A plane tree in the Schilderswijk has been nominated for the national Tree of the Year competition. Run by the SBNL Natuurfonds, the contest selects one tree from each Dutch province, with this plane tree representing South Holland.
Local resident Harry Berg, who formerly ran the Stanley & Livingstone travel bookshop on Schoolstraat for 27 years, initiated the project after researching local history for the neighbourhood newspaper Het Oude Centrum.
The story behind the name
The tree was officially named after Gualtherus van Doeveren with the help of children from the Vredesraad Centrum/Kortenbos, who hung a banner and placed a QR code at the site.
Gualtherus van Doeveren was a local doctor who treated patients during cholera outbreaks and helped identify contaminated canals as the source of infection. He died young after contracting the illness himself.
His sister, Helena van Doeveren, used her wealth to support poor residents, including funding an elderly home on Om en Bij in 1877 that housed both men and women together, which she named after her late brother.
Voting open until October
Berg noted that while landmark trees in estate parks like Clingendael often receive attention, the municipal historical tree walking route skips the Schilderswijk due to a lack of greenery.
Public voting for the national competition runs until 10 October on the contest website, deboomvanhetjaar.nl.
