In northeastern Germany, near Zernikow in Brandenburg, there is a pine forest where visitors can easily lose their bearings if they don't pay close attention to their surroundings. The forest's uniformity makes it challenging to navigate, though this wasn't always true. Once, a
0.89-acre grove of the forest bore a symbol connected to a grim period in human history.
The precise origins of the 140 larch trees that formed this symbol remain unclear. Most sources suggest they were planted around a year before the outbreak of World War II . These larches stood out for their unique seasonal changes; unlike the surrounding evergreens, they changed color in both fall and spring, briefly revealing their hidden message for only a few weeks each year.
There continues to be speculation about the reason behind why these trees were planted. One theory is that they were planted to commemorate the Führer 's birthday, but this idea lacks concrete evidence. Another possibility is that a local resident planted them as a tribute to someone who was imprisoned in Sachsenhausen for secretly listening to the BBC . And another version comes from a farmer who, as a child, claims that he was hired by a forester to plant the larches.
The forest-themed design, visible only from the air, largely went unnoticed after World War II. With the Soviet Union's occupation of East Germany, private flights were prohibited, making aerial views of the region impossible. Additionally, due to its northern location, commercial flights from Berlin seldom passed over the area.
Nevertheless, it is believed that the Soviets were aware of the symbol but 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 surveys revealed a disturbing symbol from above. Concerned that the location could become a pilgrimage site, officials decided in 1995 to send forestry workers with chainsaws to cut down 43 of the more than 100 larch trees.
Despite these measures, the World War II-era symbol continued to be visible from the air and drew renewed attention in 2000 after a report by Reuters . As a result, an additional 25 trees were cut down, ultimately eliminating the image.
While this may be the most well-known hidden symbol, similar ones have been discovered in forests throughout Germany. There's also one in Kyrgyzstan , thought to have been planted around the same period 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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