The Goethe Tree

Melissa and Michael were engaged on June 22nd, 2008, under a Ginkgo biloba tree in the castle gardens of Heidelberg, Germany.

Context – Why a Ginkgo Biloba Tree in Germany?

During the years leading up to their engagement, Melissa and Michael often exchanged books, poems, and other materials related to the German poet, botanist, geologist, writer, anatomist, philosopher, and dramatist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. While they both studied the German language, they became familiar with his life and works, and while they both pursued coursework in botany – Melissa making it her major – they were reminded of his writings about plants in general, and his poem about the leaves of the Ginkgo biloba tree in particular (see the “Engagement” page to the right for the poem). The leafy campus of Miami University, where they attended college, also afforded constant reminders. One Ginkgo biloba specimen in particular, which stood on the walkway between their dormitories, reminded them of the poem and its many meanings.

Much of what the tree means is reflected in its notable botanical features. Being a living fossil, it has a rich botanical history, including a fossil record stretching back 270 million years to the Permian. It also seems to have shown little speciation, making it possible that the species remained continuously in existence with comparatively little change for millions of years. Moreover, the tree is also long-lived, a 3,000 year old specimen having been reported in modern times. Furthermore, these trees were at their height in pre-historic times, leading some to speculate that the Ginkgo biloba is a likely source of many of the fossil fuels – not to mention diamonds – used today. Finally, another notable feature of the species is the difficulty botanists have in categorizing it.

Of course, these characteristics have little to do with why they have appeared in so many of the places Melissa and Michael have lived. In cities like New York, where Michael has attended graduate school and Ginkgo biloba trees abound, this plant is chosen because of its ability to thrive despite the difficulties posed by an urban environment. In places like Oxford, Ohio, where Melissa and Michael studied, its selection likely stems from its association with Chinese cultural history. So too, this association likely played into Goethe’s interest, as the poem “Ginkgo biloba” appeared in a collection of poetry written in an “Eastern” poetic form – the divan, and entitled, “West-East Divan” (West-Oestlicher Divan). This work includes poems Goethe wrote while staying in Heidelberg, Germany, where he spent time in the gardens of a ruined castle with a romantic interest and is even said to have planted a Ginkgo biloba tree. Throughout this work, Goethe muses on a theme popular within German intellectual history, namely, the possibility of unity in multiplicity. Somewhat uniquely, though, Goethe’s poem focuses on the unity that arises in duality, not unlike the duality of a couple in a relationship. Not only does Goethe draw on the metaphor of the Ginkgo biloba’s leaves to engage this theme, he places the poem in the context of the divan to express more precisely how this unity in multiplicity is attained: through a guiding thread. Subsequently, Michael set some of Goethe’s lines from this collection, as well as classical Turkish poetry in the divan form, to music, giving Melissa a further sense of how the poetic form expresses this classic idea so metaphorically appropriate to reflecting about human relationships. Moreover, as Michael’s philosophical studies progressed, he learned increasingly more about the role Heidelberg played as a location not only in the lives of many philosophers, but also their debates and research – not to mention many eminent medical researchers, chemists, and others.

The Proposal

Directly after one of Melissa’s major medical board examinations, Melissa and Michael traveled to Europe to see a friend in the United Kingdom and to spend time in Germany (for more information about their trip, please see “The Trip” page). After arriving in Heidelberg, they spent a leisurely morning enjoying a proper breakfast in the shadow of the ruined castle at a cafe Michael frequented when he spent the summer of 2004 studying in Heidelberg. They then ventured to the castle and its gardens, where they enjoyed panoramic views of the Neckar river valley. Walking along the castle garden’s pathway, which overlooks the valley, they came upon a Ginkgo biloba tree located where many believe Goethe once planted a specimen of the same species. Pausing beneath it, Michael began talking about the tree and its many meanings, relating it to how they had come to understand Goethe’s poem and its relation to some of Michael’s philosophical ideas. At this time, Michael proposed to Melissa in German, much to the confusion of others in the gardens at the time. Conveniently, a tent had been set up nearby that was serving German sparkling wine accompanied by strawberries and cream, with which they celebrated Melissa’s acceptance of the proposal and spent time reflecting on what it meant.