Botanical Garden Münster behind the castle

Victoria Regia display Viktoriahaus Münster

The Botanischer Garten Münster (4.6 hectares) is a botanical garden maintained by the University of Münster (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster).

Location

It is located directly behind the Prince Bishop's Castle, within the castle grounds at 3 Schloßgarten, Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and open daily free of charge.

History

The garden was begun in 1803 by

Freiherr vom Stein Heinrich Friedrich Karl Reichsfreiherr vom und zum Stein (25 October 1757 – 29 June 1831), commonly known as Baron vom Stein, was a Prussian statesman who introduced the Prussian reforms, which paved the way for the unification of Germany. ...

for the university's medical faculty, with first

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...

s built in 1804. From 1806–1815, during the occupation of Westphalia by French troops and the Congress of Vienna, its emphasis changed from medicinal plants to a primary focus on indigenous plants. Its first seed catalog issued in 1827, and its orangery was constructed in 1840. Noted botanist Carl Correns (1864–1933) directed the garden from 1909–1915, with the first tropical greenhouse built in 1935. The garden was severely damaged during World War II, with all its greenhouses destroyed. Even so in 1952 the garden was partially restored and five greenhouses had been rebuilt. An artificial stream, meadow, and moor were created during the 1990s, and in 2005 a new medicinal garden added.

Plants in display

Today the garden contains about 8,000 species, including a major collection of 230 of the 280 known

Pelargonium ''Pelargonium'' () is a genus of flowering plants that includes about 280 species of perennials, succulents, and shrubs, commonly called geraniums, pelargoniums, or storksbills. '' Geranium'' is also the botanical name and common name of a separ ...

species. In addition to ten greenhouses (total area about 2,000 m²), major garden sections are as follows: Source: * Alpine garden with plants from the Alps and Pyrenees *

Arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

, as well as birch- oak forest and

Tilia ''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperateness, temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Britain a ...

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

trees *

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and New Zealand plants * Cottage garden from the 1900s, featuring vegetables and

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

s * Mediterranean plants, kept in the orangery in cold months * Moor and heath * Systematic garden of seed plants * Tropical house * Victoria House, containing '' Victoria regia'' The garden contains a good selection of rare and mature tree specimens in its arboretum, including orange trees that are over 200 years old.

References

Sources

Botanischer Garten Münster

BGCI entry
* Rolf Wiermann, ''Der Botanische Garten der Universität Münster: 200 Jahre Geschichte'', Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster, 2003. .

External links