Naturbauten Park – Nentershausen, Germany - Atlas Obscura
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Naturbauten Park

Nentershausen, Germany

At this unusual park, domes, ladders, chairs, and more are made from trees.  

The Ash House. Courtesy of Konstantin Kirsch (Used with permission)
The Ash House. Courtesy of Konstantin Kirsch (Used with permission)
Chairs growing in place. Courtesy of Konstantin Kirsch (Used with permission)
The Linden Dome. Courtesy of Konstantin Kirsch (Used with permission)
A wall grown from trees. Courtesy of Konstantin Kirsch (Used with permission)
A detail of the Ash House wall. Courtesy of Konstantin Kirsch (Used with permission)
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Almost three decades ago Konstantin Kirsch started experimenting with shaping trees into sculptures and structures.

Inspired by the work of Arthur Wiechula, a German visionary who imagined elaborate buildings made from trees, Kirsch started planting domes with walls made of grafted saplings, cross-hatched together.

Today, Kirsch’s Naturbauten park has domes made of linden, ash, hazel, beech, willow, and other trees. He has experimented with training trees to become ladders, tool handles, and chairs.

Some of these projects are impressive in scale: The Ash House began with 1,300 trees and was designed to have five rooms and a bathroom circling an interior court.

Know Before You Go

There are guided tours on the first Sunday of the month, from May to October, at 3:00 p.m. Visitors are welcome at other times, but you must call or email ahead. In either case, there's a strongly suggested donation.

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