For other readers:
Test 3 (Or simply copy the sun into it from jMonkeyEngine 3 Tutorial (3) - Hello Assets :: jMonkeyEngine Docs, then at least one side is visible):
final ModelKey key = new ModelKey("media/model/bio/tannenbaum.gltf");
final Node scene = (Node)assetManager.loadModel(key);
rootNode .attachChild(scene);
// You must add a light to make the model visible
final DirectionalLight sun = new DirectionalLight();
sun.setDirection(new Vector3f(-0.1f, -0.7f, -1.0f));
rootNode.addLight(sun);
I do that with other elements.
By the way: With two suns, Blender surface “Background” pretty much delivers the result of “Common / MatDefs / Misc / Unshaded.j3md” (so without gloss and fancy), only that it is already a bit shaded.
Thanks for all pointers.
My real problem, however, was that the tree was floating unexpectedly high in the air … I guess I positioned something wrong in Blender.