The Sister City Association of Chattanooga and Sculpture Fields will host a ceremony on Arbor Day, March 4 at 2 p.m. to plant the first trees that will populate a new Commemorative Forest. The Hamm, Germany, tradition of the Hochzeitswald, the Wedding Forest, where couples purchase trees to commemorate their nuptials, will be duplicated in Chattanooga to include commemorative tree plantings for any special date or memory.
“The Hochzeitswald, a cultural tradition in Hamm, has become so popular that the area has been expanded several times with more than a thousand trees planted to commemorate occasions other than weddings,” said Karen Claypool, president of the Sister City Association of Chattanooga.
“The Hochzeitswald now is a combination of nature, artwork and recreation. Several well-known sculptures are found in the park.”
“The Sculpture Fields is an ideal setting for the Commemorative Forest,” said Cathy Clifford, executive director of Sculpture Fields. “Our 33-acre park will eventually be filled with 75 monumental works of sculpture from all over the world. Partnering with Hamm will add another international cultural facet to our beautiful setting.”
Three trees will be planted and dedicated to: the partnership between Chattanooga and Hamm and those who worked to formalize that relationship; the late Rhonda Seeber, long time Sister Cities member and former board member; and the children of Dewey and Rebecca Hammond.
Four residents of Hamm will be present for the ceremony, including District Mayor Schulte and Tobias Garske, who manages the Hochzeitswald.
Thirty-nine years ago Chattanooga entered into a sister city partnership with Hamm, Germany. Chattanooga has a total of seven sister cities, but Hamm continues to be Chattanooga’s strongest partner. The two cities have participated in numerous activities, including annual youth exchanges, annual visits of adults, art exchanges, pen pal relationships and cross-cultural internships.
For more information about Sculpture Fields or to purchase a tree, call 423-266-7288, email clifford@sculpturefields.org, or log on to
www.sculpturefields.org.