Old Botanical Garden, Kiel

54.33083333333310.146944444444Koordinaten: 54 ° 19 ' 51 " N, 10 ° 8' 49 " O

The Old Botanical Garden is a public park in Kiel.

History and location

The first Botanical Garden in Kiel was created in 1669 as a " hortus medicus " in the castle garden and is thus regarded as the sixth oldest in Germany. This was followed by gardens at the sites Falck Road ( 1727) and Prüne (1803 ). All these gardens no longer exist and have been built over by their task.

The Old Botanical Garden was opened in 1884. The site was originally created in 1825 as an English landscape garden and remodeled from 1878 to 1884 under Adolf Engler to a botanical garden. It lies north of downtown, in close proximity to the Kiel Fjord, the Kunsthalle Kiel and the University Hospitals.

From 1975 on, a new botanical garden on the university campus in the Olshausenstraße was created, which was opened in 1985. 1978, the relocation of the plants in these now fifth Botanical Garden in Kiel was completed. What remained were the major tree and shrub stock and since then gracefully verwildernden bulbs. To prevent overbuilding of the Old Botanical Garden, 1980, the " Association for the preservation and promotion of the Old Botanical Garden Kiel " was founded. It was achieved that the garden has been preserved as a public park and remains open year round. Since 1980 there are public guided tours through the garden and he was designated as a natural and cultural monument in 1992.

Park and Plants

Classification of the garden

The 2.5 hectare site has a hilly character with more than 20 meters difference in altitude. In addition to some very old wood stock from over 280 species of Old Botanical Garden also has a diverse herbaceous flora. There are two ponds in the garden, meadow areas as well as some perennial beds. The slopes are planted with bulbous plants in the spring and offer a wonderful flower. The whole area is criss-crossed by winding paths, which emphasize the natural character of the plant. The old greenhouses are no longer obtain.

Special plants

In the Old Botanical Garden Kiel is one of the largest ginkgo trees in Schleswig -Holstein. The larger of the two Urweltmammutbäume is one of the oldest of its kind on the European mainland ( estimated planting: in 1948, grown from seed of the Arnold Arboretum ) and also for this climatic region rather atypical coast redwood can be seen there.

Arts and buildings

In the Old Botanical Garden sculptures of artist Susan Walke are issued and often find literary actions instead.

The old house of garden inspector (1906 built half-timbered ) houses since 1998, the Literature House Schleswig -Holstein, readings take place regularly in the.

At the highest point of the garden, a pavilion was built in 1891 with wrought iron crown. The octagonal brick building boasts of its observation deck offers a beautiful view over the garden and on the Kiel Fjord. In the pavilion there is a permanent exhibition on the history of botanical gardens in Kiel. On the north side of the building is a niche in which is a replica of the founding board of the third Botanical Garden can be seen, the original is in today's botanical garden. Originally, the niche always offered a shady place for the first public exhibition of marine algae.

The devices cottage was, as the inspector's house, also built in the half-timbered style and thus blends into the garden.

Southwest of the view pavilion is the former greenhouse, which is 1884/85 were created alongside the Botanical Institute. The brick building is 31 meters long and 5 meters deep. It has been extended several times by glass buildings that date, however, no longer exist. Receive only the core building of brick with the gardener and heater housing, with Umtopfräumen as well as a full basement. The so-called pot house is a unique monument of Schleswig-Holstein Botany history, however, is in need of restoration.

Sources

• Botanical Garden of the Christian -Albrechts -University of Kiel: History of the garden
• Margita Marion Meyer: The pot house in the Old Botanical Garden in Kiel - A monument of Schleswig-Holstein Botany history. In: monument. Journal of monuments in Schleswig -Holstein. 19/2012, ISSN 0946-4549, pp. 32-34.
• Association for the Preservation and Promotion of the Old Botanical Garden Kiel: Folder Alter Botanischer Garten Kiel, 2002
• Association for the Preservation and Promotion of the Old Botanical Garden Kiel: Old Botanical Garden: Built Plan and woody list of the Old Botanical Garden in Kiel. Edited by Hans Fuhrmann and Michael Treichel. Kiel 1996.