The Parliament of Trees

A stone's throw from the seat of the German government lies another, more obscure parliament: the Parliament of Trees. It is the life’s work and legacy of a singular artist, Ben Wagin. Born Bernhard Wargin in West Prussia in 1930, he was a witness to the horrors of World War II and the subsequent displacement.

From 1957, he lived in Berlin and studied at the University of the Arts (Hochschule der Künste). He belonged to the inner circle of artists from the anti-authoritarian movement of the 1960s, such as Klaus Staeck and Joseph Beuys, and was an early advocate for pacifism and ecology. In 1962, he opened Galerie S in Berlin and exhibited at Art Basel, but later turned his back on commercial art entirely. In 1976, he founded the "Tree Godfather Association" (Baumpatenverein e. V.) to improve urban quality of life, planting thousands of trees—preferring ginkgos—as part of ecological art campaigns.

Public impact was always part of the plan; even today, some of the trees standing in front of the Berliner Ensemble, the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, and the Neue Nationalgalerie were his doing. With a likeable tenacity and persistence, he repeatedly convinced politicians, sponsors, and cultural figures of his visions.

One contemporary recalled that his methods of choice were "enervating phone calls and statements that initially seemed cryptic yet were always profound." He added: "Ben—the terror of every administration and enemy of institutional thinking—was a gentle 'fisher of men' who won people over to his causes through natural charm and his occasionally gruff warmth."

In 1975, he created one of Berlin’s first large-scale murals, World Tree I in the Hansaviertel; this was followed in 1985 by World Tree II on a firewall at the Savignyplatz S-Bahn station.

His masterstroke, however, is the Parliament of Trees. Immediately following the fall of the Wall in 1990, he had a section of the Berlin Wall broken open and brought together artists from East and West to plant trees. This action is depicted graphically on a segment of the Wall.

Shortly thereafter, he occupied a stretch of the former "Death Strip," where the current government district was later to be built. At a time when everyone wanted the Wall gone, he secured L-shaped wall elements and transformed them artistically. Trees were planted, and gravestones were set in memory of those killed at the Wall and other victims of contemporary history—though no one was ever actually buried there. The Parliament of Trees opened on November 9, 1990.

Some elements of the tree parliament are exceedingly strange and dubious, reflecting the artist’s quirkiness. It wasn't until 2012 that he removed the "r" from his birth name. Was it a play on the word wagen (to dare), or was it perhaps a sexual allusion?

Small aluminum plaques in front of the individual wall segments bear the names of artists, politicians, and public figures. Whether these people were sympathetic to Wagin's projects or actually involved remains cryptic. Did the politician Rita Süßmuth actually paint a wall here? Unlikely. Similarly, the green watering cans on the fence or the makeshift urinal with the slogan "WE drink what WE pee" on the back of the wall row are unsettling. One is reminded of the "object art" of Joseph Beuys.

In December 2020, two sinister figures made of synthetic resin—reminiscent of Dementors from Harry Potter or the Emperor from Star Wars—were still in the art garden. The connection to nature and peace wasn't immediately obvious, but it looked interesting. Ben Wagin was a small, elderly man, smiling blissfully, who said that entry to the Parliament of Trees was free, but donations were welcome. He suggested 50 to 100 Euros!

As construction on the parliamentary buildings progressed, the site was downsized and partially relocated. Ben Wagin fought like a lion to preserve his work; reports speak of boundless persistence, stubborn radicalism, and great emotionality. In November 2017, the Parliament of Trees was designated a protected historical monument.

He passed away on July 28, 2021, at the age of 91.

Since 2021, following Ben Wagin's death, the Berlin Wall Foundation has been responsible for the care and preservation of this extraordinary place.