Munich districts

The branch that apparently broke off suddenly on Sunday afternoon in the English Garden and seriously injured a woman is huge: it is about 18 meters long, the police said on Monday, and has a diameter of 85 centimeters at its thickest point. “You could actually say that it is a tree that has fallen down,” said a police spokesman.

The poplar tree from which the branch broke off is located in the English Garden on Schwabinger Bach, not far from the park entrance on Veterinärstrasse. The police initially said it was a linden tree, but later corrected this. The branch fell on a 27-year-old woman who was in the water at around 4 p.m. on Sunday. The fire department described it as “incredibly lucky in an accident.”

The injured person was taken to a hospital with suspected traumatic brain injury, where she is continuing to be treated, police said. Initially, there was talk of a seven-meter-long branch and of a second injured person. However, their injury had nothing to do with the branch, a fire department spokesman explained on Monday.

Photos show that the branch broke off directly at the trunk at a height of several meters. On Monday morning, an expert examined the tree and a drone filmed the scene of the accident, according to a police spokesman.

The criminal investigation department has begun an investigation to find out the cause of the sudden break. The police set up a witness collection point on Sunday to research further details about the break. According to a police spokesman, it is already clear that the branch had not been tampered with.

Open detailed viewThe branch broke off directly at the trunk of the poplar. (Photo: Florian Peljak)

The Bavarian Administration of State Palaces, Gardens and Lakes, which is responsible for the English Garden, announced on Monday afternoon that the trees in the park are checked every year by employees of the tree management competence center. The tree in question was last checked on January 11th. Nothing unusual was noticed. Even now, no previous damage is visible on the broken branch. “The wood body was intact and the branch had leaves.” It is therefore assumed that this was a “green branch break” “which may have been caused by weather-related changes in the wood’s strength.”

The fire department said that the injured 27-year-old woman was also “lucky in her misfortune” because other people reacted carefully and provided help quickly. According to the police, some passers-by lifted the branch and freed the woman. By chance, a doctor was at the scene of the accident and she administered first aid. She stabilized the injured woman and made sure that she was cared for until the emergency services arrived.

Because of the large number of people in the park, a large number of police, rescue workers and firefighters arrived. The scene of the accident was cordoned off over a wide area. Numerous people witnessed the accident. Several crisis intervention teams looked after those affected.