The Sobieski Oak () is an over 400-year-old specimen of

pedunculate oak ''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It grows on soi ...

(''Quercus robur'') located within the Łężczok nature reserve, within the administrative boundaries of

Racibórz Racibórz (, , , ) is a city in Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland. It is the administrative seat of Racibórz County. With Opole, Racibórz is one of the historic capitals of Upper Silesia, being the residence of the Duchy of Racibórz, Du ...

. It is the thickest and oldest tree in Racibórz, the Łężczok reserve, and one of the three oldest and most magnificent trees in the

Rudy Landscape Park Rudy Landscape Park (full name ''Park Krajobrazowy Cysterskie Kompozycje Krajobrazowe Rud Wielkich'': "Landscape Park of the Cistercian Landscape Compositions of Rudy Wielkie") is a protected area ( landscape park) in southern Poland, establishe ...

. By the decision of the Presidium of the Provincial National Council in

Opole Opole (; ; ; ) is a city located in southern Poland on the Oder River and the historical capital of Upper Silesia. With a population of approximately 127,387 as of the 2021 census, it is the capital of Opole Voivodeship (province) and the seat of ...

dated 14 April 1967, it was designated a

natural monument A natural monument is a natural or cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities, or cultural significance. They can be natural geological and geographical features such as w ...

. It is surrounded by a small, wooden fence.

Description

At a height of 3.5 meters, the thick base of the tree bifurcates into two main trunks. There used to be a third trunk, which most likely was broken by the wind. Today, a sizable crack remains in the tree where this trunk once was. The circumference of the tree measured at ground level slightly exceeds 850 cm, while the circumference of the oak at a height of 1.3 m is 690 cm, and its height is 33 m. The impressive size and venerable age (over 400 years) make this oak the thickest and oldest tree in

, within the Łężczok nature reserve, and one of the three oldest and most magnificent trees in the

Location

The oak tree grows in the Łężczok nature reserve, along the avenue running along the embankment separating the Grabowiec and Brzeziniak ponds, named the Polish Hussars Alley. This alley is unique in terms of natural features, with the Sobieski Oak standing out prominently. It is traversed by the , a red

tourist trail Trail blazing or way marking is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with signs or markings that follow each other at certain, though not necessarily exactly defined, distances and mark the direction of the trail. A blaz ...

connecting the localities through which the army led by

John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( (); (); () 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Eur ...

passed in 1683 during the

Battle of Vienna The Battle of Vienna took place at Kahlenberg Mountain near Vienna on 1683 after the city had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months. The battle was fought by the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarchy) and the Polish–Li ...

. It also serves as the border between Racibórz and the

Gmina Nędza __NOTOC__ Gmina Nędza is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Racibórz County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. Its seat is the village of Nędza, which lies approximately north-east of Racibórz and west of the regional capital ...

– the oak is located on its southern side, within the administrative boundaries of Racibórz. Nearby the oak, there is also a historic hunting lodge from the 18th century and a wooden cross commemorating a forest guard killed by a

poacher Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the hunti ...

Name and legends

The oak's name comes from a legend according to which the tree was planted to commemorate King

's stay in those areas during his march to the

in 1683. This tradition was reinforced in the interwar period by in his publications, considering it quite probable. However, it is known that this contradicts the truth because in 1683 the tree was already about 100 years old. It was most likely planted by the

Cistercians The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

, who used trees, mainly oaks, to line communication routes and embankments of fishponds. On the other hand, Jan Duda, in his publication ''Natural Features of Racibórz'' from 2001, writes about a legend according to which King John III Sobieski allegedly stopped under the oak while traveling to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. The oak fits into the well-known tradition of in

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

Legal protection and conservation efforts

In 1922, the entire area of Łężczok, which was then within the borders of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, was legally protected. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Poles also decided to protect this area by establishing it as a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

in 1957. Ten years later, by decision of the Presidium of the Provincial National Council in

on 14 April 1967, the tree was granted individual protection, becoming a

. The decision to recognize the tree as a natural monument was also reaffirmed by the Silesian

Voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

in a regulation dated 9 March 2006. In the 1970s, the crack left by the third trunk was sealed with a concrete plug by Franciszek Polaczek, a forester from Nędza, on his own initiative. However, it turned out that this plug accelerated the decay of the trunk. Around the year 2000, the plug began to visibly collapse until it finally collapsed completely in the summer of 2002, revealing a hole with a diameter of 1 m. Also in the 1970s, two trunks were encircled with a metal chain at a height of 10 m to protect them from splitting. However, the use of the metal chain caused the two main trunks of the oak to die due to pressure on the

vascular cambium The vascular cambium is the main growth tissue in the stems and roots of many plants exhibiting secondary growth, specifically in dicots such as buttercups and oak trees, gymnosperms such as pine trees, as well as in certain other vascular ...

. During subsequent procedures, a significant portion of the lower branches was removed, thus changing the shape of the tree, which is now devoid of branches up to a considerable height. From 1993 to 1994, conservation work on the old oaks in Łężczok was carried out by Stefan Kisielewski, a specialist in tree care and protection. In 1998, employees of Piotr Kamiński's Tree Surgery and Care Department from

Żory Żory (; , , ) is a town and city powiat, county in the Silesian Voivodeship, located in southern Poland with 62,848 inhabitants (2021). It is located in the historic Upper Silesia region about southwest of Katowice. Location Żory is located in ...

performed a full range of crown cuts on the oak, removed metal caps from places where branches had been cut, and cleared deep cavities. Since the metal chain at a height of 10 m did not provide full protection, an elastic tape with a strength of up to 8 tons was also installed at a height of 20 m.

References

Bibliography