Old Botanical Garden Zurich

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The Old Botanical Garden Zurich "zur Katz" is a botanical garden in the Swiss city ​​of Zurich .

Palm House (1851/1877)
View over the Schanzengraben to the "zur Katz" bulwark and parts of the arboretum
Nature and modernity (SIA and UBS high-rise)
«Gessner Garden»
Forest strawberry , figure from Conradi Gesneri Historia plantarum
Monument in memory of Conrad Gessner (1516–1565)

location

The old botanical garden, which has existed since 1833, is located at the former “zur Katz” bulwark ( Quartier City , Kreis 1 ). In 1977 a new facility was opened on Zollikerstrasse (Quartier Weinegg , District 8 ) with the Institute for Systematic Botany of the University of Zurich .

history

The origins of the first botanical garden go back to the so-called herb garden by Conrad Gessner (1516–1565). A descendant of Gessner, the doctor and naturalist Johannes Gessner (1709–1790), created a botanical garden in collaboration with the “Natural Research Society Zurich” founded in 1746. After a change of location, the Canton of Zurich took over the so-called “Schimmelgut” when the University of Zurich was founded in 1833.

With the dissolution of the "zur Katz" bulwark in 1837, the facility at Schanzengraben , which still exists today, was built. The garden was designed by the university gardener Leopold Karl Theodor Fröbel (1810–1907). 1851 followed by the opening of the under listed building standing palm house - at the beginning of glass and wood built the octagonal received Glaspavillon one in 1877 cast iron frame . Today the pavilion is mainly used for concerts, theater or exhibitions.

The area is bordered all around by buildings, which made the urgently needed expansion impossible in the second half of the 20th century, and the shadows of the high-rise buildings built after the mid-1960s hampered the growth conditions for the plants. The buildings were in poor condition, so moving from the city center to the outskirts of the city allowed the botanical collection to expand. In 1971 the electorate decided to build a new botanical garden in the Bodmer-Abegg family's “old park”, in the Weinegg district on Zollikerstrasse. Until the move to the new location, the “zur Katz” facility housed the Botanical Garden of the University of Zurich and has been a local recreation area in the city center since 1976 .

investment

Arboretum

Today the complex with its valuable tree population belongs to the Ethnographic Museum , which is housed in the former institute buildings. The arboretum and the idyllic location on Schanzengraben , in the middle of Zurich's city center, are still remarkable , which makes the garden a popular local recreation area. The facility is open from April to September 7:00 am to 7:00 pm, from October to March 8:00 am to 6:00 pm.

Gessner garden

On the top of the hill, the "Gessner Garden", a medieval herb garden , is reminiscent of Conrad Gessner . The southern bastion with the guns (so-called “cats”) of the city ​​fortifications was located here, at the highest point of what was then the “zur Katz” bulwark . Opened on May 27, 1997, the garden was realized by a private horticultural company and financed by the “Pro Katz” foundation, which aims to maintain the botanical show garden.

A monument at the northern end of the herb garden commemorates Conrad Gessner's work as a city doctor and naturalist; He is well known for the 50 franc note in the sixth series of banknotes from 1976, which shows his portrait.

The Gessner garden and medicinal plants from the 16th century

Each of the around 50 plants ( herbs and shrubs ) is explained with a contemporary quote from a healer at the time:

  • Artichoke , Strobildorn (Cynara cardunculus): « The root of the Strobildorn boiled and dried in wine drives away the bad taste of the whole body. »(Fuchs 1543)
  • Bloodroot , Tormentill (Potentilla erecta, Syn .: Potentilla tormentilla): « Keep the root in your mouth and kawet heylet the same rotten sore. »(Fuchs 1543)
  • Flax (Linum usitatissimum): « Melted juice drives away stains, belongs to hopeful women who like to have beautiful faces. »(Fuchs 1543)
  • Common peony (Paeonia officinalis): « Diss the herb put in the cradle keeps the children safe for horrors where the children usually fall at night - also drives away other ghosts. »(Bock 1557)
  • Milk thistle (Silybum marianum): « The wurtzels boiled and drunk are good for those who have a stupid stomach and don't want to keep the food well. »(Fuchs 1543)
  • Juniper (Juniperus communis): « The smoke from it drives away the snakes and the poisoned scent. Wherever the Pestilentz reigns, as long as Weckholder Holtz makes smoke in all the rooms in it, one wins. »(Fuchs 1543)
  • Forest strawberry (Fragaria vesca): « The broth of it held in the mouth confirms and strengthens the Zanfleysch, heals the mouth owl and drives away the bad taste of the mouth. »(Fuchs 1543)
  • Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium L.): « It is a defense ( amulet ) against the falling sick day ( epilepsy ) - ready-made superstition. »(Gessner 1561)

On display are medicinal plants which for centuries have been believed to have beneficial effects on illnesses and ailments, and some of which are still used today for their healing properties. The signs on the plants give an insight into the knowledge of medicinal plants by Conrad Gessner and his contemporaries, such as Hieronymus Bock (1498–1554) and Leonhart Fuchs (1501–1566).

Web links

Commons : Old Botanical Garden Zurich  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ City of Zurich, Quartierspiegel Weinegg (as of December 31, 2006)
  2. ↑ The address of the “Pro Katz” foundation is identical to that of the Botanical Garden of the University of Zurich on Zollikerstrasse.
  3. ↑ Swiss National Bank: Sixth series of banknotes 1976 : first edition on October 4, 1976, recalled May 1, 2000, valid until May 1, 2020.
  4. ↑ The descriptions are taken from the display boards and labels at the “Gessner Garden”, implemented by the staff of the Botanical Garden at the University of Zurich : K. Affeltranger, S. Bürgi, CDK Cook, P. Enz, M. Leibundgut, V. Sandi. Advice from the Monument Preservation (P. Baumgartner) and the Building Department (R. Salis) of the Canton of Zurich and the Garden Monument Preservation of the City of Zurich (J. Rohrer-Amberg).

Coordinates: 47 ° 22 '16.3 "  N , 8 ° 32' 1.3"  E ; CH1903:  six hundred eighty-two thousand seven hundred and eight  /  247282