In Memoriam: Anke Mattern (1960–2024)

We announce with great sadness the untimely death at age 64 of Anke Mattern on 22nd December 2024, when she finally lost a long and courageous battle against cancer.

Although she became immersed in the world of trees, Anke commenced her career working with perennials, first employed at the Countess von Zeppelin Perennial Nursery and later by well-known plant breeder Ernst Pagels. She then spent a brief period in the USA before returning to her native town of Steyerberg in northwest Germany to start her own garden design business, which, with her extraordinary work ethic, she continued to run in parallel with the professional organization of tours.

Out of curiosity she made a brief appearance at the IOS German tour in 1998, and liked what she saw enough to join the Society in time to participate in the French tour on the Riviera in October 1999. She attended her first Conference in North Carolina in the year 2000, and thereafter Winchester in 2003, Dallas in 2006, Mexico in 2009, and although not a participant in the 2012 Bordeaux Conference, she found time to host the Post-Tour group at Arboretum de la Bergerette with her unique flair and attention to detail. Her unquenchable enthusiasm and sense of fun made her many friends.

In 2007 Anke set up the IOS tour to Japan in conjunction with Professor Hideaki Ohba, which subsequently led to a much-expanded version organized for the International Dendrology Society (IDS). She had been on the IDS Tour Committee since 2005, and was appointed IDS Vice-President for Germany in 2010, becoming somewhat less involved with the IOS thereafter and instead organizing superb tours for the IDS to the French Riviera, Bhutan, South Africa, and latterly the IDS’ 70th birthday celebrations in Ireland.

Anke will live long in the memories of all who met her, and most particularly those lucky enough to have participated in her tours, where the oft-seeming serendipity of the venues concealed an iron attention to detail. We will greatly miss her.