Overview
- Maritta Junghanns, 81, planted the tree with her late husband in 1975 and decorated it with her son each Christmas.
- Crews cut the 22-meter fir early Saturday in Altfranken and lifted it by crane for transport to the Altmarkt on a heavy truck.
- The species is Veitch’s fir from Japan’s Hondo and Shikoku islands, a departure from the market’s usual spruces.
- Junghanns said she is saddened to see it leave but noted the roots had torn up her garage floor and posed a collapse risk.
- Organizers plan to erect the tree on the square and fit lights for the Striezelmarkt’s opening early next week.