The Brocken Garden (german: Brockengarten) is an alpine

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

on the summit of the

Brocken The Brocken, also sometimes referred to as the Blocksberg, is the highest peak in the Harz mountain range and also the highest peak in Northern Germany; it is near Schierke in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt between the rivers Weser and Elbe. ...

(1,142 m above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

), the highest peak in the

Harz mountains The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It lies within the

Harz National Park Harz National Park is a nature reserve in the German federal states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. It comprises portions of the western Harz mountain range, extending from Herzberg and Bad Lauterberg at the southern edge to Bad Harzburg and I ...

near

Wernigerode Wernigerode () is a town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the district of Wernigerode. Its population was 35,041 in 2012. Wernigerode is located southwest of Halberstadt, and is picturesquely s ...

in the state of

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

and has a stock of around 1,600 types of plant. These include species that only grow in the Brocken region, like the Brocken anemone or alpine pasqueflower and the Brocken

hawkweed ''Hieracium'' (), known by the common name hawkweed and classically as (from ancient Greek ιεράξ, 'hawk'), is a genus of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, and closely related to dandelion (''Taraxacum''), chicory ('' Cichorium'') ...

, but its main focus is on alpine plants like the white dryad and the Swiss willow. It is open daily without charge.

History

By 1760 there was already a herb garden on the

Heinrichshöhe The Heinrichshöhe is a subsidiary peak of the highest mountain in the Harz, the Brocken, and, at , it is the second summit in the Harz Mountains. Today, it may only be visited with permission from the national park authority for the purposes of ...

and in 1761 a garden with plants from the Brocken was laid out at

Schierke Schierke is a village and a former municipality in the Harz district, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2009, it is part of the town Wernigerode. Situated within the Harz mountain range in the valley of the river Bode, at the rim ...

. But it was not until 1890 that the Brocken Garden was established by Albert Peter with the permission of Prince Otto of

Stolberg-Wernigerode The County of Stolberg-Wernigerode (german: Grafschaft Stolberg-Wernigerode) was a county of the Holy Roman Empire located in the Harz region around Wernigerode, now part of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was ruled by a branch of the House of Stolberg. ...

on the royal estate. Peter was a naturalist and head of the Botanical Garden of Göttingen. The purpose of the experimental garden was to research the adaptability of

alpine plant Alpine plants are plants that grow in an alpine climate, which occurs at high elevation and above the tree line. There are many different plant species and taxa that grow as a plant community in these alpine tundra. These include perennial grasses, ...

s to the conditions of a new

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

. Due to its northerly and exposed location the summit of the Brocken (1,141 m) equated climatically to heights of about 1,700 to 1,900 m in the

Swiss Alps The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss ...

. Until 1945 the Brocken Garden was run by

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

s at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

. Only in the years 1914 to 1934 and 1945 to 1950 did work have to stop because of the impact of the two world wars. In 1950 the

University of Halle-Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

took over its upkeep. When the Brocken was declared an out-of-bounds area the botanical garten was closed to the public in 1961 and lost its importance. In 1971 all scientific and

horticultural Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

work had to stop. In the period that followed native plants took over much of the garden. Only 90 of the hitherto 1,400 cultivated species could still be found in 1989. After the

reunification of Germany German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

the Brocken Garden was re-established jointly by the

High Harz National Park Harz National Park is a nature reserve in the German federal states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. It comprises portions of the western Harz mountain range, extending from Herzberg and Bad Lauterberg at the southern edge to Bad Harzburg and ...

and the botanical gardens of the universities of Halle and Göttingen. Brockenkuppe wp

Today the garden comprises a public viewing area and an experimental area, closed to the public, in which experiments in

biotope A biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of plants and animals. ''Biotope'' is almost synonymous with the term "habitat", which is more commonly used in English-speaking countrie ...

and species conservation are carried out. In addition the garden is devoted to the renaturalisation of the Brocken summit. The Brocken Garden is accessible to visitors between May and the middle of October. In 2008 there were around 9,000 visitors.http://www.altmark-zeitung.de/sachsenanhaltstart/00_20081014101846_Saison_im_Brockengarten_geht_zu_Ende.html

Tasks

The Brocken Garden supports academic instruction, research, species conservation, school instruction and public information and thus the functions that were given to it by its founder, Albert Peter.

Climate

The average annual temperature is 2.9 °C (based on the period 1960–1990), and there are an average of 171 days of frost and 176 days with snow cover. Only the months of July and August are generally entirely frost-free. Annual precipitation is 1,814 litres per square metre, the average annual

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

is 88 per cent and there are 306 days of mist or fog. The summit of the Brocken is one of the windiest places in Europe. The highest measured wind speed was 263 km/h (in 1984). The Brocken has a natural timber line.

References

Sources

* Friedrich Ebel, Wolfram Richter: ''Der Versuchs- und Schaugarten auf dem Brocken. Informationen über den Brockengarten.'' (Mitteilungen aus dem Botanischen Garten der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle 130), 1991 * Friedrich Ebel u. a.: ''Der Brockengarten. Ein Versuchs- und Schaugarten.'' Schadach, Goslar 1999,

External links

Brockengarten

* Friedrich Ebel and Wolfram Richter, ''Der Versuchs- und Schaugarten auf dem Brocken: Informationen über den Brockengarten'', Botanischer Garten der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle, 1991. * Friedrich Ebel et al., ''Der Brockengarten im Harz: Ein Versuchs- und Schaugarten. Studio Volker Schadach, Goslar, 1999, 2006. . {{Authority control

Botanical gardens in Germany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...