Helge Breloer

Helge Breloer née Martin (October 28, 1937 – April 23, 2011) was a German jurist, tree-appraisal expert, and author of nonfiction books.

Helge Breloer was born in Mönchengladbach.

She was the daughter of Illa und Ernst J. Martin, both dentists and dendrologists and founders of the Sequoiafarm Kaldenkirchen.

She had two brothers, the landscape architect Reiner Martin and the author, editor and song composer Erik Martin.

Breloer attended the School of Our Lady in Muelhausen at the Lower Rhine, Germany, and studied legal science in Cologne, Freiburg and Munich.

Breloer was an expert at arboriculture, specialized in legal aspects and the appraisal of trees and shrubs.

In these areas of expertise she was publicly appointed and sworn by the chamber of agriculture of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1982 to 2009.

From 1983 to 1993, Breloer worked with expert witness Werner Koch, who developed the first method for tree appraisal that was accepted by the Federal Court of Justice of Germany.

After his death in 1993 she continued their mutual work further using the Koch method which is recognized by jurisdiction as well as in practice.

With Claus Mattheck, professor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, she worked on tree failure analysis.

Breloer published numerous articles in horticultural and silvicultural journals and is the author of the book and journal series Bäume und Recht (trees and the law).

In addition, she focused on the protection of heritage trees, spoke publicly and published articles against tree topping.

Twice a year, she hosted a seminar called Round Table: trees and the law which was free of charge and open to beginners as well as experienced consulting arborists, bringing them up-to-date on tree jurisdiction.

From 2001 to 2008 she lectured Applied Science at the University of Osnabrück.

She was the initiator of the "Baum-Zentrum", a "tree center" (training center) founded in Tecklenburg in 2006.

Together with Frank Rinn, Breloer developed a simple as possible two-page form software for tree appraisal that helped many experts to determine the value of trees.

Breloer was a lecturer at several workshops throughout Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.

She was continually engaged in the protection and preservation of trees, arguing against excessive safety requirements concerning the road traffic safety of trees.

Breloer, mother of three children, died at Easter 2011 in Dortmund after suffering severe inner injuries caused by a riding accident.

"She never ceased taking sides for trees and people working in tree-care and consultancy. In her approx. thirty years of dedicated work and fight for trees – arguing against excessive safety requirements concerning road traffic safety of trees, struggling for appropriate working conditions for the municipal tree wardens, proper tree care, fighting all remaining tree-injustices – she has left deep marks."