these efforts, the World War II-era symbol remained visible from the air and attracted unwanted attention once more in 2000 after a Reuters report. Consequently, an additional 25 trees were cut down, finally erasing the image.
While this is arguably the most famous hidden symbol, similar ones have been found in forests across Germany. There's also one in Kyrgyzstan , believed to have been planted around the same time as the one in Brandenburg.
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Theories abound as to its origins, with the most popular being that it was either planted by prisoners of war (POW) on forestry duty, it was erected as a tribute to the non-aggression pact between the USSR and Germany, or that it was planted by laborers.
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