Späth-Arboretum

The Späth - Arboretum is a 3.5 hectare arboretum in Berlin- Baumschulenweg that serves the Humboldt University in Berlin for teaching, research and outreach. It is open during the summer months on some days of the week for the general public.

History

The nursery owner Franz Späth enlarged in 1879 the garden of his house to an arboretum, which was created in the English garden style according to the plans of the Berlin city garden director Johann Heinrich Gustav Meyer. 1930 trees was first recorded in an overview. After the death Späth 1947, the Arboretum in public ownership was transferred. 1961 the arboretum was founded in 1960, affiliated to the Institute of Systematic Botany at the Humboldt University. 1995, ordered the University to the Institute of Biology of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences I. The International Dendrology Society awarded the Späth - Arboretum in 1998 as the only arboretum in Germany the honorary plaque to document its specificity and Erhaltenswürdigkeit.

The Arboretum is located in the former marsh and heath land of the king heath, forming a relic of the earlier extensive forests of Köllnischen heath south of the River Spree. A pond in the Arboretum testifies to the ancient watercourse of Heidekamp trench.