EPSILON on a Mission for the Schönbrunn Palace Christmas Tree
The Styrian mountain spruce was felled at an altitude of 1,300 meters at Stuhleck in Styria in a mild 13 degrees on November 4, 2020. The spruce grew to a towering 28 meters in its 118 years and was chosen as the perfect Christmas tree back in the summer by the employees of the Österreichische Bundesforste (the Austrian federal forestry company). The federal forestry company has been donating the Christmas tree that stands outside Schönbrunn Palace for 18 years. “Every year, the tree comes from a different state, and this year it is our turn and Styria’s turn once again,” said a delighted Martin Lenz, who works for the Austrian federal forestry company in the Mürzzuschlag area.
Before the tree was felled, a specialist forestry worker climbed to a great height and fixed cables from a cable crane to the mountain spruce. As a result, the tree did not fall over after it was felled, but was lifted with the aid of the cable and not damaged. The spruce was separated from the rhizome using a chainsaw and lifted with great care by the cable crane operator. With the concerted help of a PALFINGER EPSILON crane from the powerful S-Series, the soon-to-be Christmas tree was gently placed on the loading area of a low-loading trailer. The S-series is perfect for tasks like this one involving the transportation of long wood with lifting capacities of 22 to 30 meter-tons. The tree was trimmed down by another 10 meters for transportation before setting off on its journey to Vienna.
Early on the morning of November 5, 2020, the Styrian mountain spruce arrived at the forecourt of Schönbrunn Palace. At times like these, it is important to the organizer of the Schönbrunn Palace Christmas Market to set an example: “We have deliberately stuck to the planned date for the arrival of the tree and want it to be a sign of peace and togetherness,” explained Gabriela Schmidle of MTS Wien, a Vienna-based marketing and tourism promotion company. At sunrise, the experts from Vienna’s Forestry Office took delivery of the magnificent specimen weighing several metric tons. It was skillfully lifted from the long-wood transporter using a crane and then anchored in the shaft provided. There were calls of “the tree is up!” as early as 7:30 a.m. Now the beautiful specimen from the Mürzzuschlag forestry district in Styria is ready for its assignment. Decorated with 1,000 environmentally friendly LED lights, the symbol of peace will be lit up for the first time on November 21.
Photo credits: Österreichische Bundesforste
