Official opening of memorial tree forest in MSP
On Saturday, October 25, 2025, we planted the last 30 trees in the memorial tree forest on Govert Flinckstraat. This was immediately the official opening of the memorial tree forest. We planted 125 trees and all the trees have already been adopted.
In recent years, Heerlen residents have been able to sign up if they wanted to adopt a tree in the Memorial Tree Forest. For example, to commemorate a wedding, birth or a loved one who has passed away. We planted the first trees as early as 2022.
Alderman Marco Peters (Management and Maintenance) was present at the opening and emphasized the importance of the memorial forest: "It is beautiful and important that people have a place to commemorate their loved one, for example. Together, all those trees with their story grow into a real forest in the middle of our city. We have chosen for the memorial tree forest to be an open place where everyone can go."
All the trees are arranged around a circular clearing. The central clearing in the forest is surrounded by 39 different types of trees. Each type of tree, according to the Celtic tree horoscope, represents a period of about ten days. There are character traits associated with each period and tree. Thus, the trees form an alternative version of the astrological horoscope.