Göttingen Botanical Garden

The Botanic Garden of the Georg-August-University at Göttingen has developed from the Old Botanic Garden, founded by Albrecht von Haller in 1736. Today the garden comprises two departments: The Old Botanic Garden (Systematical Department) and the Neuer Botanischer Garten (Geobotanical Deparment). The Old Botanic Garden of the University at Göttingen is as old as the university itself. Situated in the city centre of Göttingen and somewhat smaller than 5 hectares, it houses more than 10,000 species of hardy and tropical plants. In the open area of the Old Botanic Garden there is a systematic part (1,200 species), a pond, a rockery, an area with useful and medicinal plants and, among other areas, a collection of weeds.

An arboretum is also to be found, in which tens of thousands of semi-naturalized bulbs emerge each spring to form a breathtaking display. Many areas of the garden have remained almost unaltered for nearly a century. This has led to a wild garden fauna of insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, bats, etc.: A unique feature for a German city center.

Eight greenhouses are open to the public, housing plants of the tropical rain forest, cycads, aroids, cacti and other succulent plants, tropical water plants and ferns. Two greenhouses are used for over-wintering of the large cold-house plant collection. Other priorities are European wild plants, bromeliads (over 500 species of Tillandsia), orchids and insectivorous plants. Special attention is paid to well documented collections and preservation of wild proveniences.

The New Botanic Garden was founded in 1967, when the geobotanist Prof. Dr. Heinz Ellenberg needed more space for his ecological field experiments. It is devoted to ecological and plant sociological aspects. Here there are to be found forest communities from temperate America, Europe, and Asia; a large rockery of 5,000 square meters; a living example of traditional mideuropean agriculture with its old and endangered agrophyte vegetation; flower pastures; a large collection of hardy perennials; and both open-air and greenhouse areas for ecological research.

Renaturation of endangered plant communities is developed and studied in the garden. The "Biotope Mackenrodt" comprises an experimental area of 10 hectares, which is managed by the garden. It includes valuable meadow communities and woods and is used for ecological field research.

Next to the New Botanic Garden is situated the Forstbotanischer Garten. This is maintained by the forest faculty who cultivate a large collection of woody plants and forest perennials. The Botanic Garden and Forstbotanischer Garten are joined together in the fellowship Freundeskreis der Botanischen Gaerten in Göttingen e.V. (A page in English is also available.)

For further information and guided tours please take a look at our Web site.

-- Dr. Rolf Callauch, Scientific Director

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