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Editor:
Presscouncil City of Chemnitz
Pressrelease: 673

Around 30 metres high and around 100 years old

Chemnitz Christmas spruce is felled on Saturday, 17 November in the Sachsengrund forest district - arriving in Chemnitz at the market in the late afternoon Also part of the tradition: pre-Christmas barbecue and mulled wine event

In Chemnitz, the pre-Christmas period traditionally begins in mid-November with the erection of the large Christmas spruce on the market square by the town hall: this year's date is Saturday, 17 November. The transport is expected in the late afternoon hours. And because the time leading up to the arrival of the Chemnitz Christmas tree has been very popular in previous years for a small pre-Christmas festival on the market square, tradition will be upheld here too: The public order office will not only ensure order and safety, i.e. free access to the market for the Christmas tree transport and the necessary barriers, but also a pre-Christmas barbecue and mulled wine event including a children's carousel for the youngest visitors. So there will be plenty of entertainment - even if the tree is a little late.

As for the main protagonist, the stately Chemnitz Christmas spruce will once again be around 100 years old and 30 metres tall in 2012. With these dimensions, Chemnitz will certainly once again be well ahead in the annual Christmas tree rankings - another tradition. As we all know, the exact age and length can only be determined after the tree has been felled by counting the annual rings and measuring it at ground level. The densely needled and very slenderly grown gem was searched for and found by the employees of the city's green spaces department, who are also responsible for the Chemnitz Christmas tree and who, together with forestry office manager Hansi-Heike Lerche and district forester Matthias Zollfrank, successfully found it in the Adorf forest district of the Sachsenforst state enterprise in Vogtland.

The Chemnitz tree was felled on the morning of 17 November in the Sachsengrund forest district - near Morgenröthe-Rautenkranz - by employees of Techno-Farm und Service GmbH Adorf. The experienced company had responded to the invitation to tender issued by the City of Chemnitz/Green Spaces Department and was awarded the contract to fell, transport and erect the 2012 Chemnitz Christmas tree. Once again this year, the Christmas tree, which is transported on a low-loader, will be accompanied by officers from the Chemnitz-Erzgebirge police department. It is scheduled to arrive in the late afternoon hours of 17 November.

The Chemnitz Christmas spruce will be festively decorated from Monday, 19 November: 800 lights will be put on the tree by employees of RAC, a company commissioned by eins energie in Sachsen, so that it can shine in festive splendour from the opening of the Chemnitz Christmas Market 2012 (Friday, 30 November, 4 p.m.) until the New Year (6 January 2013).

Note for editorial offices: Information on the set-up and programme of the Chemnitz Christmas Market 2012 will be provided in advance at the traditional press conference: to make a note of the date in the town hall on Tuesday, 13 November 2012.

Pre-Christmas information is already available online at www.chemnitz.de > Culture & Leisure > Leisure > Markets & Festivals > Chemnitz Christmas Market.