The age of the lime tree, which has been designated as a natural monument is estimated at 1,000 years old, which makes the tree considerably older than the neighbouring historic village church.
From 1782, following a senate resolution, priests were buried beneath the lime tree rather than being interred in front of the altar as had hitherto been the case.
In 1795 the lime was mentioned in the travel diaries of Johann Friedrich Zöllner.
He wrote: At the halfway point we stopped in the village of Reinberg in order to see a real curiosity; this was a lime tree in the churchyard that measured 37½ feet in circumference around the lower part of the trunk and was just as green on the inside as on the outside.
It is in fact entirely hollowed out, and the bark has not only curled inwards at the place where it is cracked, but also supports new branches.