Zoetermeer residents look forward to it every year: the Christmas tree is shining again on the Dobbeplas. Our editors found out some fun facts through J. Glijnis BV, the builder of the tree, that you probably didn’t know yet.

The Christmas tree consists of so many trees

Seen from far away, the Christmas tree looks like one big tree. But nothing could be further from the truth: the tree is formed by 37 trees of four meters high. The top is a six meter high silver fir, a so-called Abies nordmanniana.

The large Christmas tree on the Dobbeplas. Photo: in the Zoetermeer neighborhood

Origin of Christmas trees

The Abies nordmanniana originally comes from Finland, but this Nordmann fir is now grown in many more countries. The silver fir is popular because it loses few needles. The trees on the Dobbeplas come from Germany or Belgium from Global GAP certified growers.

Employees of J. Glijnis BV build the Christmas tree every year. Photo: in the Zoetermeer neighborhood

Light in the darkness

All 37 small spruces will be equipped with five strings of lights, each 10 meters long. The top tree has ten strings of ten meters of lights. This means that a total of 1,950 meters of lights were used: that’s almost two kilometers! The mayor lights the lights every year before the start of candle evening.

Mark van Wasbeek Zoetermeer
Photo: Painting by Mark van Wasbeek

To his place on the pond

The employees of J. Glijnis BV build the mega Christmas tree on a plateau on the waterfront. This involves placing the 38 trees, the peak and strings of lights in the right place. The construction of the large Christmas tree takes a few days. The staff can reach the top using an aerial work platform. As soon as the Christmas tree is ready, a small tugboat pulls the platform with the Christmas tree to the middle of the Dobbeplas.

The small tugboat (right) pulls the plateau with the Christmas tree to the center of the lake. Photo: in the Zoetermeer neighborhood

Adrift and blown over

On December 24, 2013 there was a storm in the country. The plateau with the Christmas tree has become adrift and has shifted towards the fountain on the Dobbeplas. In January 2018 there was another storm that even blew over the mega Christmas tree.

Storm Zoetermeer 2018
Christmas tree at the Dobbeplas. Photo: AD Zoetermeer, Ron Jenner

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