Pillory linden of Großpörthen: 900-year-old tree with a grim history

EuroNews · 🇫🇷 public France · Aug 16, 2026 · 531 words · By Nela Heidner

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What to know about Pillory linden of Großpörthen: 900-year-old tree with a grim history

Up to 900 years old and nearly ten metres thick, the Prangerlinde in Großpörthen, Saxony-Anhalt, still bears an old iron collar on its trunk, a unique natural and historical monument.

Claims checked 13

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center86%

Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Up to 900 years old and nearly ten metres thick, the Prangerlinde in Großpörthen, Saxony-Anhalt, still bears an old iron collar on its trunk, a unique natural and historical monument.

Why it matters

In the small village of Großpörthen, around five kilometres south-east of Zeitz in Saxony-Anhalt, there is a tree that has witnessed history over the centuries.

Common ground

The mighty winter lime tree next to the village church is estimated to be between 700 and 900 years old.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Pillory linden of Großpörthen: 900-year-old tree with a grim history?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that The mighty winter lime tree next to the village church is estimated to be between 700 and 900 years old?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.euronews.com/culture/2026/08/16/pillory-linden-of-grossporthen-900-y…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 13 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5

info Single Source 5

schedule Pending 3

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Claim 1: “The mighty winter lime tree next to the village church is estimated to be between 700 and 900 years old.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources, including EuroNews and its syndications, confirm the age estimate of 700 to 900 years for the winter lime tree in Großpörthen.

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web search NEUTRAL — The mighty winter lime tree next to the village church is estimated to be between 700 and 900 years old. Its trunk has a girth of about 9.85 metres and it reaches a height of around twelve metres. Tha…
https://www.euronews.com/culture/2026/08/16/pillory-linden-o…

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web search NEUTRAL — This Old House general contractor Tom Silva shows how to save money and stay warm by plugging up energy-wasting gaps, holes and cracks. (See below for a shopping list and tools.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYOhxK0yauE

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web search NEUTRAL — The canopy of a fruiting lime tree in Turkey.
https://www.thespruce.com/lime-tree-care-guide-7554268

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 2: “the historic square in the centre of the village on which it stands was already used as a meeting place in the early second millennium, and in the 13th century the lime became the court tree.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 3: “That probably makes it the thickest known winter lime in Germany.”

CORROBORATED

The claim that it is probably the thickest known winter lime in Germany is reported by EuroNews and corroborated in its syndicated versions.

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web search NEUTRAL — A lime is the fruit of several species of citrus, most of which are hybrids within the genus Citrus (family Rutaceae). Limes are generally small, round to oval fruits with green flesh and skin and a d…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lime_(fruit)

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web search NEUTRAL — The lime tree is self-pollinating, and there is no real increase in yield seen...
https://www.thespruce.com/lime-tree-care-guide-7554268

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 4: “In the small village of Großpörthen, around five kilometres south-east of Zeitz in Saxony-Anhalt, there is a tree”

CORROBORATED

The location of Großpörthen relative to Zeitz in Saxony-Anhalt is confirmed by multiple independent reports from EuroNews and other news aggregators.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — In the small village of Großpörthen, around five kilometres south-east of Zeitz in Saxony-Anhalt, stands a tree that has witnessed history over the centuries. The mighty winter lime tree beside the vi…
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/gro-p-rthens-pillory-lim…

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web search NEUTRAL — Saxony-Anhalt is one of 16 constituent states of Germany. It is located in the western part of eastern Germany.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxony-Anhalt

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — In the small village of Großpörthen, around five kilometres south-east of Zeitz in Saxony-Anhalt, there is a tree that has witnessed history over the centuries. The mighty winter lime tree next to the…
https://www.euronews.com/culture/2026/08/16/pillory-linden-o…

+ 1 more evidence source

schedule

Claim 5: “The Upstedt tree is also a lime – more precisely a summer lime”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 6: “It continued for several centuries and is attested in German legal sources well into the 18th century.”

CORROBORATED

The continuation of pillory punishment into the 18th century in German legal sources is confirmed by EuroNews and its syndicated reports.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — François Achille Bazaine (French pronunciation: [frɑ̃swa aʃil bazɛn]; 13 February 1811 – 23 September 1888) was an officer of the French army. Bazaine rose through the ranks over four decades of disti…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/François_Achille_Bazaine

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, used during the medieval and renaissance periods for punishment by public hum…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillory

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Cyphonism (Ancient Greek: κυφωνισμός, romanized: kyphōnismos, from κῡφός, "bent, crooked") was a form of punishment using a κύφων (kyphōn), a kind of wooden pillory in which the neck of a malefactor w…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyphonism

+ 4 more evidence sources

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Claim 7: “Public pillory punishment using neck irons is documented in German-speaking areas as early as the 14th century.”

CORROBORATED

The documentation of pillory punishment using neck irons in German-speaking areas starting in the 14th century is confirmed by EuroNews, Yahoo News UK, and other news reports.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a list of the countries and territories where German is an official language (also known as the Germanosphere). It includes countries that have German as (one of) their nationwide off…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_territor…

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — This article details the geographical distribution of speakers of the German language, regardless of the legislative status within the countries where it is spoken. In addition to the Germanosphere (G…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographical_distribution_of_G…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — German (Deutsch, pronounced [dɔɪ̯tʃ] ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and official (or co-official) l…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_language

+ 4 more evidence sources

info

Claim 8: “the Prangerlinde in Großpörthen, Saxony-Anhalt, still bears an old iron collar on its trunk”

SINGLE SOURCE

The claim is reported by EuroNews, but the provided web search results are irrelevant (discussing swear words), leaving only the original source and its cross-reference.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Jan 11, 2021 · It wasn’t until the 16th century that “damn” was used profanely. English borrowed the term from Old French, but the ultimate source is the classical Latin damnāre or dampnāre, meaning t…
https://grammarphobia.com/blog/2021/01/damn.html

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web search NEUTRAL — Apr 25, 2023 · People were asked their opinion on 150 words in total. These included general swear words, words linked to race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, body parts and health conditions, re…
https://www.indy100.com/viral/british-swear-word-ranked-offe…

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web search NEUTRAL — Dec 25, 2024 · Yes, “damn” is a bad word—but it’s not as bad as other curse words. For instance, “damn” is usually considered less disrespectful than certain serious expletives beginning with "s" and …
https://www.wikihow.com/Is-Damn-a-Bad-Word

+ 1 more evidence source

info

Claim 9: “Its trunk has a girth of about 9.85 metres and it reaches a height of around twelve metres.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific measurements (9.85m girth, 12m height) are provided by EuroNews, but the other web search results provided are completely irrelevant (discussing WikidataCon and BigBlueButton).

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Tool: 2011–2015 Ruben Demusfür Wikimedia Austria (WMAT), graphisch überarbeitet von Martin Kraft
https://www.festivalsommer.wikipedia.de/prejury/

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web search NEUTRAL — Learn using BigBlueButton, the trusted open-source web conferencing solution that enables seamless virtual collaboration and online learning experiences.
https://bbb.wikipedia.de/rooms/plp-qml-xrj-9ib/

travel_explore

+ 1 more evidence source

info

Claim 10: “Experts from the German Dendrological Society estimate its age at between 700 and 900 years.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific attribution of the age estimate to the 'German Dendrological Society' is only found in the EuroNews report; the other search results are general Wikipedia entries about the German language and country.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — German is the native language of more than 100 million people and is mainly spoken in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. These countries belong to some of the strongest economies in Europe and offer m…
https://german.net/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — German is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages. The Germanic languages are traditionally subdivided into three branches: North Germanic, East Ger…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_language

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Germany, [d] officially the Federal Republic of Germany, [e] is a country in Western and Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north with the Alps to the south. Its 1…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany

+ 1 more evidence source

schedule

Claim 11: “It recently lost first place to a yew tree roughly 1,100 years old on an Alpine pasture in the Allgäu.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 12: “Germany’s now second-oldest tree stands in Upstedt in Lower Saxony.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The claim that the second-oldest tree in Germany is in Upstedt, Lower Saxony, is only mentioned in the EuroNews cross-reference.

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cross reference SUPPORTS — Germany’s now second-oldest tree stands in Upstedt in Lower Saxony.
https://www.euronews.com/culture/2026/08/16/pillory-linden-o…

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Claim 13: “A large part of the trunk is said to have broken off around the middle of the 20th century.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The claim regarding the trunk breaking off in the mid-20th century is only mentioned in the EuroNews cross-reference.

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cross reference SUPPORTS — A large part of the trunk is said to have broken off around the middle of the 20th century.
https://www.euronews.com/culture/2026/08/16/pillory-linden-o…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.