Aarhus Botanical Gardens is a

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 ...

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwe ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. It is located north of the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

open-air village museum and was founded in 1875. Nowadays it covers an area of , with for the Old Town. The park was originally created primarily as a botanical and academic study-ground in relation to

Aarhus University Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...

and provides an attraction of interest to those who wish to inspect the thousands of plant species on display here. All are labelled in both

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

and Danish. The landscape is quite varied and includes a large greenhouse center; originally from 1970 by C. F. Møller Architects, but with a newly added tropical hothouse. The gardens have an open-air

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

, two small ponds, a children's playground and the large lawns are popular with picnics, gatherings and events of all kinds year round. The greenhouses has been heavily renovated from 2011 to late 2014 and a large tropical dome was added, amongst other facilities. The project was budgeted at 65 million DKK and realized in a cooperation between

Aarhus Municipality Aarhus Municipality ( da, Aarhus Kommune), known as Århus Municipality ( da, Århus Kommune) until 2011, is a municipality in Central Denmark Region, on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. The municipality covers an area ...

and Realdania, with C. F. Møller Architects as architectural designers.

Budget cuts, change of status and the future

Aarhus municipality Aarhus Municipality ( da, Aarhus Kommune), known as Århus Municipality ( da, Århus Kommune) until 2011, is a municipality in Central Denmark Region, on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. The municipality covers an area ...

have found large parts of the botanical gardens too expensive in upkeep and manpower for several years. It was decided to stop the upkeep of the large rose gardens and the

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 ...

at one point and thereby end the park's status as a botanical garden, but civil protests postponed the city councils decisions for some years. In 2011, a group of citizens founded the

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

"Botanisk Haves Venner" (Friends of the Botanical Gardens) and since 2012, they are now in charge of the daily chores of maintaining the rose gardens and arboretum, working for free.

also took over part of the responsibility from Aarhus Municipality, through the Science Museums which operates the greenhouses. The gardens (including the greenhouses) are changing its status and function from a scientific study ground to a place for recreational activities, public outreach and education.

Gallery

Facilities File:Blomsterdalen.jpg, The flowervalley File:Botanisk Have (stenpartiet).jpg, The rockeries File:Botanisk Have (Amfiscenen).jpg, The amphitheatre File:Væksthusene (indgang).jpg, Entrance to the greenhouses File:Basinnet.jpg, From the greenhouses From the park File:April i Botanisk Have.jpg, Spring File:On the lawn 02.jpg, Summer File:Botanisk Have Aarhus.jpg, Autumn File:Vinter i haven.jpg, Winter

References

Sources

Sustainable Hothouse
Architectural company C.F. Møller
Aarhus Botanical Gardens
Aarhus Municipality
Success with volunteers maintaining beds in The Botanical Garden
Aarhus Municipality (2013)

External links

The Greenhouses
Steno museum (Aarhus university)
Friends of The Botanical Garden
The associations own homepage {{Authority control 1875 establishments in Denmark Botanical gardens in Denmark Parks in Aarhus Tourist attractions in Aarhus Botanical Gardens