The Forstbotanischer Garten Köln (25 hectares) is an

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

and woodland

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. is ...

located at Schillingsrotterstraße 100, Rodenkirchen,

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It forms part of the city's outer green belt and is open daily without charge. The garden was created between 1962–1964 on a former military site which was, until the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, a part of the ''Äußerer Festungsring Köln'', the outer ring of fortresses surrounding Cologne. Its ruins have been integrated into the plantings as a rock garden. In the 1980s, an adjoining natural area was created as the ''Friedenswald'' with additional tree plantings. Today the garden contains exotic and native trees. Of particular interest are the

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

ravine, heather garden, peonies ('' Paeonia''),

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese plantings (including ''

Acer palmatum ''Acer palmatum'', commonly known as Japanese maple, palmate maple, or smooth Japanese maple (Korean: ''danpungnamu'' []; Japanese: ''irohamomiji'' [] or ''momiji'' []), is a species of woody plant native to Korea, Japan, China, eastern Mongol ...

'', ''Cercidiphyllum'', and ''Bambusoideae''), and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n plantings (1.5 hectares, including ''

Sequoiadendron giganteum ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (also known as the giant sequoia, giant redwood, Sierra redwood or Wellingtonia) is a species of coniferous tree, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae. Giant sequoia specimens are the la ...

'', '' Pinus ponderosa'', and ''

Abies concolor ''Abies concolor'', the white fir, concolor fir, or Colorado fir, is a coniferous tree in the pine family Pinaceae. This tree is native to the mountains of western North America, including the Sierra Nevada and southern Rocky Mountains, and int ...

''). The ''Friedenswald'' (20 hectares) contains a large

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...

surrounded by deciduous and coniferous forests containing trees and shrubs from all nations with which Germany has diplomatic relations;

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

are represented by symbolic trees.

References

Forstbotanischer Garten Köln

Qype entry, with photographs
* Charles Quest-Ritson, ''Gärten in Deutschland: ein Reiseführer zu den schönsten Gartenanlagen'', Birkhäuser, 1999, page 109. * Stadt Köln. Der Oberstadtdirektor (ed.): ''Das Großzentrum Köln und seine Verflechtungen'', Köln, 1972–1973. * Josef Fachinger: ''Gutachten zu der Denkschrift der Stadtverwaltung Köln über die Eingemeindung des Landkreises Köln zur Stadt Köln, Frechen'', 1945. * Stadt Köln (ed.): ''Das neue Köln''. Ein Vorentwurf, Köln, 1950. Koln, Forstbotanischer Garten Koln, Forstbotanischer Garten Koln, Forstbotanischer Garten Tourist attractions in Cologne Rodenkirchen {{Germany-garden-stub

See also

References