My home is in the district Steglitz-Zehlendorf, one of the greenest districts in Berlin: there are about 62.000 trees in total! As you might imagine, just about every street is lined with them. Unfortunately there are quite a few tree stumps there as well – not always are trees replanted after one of them has been cut down. This is quite a contentious issue in local politics, but I will spare you the details.
You can imagine my surprise when one day, as I was cycling to the train station, I noticed that a tree stump along the way had grown two eyes, a nose and a mouth! I did a bit of research in the local newspapers and found out that a fellow resident had gotten fed up with the sad looking stumps and started putting faces on them in protest. I think it is a great idea for green street art and enjoy keeping and eye out for tree faces in the neighbourhood. There is a great picture gallery of more of the decorated tree stumps here.
Please keep in mind that the spot I marked on the map only points to one single tree stump – there are over 500 of them in the whole district. So keep your eyes open when you are in the area. You might find a tree looking right back at you!
