On March 16, 1982, Joseph Beuys planted the first tree in front of the Fridericianum for his project "7000 Eichen - Stadtverwaldung statt Stadtverwaltung" ("7000 Oaks - City Forestation instead of City Administration") thereby setting in motion a "social sculpture" that continues to shape Kassel's cityscape to this day.

 

Thanks to a generous donation from the Kasseler Sparkasse, missing trees that had died in previous years could be replaced by "replantings". Exactly 40 years after the first oak tree was planted, the last replanting has now been carried out, bringing the total number of trees to 7,000.

 

Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth, Hessian Minister of State Angela Dorn, the Chairman of the Board of Kasseler Sparkasse, Ingo Buchholz, the Head of the Department for Construction, Transport and the Environment Christof Nolda, the Head of the Department for Culture Dr. Susanne Völker and other personalities were present.