Be it for inspiration, horticultural curiosity or simply relaxed enjoyment – a visit to Germany’s beautiful Botanical Gardens is always a delight. Here we introduce three different gardens representing the many styles throughout the country.

One of the most important Botanical Gardens in the world is situated in Munich’s leafy suburb of Nymphenburg. Here, the Botanischer Garten in Munich provides its visitors with hours of sheer joy. However, more than that, it is also an educational and vocational training institution and part of the city’s university which aims to preserve rare European plants and bees.

Elegantly crafted glass houses are the setting for succulents, giant cacti, carnivore, exotic bulbs and tubers as well as more than 2,000 species of orchids.

Each year in May, a spectacular collection of Alpines bursts into bloom while the gardens of the Schmuckhof - literally translated as the jewels in the yard - delight the garden enthusiast during the entire year. The dry stone walls nearby are covered with mosses and dwarf shrubs and a remarkable collection of exotic herbs, spices, edible grains and healing plants have all been arranged in the form of an old fashioned symmetrically styled apothecary garden.

Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg
Menzinger Str. 65
80638 München
Tel. 0049 89 17861310

A burning ambition of the garden architect and botanical trader, Heinrich Siesmayer, coupled with the opportunity to purchase a collection of exotic plants put up for sale due to a change of abode by Duke Adolph of Nassau, led to the foundation of the Palmengarten Botanical Gardens in Frankfurt am Main in 1868.

Apart from the traditional Palmenhaus building (which is still used for glittering society functions, concerts and exhibitions) the gardens have changed dramatically to provide the 21st century visitor with a colourful selection of flora and fauna. Here, lovingly tended Rhododendron–Heather–Rose–Shrub–Woodland and Rock gardens, together with an area dedicated to the New German Style Drift Garden, provide outdoor interest.

A spectacular selection of cacti and succulents on show offers a warm and welcoming contrast to visitors emerging from the Sub-Antarctica house.

The complex of seven large modern greenhouses of 600sqm each together with six smaller glasshouses form the newly constructed and computer controlled Tropicarium, where visitors can experience not only the various climatic zones but also the diverse range of plant life from the Rainforest to the Desert.

Palmengarten
Siesmayerstraße 61
60323 Frankfurt am Main
Tel. 0049 69 21233939
Email: info.palmengarten@stadt-frankfurt.de

A completely different experience is offered at the Wilhelma in Stuttgart where plant-life meets animal kingdom. Here, the Amazonia building isn’t just an indoor tropical mountain forest with palms, mahogany, bromelias, orchids, mangroves and bananas, it is also home to monkeys, birds, reptiles and amphibians.

Visitors will find special interest in the park’s hundreds of trees as well as the Kois carp pond in the Moorish Garden which displays an example of the world’s largest water lily plants (whose gigantic leaves can support a weight of up to 70 kilos).

Inside the Moorish Villa itself, different sections are dedicated to ferns and tropical edible plants with the central part being reserved for exotic birds and nocturnal animals. Also, the historic greenhouses proudly show off the park’s collection of 150 year old camellias.

Wilhelma
Zoologisch Botanischer Garten
Neckartalstrasse
70341 Stuttgart
Tel. 0049 711 54020
Email: info@wilhelma.de