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The International World War Peace Tree is a linden tree on the southwestern edge of Darmstadt, Indiana, serving as a reminder of Germany's armistice with the United States in 1918.
The tree stands on the northwest corner of St. Joseph Avenue and Orchard Road, surrounded by cornfields. Its relative isolation from the nearby forests makes it easy to identify. In front of the tree is a wooden sign reading, "International World War Peace Tree - Nov. 11, 1918". The date marks the end of World War I. The tree is 40 feet (12 m) tall and is at least 110 years old. [1]
The sign in front of the tree is frequently adorned with small American flags, particularly around patriotic holidays such as Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Veterans Day. [1]
The tree has its origins in Germany. It was brought to the United States in 1912 as a seedling by Joseph Freudenberg, prior to World War I. When the treaty with Germany was signed in 1918, a picnic was held on the property of his sister-in-law Mrs. Wortman, and during the picnic, Freudenberg's tree was transplanted to its current location at the intersection of St. Joseph and Orchard in celebration of the end the war. The planting and dedication of this tree by German American immigrants served as a sign of their loyalty to America and also to build local community harmony. [1] It was dedicated on August 24, 1919. [2] [3]
Freudenberg mounted a flagpole near the tree, but the flagpole has since been removed, although its cement base remains. The garden of flowers that once adorned the tree has also disappeared. [1]
The tree has been maintained since its arrival in America by the same family:
On November 11, 2020, members of the Veterans For Peace, Chapter 104 - Evansville, IN dedicated a sapling propagated from the tree at Oak Hill Cemetery in the Veterans Plaza [5] along with a plaque with the following inscription:
- Linden -
“Progeny of a tree brought from Germany and planted by the Freudenberg family in Darmstadt, Indiana and dedicated on the Armistice of 11 November 1918.
Propagated by Veterans For Peace in 2018 and transplanted here on 11 November 2020.
May this tree ever stand as a reminder of the universal thread that binds together all humanity - the deep, eternal longing for peace - and of the lives that bear silent witness to our failures.”
The stab-in-the-back myth was an antisemitic and anticommunist conspiracy theory that was widely believed and promulgated in Germany after 1918. It maintained that the Imperial German Army did not lose World War I on the battlefield, but was instead betrayed by certain citizens on the home front – especially Jews, revolutionary socialists who fomented strikes and labor unrest, and republican politicians who had overthrown the House of Hohenzollern in the German Revolution of 1918–1919. Advocates of the myth denounced the German government leaders who had signed the Armistice of 11 November 1918 as the "November criminals".
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace of Versailles, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which led to the war. The other Central Powers on the German side signed separate treaties. The United States never ratified the Versailles treaty and made a separate peace treaty with Germany. Although the armistice of 11 November 1918 ended the actual fighting, it took six months of Allied negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. Germany was not allowed to participate in the negotiations; it was forced to sign the final treaty.
Maximilian, Margrave of Baden, also known as Max von Baden, was a German prince, general, and politician. He was heir presumptive to the throne of the Grand Duchy of Baden, and in October and November 1918 briefly served as the last chancellor of the German Empire and minister-president of Prussia. He sued for peace on Germany's behalf at the end of World War I based on U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points and took steps towards transforming the government into a parliamentary system. As the German Revolution of 1918–1919 spread, he handed over the office of chancellor to SPD Chairman Friedrich Ebert and unilaterally proclaimed the abdication of Emperor Wilhelm II. Both events took place on 9 November 1918, marking the beginning of the Weimar Republic.
Remembrance Day is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in the line of duty. The day is also marked by war remembrances in several other non-Commonwealth countries. In most countries, Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the end of First World War hostilities. Hostilities ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" of 1918, in accordance with the armistice signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12 and 5:20 that morning. The First World War formally ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919.
An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the Latin arma, meaning "arms" and -stitium, meaning "a stopping".
Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, at 5:45 am for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at 11:00 am—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918 although, according to Thomas R. Gowenlock, an intelligence officer with the U.S. First Division, shelling from both sides continued for the rest of the day, ending only at nightfall. The armistice initially expired after a period of 36 days and had to be extended several times. A formal peace agreement was reached only when the Treaty of Versailles was signed the following year.
Darmstadt is a small, German-heritage town primarily located in Scott Township, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. It also extends slightly into Armstrong, Center and German townships. The population was 1,407 at the 2010 census. Darmstadt, located just north of Evansville, is the only other incorporated municipality in Vanderburgh County besides Evansville.
Veterans Day is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces. It began, and now coincides with other holidays, including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day, which are commemorated in other countries, marking the anniversary of the end of World War I. Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. At the urging of major U.S. veteran organizations, Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.
Rupert Vance Hartke was an American politician who served as a Democratic United States Senator from Indiana from 1959 until 1977. Hartke won election to the Senate after serving as the mayor of Evansville, Indiana. In the Senate, he supported the Great Society and became a prominent opponent of the Vietnam War. Hartke ran for president in the 1972 Democratic primaries but withdrew after the first set of primaries. He left the Senate after being defeated in his 1976 re-election campaign by Richard Lugar.
Ferdinand Foch was a French general and military theorist who served as the Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. An aggressive, even reckless commander at the First Marne, Flanders and Artois campaigns of 1914–1916, Foch became the Allied Commander-in-Chief in late March 1918 in the face of the all-out German spring offensive, which pushed the Allies back using fresh soldiers and new tactics that trenches could not withstand. He successfully coordinated the French, British and American efforts into a coherent whole, deftly handling his strategic reserves. He stopped the German offensive and launched a war-winning counterattack. In November 1918, Marshal Foch accepted the German cessation of hostilities and was present at the Armistice of 11 November 1918.
The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices had been agreed with Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary. It was concluded after the German government sent a message to American president Woodrow Wilson to negotiate terms on the basis of a recent speech of his and the earlier declared "Fourteen Points", which later became the basis of the German surrender at the Paris Peace Conference, which took place the following year.
The 13th Division was an infantry division of the United States Army. It was established at Camp Lewis, Washington, in 1918, during World War I. The war ended before the division saw combat, and it was inactivated in 1919.
The Armistice of Salonica was the armistice signed at 10:50 p.m. on 29 September 1918 between Bulgaria and the Allied Powers at the General Headquarters of the Allied Army of the Orient in Thessaloniki. The armistice came into force at noon on 30 September 1918. The armistice would remain in effect until the conclusion of the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine, the final general peace treaty, in November 1919.
John William Boehne Jr. was an American World War I veteran who served six terms as a U.S. Representative from Indiana from 1931 to 1942
Center Township is one of eight townships in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 39,007 and it contained 16,306 housing units.
Pierre Renouvin was a French historian of international relations.
The Armistice of Focșani was an agreement that ended the hostilities between Romania and the Central Powers in World War I. It was signed on 9 December 1917 in Focșani in Romania.
The Compiègne Wagon was the train carriage in which both the Armistice of 11 November 1918 and Armistice of 22 June 1940 were signed.
The armistice of Belgrade was an agreement on the termination of World War I hostilities between the Triple Entente and the Kingdom of Hungary concluded in Belgrade on 13 November 1918. It was largely negotiated by General Louis Franchet d'Espèrey, as the commanding officer of the Allied Army of the Orient, and Hungarian Prime Minister Mihály Károlyi, on 7 November. It was signed by General Paul Prosper Henrys and vojvoda Živojin Mišić, as representatives of the Allies, and by the former Hungarian Minister of War, Béla Linder.
38°04′59″N87°35′53″W / 38.082985°N 87.59809°W
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