The famous Anne Frank tree toppled to the ground after gusty winds whipped through Amsterdam on Monday. The more than 150-year old tree was the only bit of nature that Anne could view from her hiding place in the Secret Annex.

Listen to an interview with Maatje Mostard from the Anne Frank House

Anne Frank and her family lived in the Secret Annex of a canal house from July 1942 to August 1944, in order to avoid being shipped to camps like many of the other Jews in Amsterdam during World War II. During her time in hiding, Anne was not allowed to look out of the windows, meaning the young girl had no access to the outside world. But from her hiding place she could view a horse chestnut tree, which was growing in a nearby garden. The young writer mentioned the tree three times in her diary, which went on to become one of the most widely read books in history. According to her journal, the tree provided the young girl comfort during her years of confinement. Maatje Mostard, head of communications at the Anne Frank House, was working when the tree fell:

"The tree is important for the Anne Frank House because it was the only piece of nature Anne Frank could see when she was hiding in the Secret Annex... And today when we were sitting in our rooms, it just fell. One metre above the ground it just [broke.]"

Saving the tree
So far, it is unclear exactly why the tree fell. There was bad weather in Amsterdam on Monday, with heavy rainfall in the morning and wind gusts throughout the day. And it's been known for some time that the tree was diseased. In 1993, the city of Amsterdam spent 365,000 Dutch guilders (more than €165,000) to treat the tree for wood rot caused by a fungal infection. In 2006, the decision was made to cut down the tree because 42 percent of its wood had rotted and experts believed there was a large risk that the tree would fall, potentially causing injuries. But an organisation was founded to prevent the tree from being cut down and a series of legal battles ensued. In 2008, an agreement was reached between the city of Amsterdam and the supporters of the tree, whereby a steel support frame would be constructed to prevent the tree from falling. Ms Mostard says the loss of the tree will be particularly painful for the people who have worked for years to maintain it:

"They put a lot of energy into keeping the tree. For them it must be terrible to see that it didn't work. There was a special construction made, that should [have meant] that it couldn't fall... But if you look now at the tree, it fell down [even] with the special construction. So it didn't work."

The tree's future
It's a testament to the significance of Anne Frank's diary that within minutes of the tree falling, the news had spread across the world. Less than an hour after incident, people were attempting to sell parts of the tree on the internet via a popular bidding site similar to Ebay. One advert offers an 80 centimetre long branch from the tree for €750. It is unclear whether the offer is legitimate, just as it's unclear what will happen now that the tree has fallen. Ms Mostard says that visitors to the Anne Frank House will not notice that the tree is missing:

"From the Anne Frank House itself, you cannot see the tree... The only place where she could see the tree was from the annex and that is not open for [the] public... The tree wasn't standing in the gardens of the Anne Frank House. It's in the garden of another property. So the owner of the garden, where the tree [was] standing, has to decide what will happen. There are seedlings, from the tree, here in Holland, so if the owner of the garden... says, yes, I would like another tree there on that spot, [then] it is possible."