Botanical Garden (Königsberg)
The Botanical Garden in Königsberg was considered one of the most beautiful in Germany. Today, in addition to this historical garden, there is another botanical garden in Kaliningrad .
history
The property between the later Besselstrasse and Butterbergstrasse was acquired by the war councilor Johann Georg Scheffner in 1796 with the house and large garden and the garden was lovingly cared for. As early as 1787, the universal scholar Karl Gottfried Hagen , who was also a professor of botany and who created a basic work with Prussian plants , gave the impetus for the establishment of a botanical garden. The idea met with approval from the minister responsible, Karl Abraham von Zedlitz ; but only after Scheffner had given this property to King Friedrich Wilhelm III in exchange for an annuity . for the botanical garden to be founded, Hagen's suggestion was finally implemented in 1811. Friedrich Schweigger was appointed first director by Wilhelm von Humboldt . From 1826 to 1858 Goethe's friend Ernst Meyer was director and tried to prove his theory of metamorphosis there . The building of the Pharmaceutical Institute reduced the size of the garden insignificantly, but it retained its uniqueness. The old botanical garden has an area of 40,000 m² with around 900 plant species.
The garden is threatened with bankruptcy as the money for the necessary renovation measures cannot be raised. Various donors from abroad are available for this purpose, but their money is rejected, presumably due to property speculation on the grounds of the Botanical Garden, which is relatively central. So the garden may be about to be dissolved. (Stand 2013)
The new botanical garden
The city's new botanical garden is now located on the site of the former city nursery in Maraunenhof . The new Kaliningrad Botanical Garden is 160,000 m² in size. It is open all year round and has more than 3000 plant species, including 1000 greenhouse plants.
literature
- Robert Albinus: Königsberg Lexicon. City and surroundings. Special edition. Flechsig, Würzburg 2002, ISBN 3-88189-441-1 .
- Richard Armstedt: history of the royal. Capital and residence city of Königsberg in Prussia. Hobbing & Büchle, Stuttgart 1899 ( German land and life in single descriptions . 2, city stories), (reprint: Melchior-Verlag, Wolfenbüttel 2006, ISBN 3-939102-70-9 , historical library ).
- Fritz Gause : The history of the city of Königsberg in Prussia. 3 volumes. 2nd / 3rd supplemented edition. Böhlau, Cologne et al. 1996, ISBN 3-412-08896-X .
- Karl Gottfried Hagen: Prussia's Plants , Königsberg 1818
- Baldur Köster: Königsberg. Architecture from the German era. Husum Druck, Husum 2000, ISBN 3-88042-923-5 .
- Jürgen Manthey: Königsberg. History of a world citizenship republic. Hanser, Munich et al. 2005, ISBN 3-446-20619-1 .
- Gerhard Neumann: The development of the botanical garden and the observatory. In: Ostpreußenblatt. November 21, 1964, ISSN 0947-9597 .
- Gunnar Strunz: Discover Königsberg. On the way between Memel and Haff. Trescher, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89794-071-X ( Trescher travel series ).
Coordinates: 54 ° 42 ′ 45.5 ″ N , 20 ° 29 ′ 44.9 ″ E