Zurich Botanical Garden

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The Botanical Garden Zurich is a botanical garden belonging to the University of Zurich in Zurich , Switzerland .

Dome greenhouses with a pond
Palm greenhouse

location

A distinction is made between two locations: the old botanical garden, which has existed since 1833 at the former “zur Katz” bulwark in the city, and the new facility opened in 1977 on Zollikerstrasse in District 8 .

tasks

The Botanical Garden is assigned to the Institute for Systematic and Evolutionary Botany. To this end, it makes plants available for research and teaching at the University of Zurich, serves to preserve and multiply threatened plants and as a recreational area for the population. The information service, guided tours and the organization of exhibitions are further central tasks of the garden.

history

Together with the founding of the University of Zurich in 1833 and the dissolution of the “zur Katz” bulwark, the construction of the old Botanical Garden Zurich at Schanzengraben , which still exists today, began. In 1851 the listed palm house was opened , initially made of glass and wood, and in 1877 the octagonal glass pavilion was given a cast iron frame . Today the complex with its valuable tree population belongs to the Ethnographic Museum , which is housed in the former institute buildings. Part of the old botanical garden is the so-called "Gessner Garden", a medieval herb garden on the top of the hill, in memory of the naturalist and city ​​doctor Conrad Gessner . Until the move to the new location, the "zur Katz" facility housed the university's botanical garden and has served as a local recreation area in the city center since 1976.

investment

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.

Orientation plan
Old and new greenhouses

It was planned by the Zurich garden architect Fred Eicher and finally built between 1972 and 1977 as a replacement for the botanical garden "zur Katz" and as the location of the Institute for Systematic Botany at the University of Zurich. The three greenhouses, dome-shaped domes made of pigmented, curved acrylic-plexi panes, designed by the architectural offices of Hans and Annemarie Hubacher , which were planned for the first time in Switzerland, attracted particular attention .

Planting species with similar growing conditions together was a major concern when planning and designing the new facility. Today, around 8000 plant species can be seen, which are grouped together in themed biotopes - from the flora of the Mediterranean to the spring garden - in the spacious outdoor area of ​​the park with arboretum , a central pond and in the dome greenhouses with different climatic zones and representative plant species. The facility includes the institute building and the canteen, which is also accessible to the public.

Biotopes

The following habitats ( biotopes ) and climatic zones are represented in the botanical garden:

  • Mediterranean garden with a variety of scents
  • Wadi (dry river course) with species adapted to the drought
  • Dye plants area with its cultural-historical aspects
  • Spring garden with particularly beautiful spring and summer flowers
  • Alpinum with mountain plants from different continents
  • Pond and the aquatic plant pools with their diverse fauna
  • Useful and medicinal plants used for centuries
  • Showcases in summer with outdoor plants

Showhouses

There are three domed greenhouses with different climates in the botanical garden . The largest dome simulates the climate in the tropics , the other two the climatic conditions of the subtropics and a savannah landscape . Palm and tree ferns , orchids and numerous useful plants as well as three aquariums are worth seeing .

The greenhouses were extensively renovated from 2011 to 2013 (the picture below shows the old houses with the heavily darkened Plexiglas panes that prevented the plants from growing) and redesigned thematically. Plants from the tropical lowland rainforest, mountain forest and arid regions can currently be seen in the houses. A 14 m high model of a rainforest giant with a visitor platform at a height of 6 m gives an impression of the tropical rainforest. Showcases show carnivorous plants all year round, botanical rarities from south-western Africa (e.g. living stones , Welwitschia ) and the unique vegetation of the Venezuelan tepuis .

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ City of Zurich, Quartierspiegel Weinegg (as of December 31, 2006)
  2. ↑ Influential stranger. Fred Eicher receives the Schulthess Garden Prize 2004. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, September 10, accessed on May 9, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Christa Zeller: Swiss architecture guide; Volume 1: Northeast and Central Switzerland. Zurich: Werk Verlag 1996. ISBN 3-909145-11-6
  4. ^ Association of Aquarium Botanical Garden Zurich

Picture gallery

and display information about the image
Dome greenhouses before renovation in 2013, view from the west. From left: savannah , tropics and subtropics .

Coordinates: 47 ° 21 '31.1 "  N , 8 ° 33' 40"  E ; CH1903:  six hundred eighty-four thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight  /  245917