The Old Botanical Garden in Kiel
''Old Botanical Garden in Kiel''
at www.kiel.city-map.de. Accessed on 27 Oct 10. (german: Alter Botanischer Garten Kiel) (2.5 hectares), also known as the Old Botanical Garden on the Fjord (''Alter Botanischer Garten an der Förde''), is a former 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 ...
and 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 ...
located at ''Düsternbrooker Weg 19'', Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...
, Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...
, 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 is open daily without charge.
Kiel has had various botanical gardens since 1668, when professor Johann Daniel Major (1634–1693) established his ''horticus medicus'' within the garden of Kiel Castle. It is unclear whether this garden survived the Danish occupation of 1675–1676. Subsequent gardens were established on the site of the former Franciscan monastery on the Falckstraße (from 1727) and the garden at the Prüne (from 1803). No trace of these early gardens remains.
The Old Botanical Garden began as the private park of tobacco manufacturer Abraham Christian Brauer, who in 1825 created a garden with curved walkways, differentiated woody plantings, a swan pond, and excellent views of Kiel's fjord
In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Ice ...
landscape. Upon his death in 1868 the site was acquired by the University of Kiel
Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in ...
, and from 1878 to 1884 was refashioned by botanist
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 ...
Adolf Engler
Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (25 March 1844 – 10 October 1930) was a German botanist. He is notable for his work on plant taxonomy and phytogeography, such as ''Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' (''The Natural Plant Families''), edited with ...
as a botanical garden, introducing geographic plantings of exotic species while preserving the landscape aesthetics. In 1891 the university added a hilltop pavilion, an octagonal brick building with a graceful dome of iron mesh, and in 1906 added the garden inspector's cottage. After the university created a new botanical garden on its campus in 1978 (the University Botanical Gardens), the garden became a public park in 1980. Its fence and pavilion were extensively restored from 1984 to 1994, and since 1998 the cottage has served as the Literature House of Schleswig-Holstein.
Today the garden contains more than 280 species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of diverse herbaceous flora, with an interesting collection of trees that includes one of the largest ginkgo
''Ginkgo'' is a genus of non-flowering seed plants. The scientific name is also used as the English name. The order to which it belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, 270 million years ago, and is now the only living genus within ...
trees in Schleswig-Holstein, two specimens of ''Metasequoia glyptostroboides
''Metasequoia glyptostroboides'', the dawn redwood, is a fast-growing, endangered deciduous pinophyta, conifer. It is the sole living species of the genus ''Metasequoia'', one of three genera in the subfamily Sequoioideae of the family (botany), ...
'' said to be the oldest of their kind on the Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an mainland (planted circa 1948 from Arnold Arboretum
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is a botanical research institution and free public park, located in the Jamaica Plain and Roslindale neighborhoods of Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1872, it is the oldest public arboretum in N ...
seeds), and mature specimens of Amur cork tree
''Phellodendron amurense'' is a species of tree in the family Rutaceae, commonly called the Amur cork tree. It is a major source of '' huáng bò'' ( or 黄 檗), one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine. The Ainu pe ...
, ''Juniperus rigida
''Juniperus rigida'', the temple juniper, is a species of juniper, native to northern China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, and the far southeast of Russia (Sakhalin and Primorsky Krai), occurring at altitudes of . The species is also naturalized in th ...
'', ''Sequoia sempervirens
''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coastal ...
'', and ''Taxodium distichum
''Taxodium distichum'' (bald cypress, swamp cypress; french: cyprès chauve;
''cipre'' in Louisiana) is a deciduous conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States. Hardy and tough, this tree adapts to a wide r ...
''. The garden also contains two ponds, lawn areas, and perennial flower beds.
See also
* List of botanical gardens in Germany
This is a list of botanical gardens in Germany. This list is intended to contain all significant botanical gardens and arboreta in Germany.
List
See also
* List of botanical gardens
References
Zentralregister biologischer Forschungssammlung ...
*
References
External links
''The Old Botanical Garden in Kiel''
at city-map.de
''Alter Botanische Garten''
at www.kiel.de
''Alter Botanischer Garten Kiel''
at www.historischegaerten.de]
''Alter Botanischer Garten'' at www.gartenrouten-sh.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiel, Alter Botanischer Garten
Botanical gardens in Germany
Gardens in Schleswig-Holstein
1668 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire