The Arboretum Freiburg-Günterstal (about 100 hectares) is an

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 ...

maintained by the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisg ...

. It is located in

Günterstal The village Günterstal is the southernmost district of Freiburg im Breisgau. It is located in the so-called ''Bohrer-Tal'' area (where the craft of "Deichel-Bohrer", preindustrial wooden water pipes used for the distribution of water, took plac ...

in the ''Städtischen Forstamt Freiburg'' at Günterstalstraße 71, Freiburg,

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

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 ...

, and open daily without charge. The arboretum dates back to 1896, or earlier, when its first Douglas fir ('' Pseudotsuga menziesii'') plantations were created to investigate their uses in local

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

. These early plantings focused primarily on useful trees from

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Large-scale plantings occurred between 1901 and 1911 when several hundred thousand foreign trees were planted. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, many rare species were added. Today the arboretum is jointly managed by the university's Forstbotanischen Institute and the

Freiburg Botanic Garden Freiburg Botanical Garden (German: ''Botanischer Garten Freiburg'' or ''Botanischer Garten der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg'') is a botanical garden in the Herdern district at Schänzlestraße 1, Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg ...

, and cultivates around 1,300 tree and shrub

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 ...

from 60 countries and 5 continents, including mature specimens of '' Abies nordmanniana'', '' Cedrus atlantica'', '' Chamaecyparis lawsoniana'', '' Cryptomeria japonica'', '' Larix leptolepis'', ''

Picea orientalis ''Picea orientalis'', commonly known as the Oriental spruce or Caucasian spruce, is a species of spruce native to the Caucasus and adjacent northeast Turkey. Description It is a large coniferous evergreen tree growing to 30–45 m tall or ...

'', '' Pinus austriaca'', ''

Pinus banksiana Jack pine (''Pinus banksiana'') is an eastern North American pine. Its native range in Canada is east of the Rocky Mountains from the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories to Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, and the north-central and ...

'', ''

Pinus strobus ''Pinus strobus'', commonly called the eastern white pine, northern white pine, white pine, Weymouth pine (British), and soft pine is a large pine native to eastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland, Canada west through the Great Lake ...

'', ''

Pinus ponderosa ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

'', '' Pseudotsuga menziesii'', and '' Sequoiadendron'', as well as deciduous trees including '' Juglans nigra'', ''

Populus x canadensis ''Populus'' is a genus of 25–30 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar (), aspen, and cottonwood. The we ...

'', ''

Quercus rubra ''Quercus rubra'', the northern red oak, is an oak tree in the red oak group (''Quercus'' section ''Lobatae''). It is a native of North America, in the eastern and central United States and southeast and south-central Canada. It has been introdu ...

'', and ''

Robinia pseudacacia ''Robinia pseudoacacia'', commonly known in its native territory as black locust, is a medium-sized hardwood deciduous tree, belonging to the tribe Robinieae of the legume family Fabaceae. It is endemic to a few small areas of the United States ...

''. Two walking paths, each 2 km in length, provide identifying information.

File:Übersichtskarte Arboretum Freiburg-Günterstal.jpg, Map of the Arboretum File:Waldtraut vom Mühlwald (Freiburg) 5025.jpg, Waldtraut vom Mühlwald File:Waldtraut vom Mühlwald (Freiburg) 5067.jpg, the tallest tree in Germany with sun lounger File:Waldhaus (Freiburg) 5122.jpg, The "Waldhaus" Front File:Waldhaus (Freiburg) 5125.jpg, Backside of "Waldhauses"

References

Arboretum Freiburg-Günterstal

Alemannische-Seiten description

BGCI entry
Freiburg-Gunterstal, Arboretum Freiburg-Gunterstal, Arboretum Geography of Freiburg im Breisgau Tourist attractions in Freiburg im Breisgau {{Germany-garden-stub

See also

References