egapark
The egapark (ega: Erfurt Horticultural Exhibition) in Erfurt is one of the largest garden and leisure parks in Germany with an area of 36 hectares . The park area is located in the southwest of the city on the 265 meter high Cyriaksberg. Emerging from a former city fortress, the area was redesigned as a public green area from 1885 and further expanded in the following period. After the first garden show in 1950, the regularly organized International Horticultural Exhibition (iga) took place from 1961, the largest and most important event of its kind in the GDR and in the socialist camp .
The entry-based facility, which is open all year round, combines various exhibition halls, plant showrooms, themed gardens and relaxation areas. The main attractions in the egapark include, in addition to the largest continuous flowerbed in Europe with 6000 square meters, a viewing tower, an observatory as well as the largest children's playground in Thuringia and the only horticultural museum in the country.
The park, which has been a listed monument since 1992 because of its unique horticultural design concept, is one of the main works of landscape architect Reinhold Lingner and one of the most important examples of garden architecture in Germany in the 1960s. The garden show grounds, which represent the long horticultural tradition of the “city of flowers” Erfurt, have been visited by over 45 million guests since 1961. With an average of 450,000 visitors per year, the egapark is - next to the Wartburg - the most popular tourist attraction in Thuringia .
history
Emergence
With the establishment of the German Empire in 1871 and the subsequent lifting of the city's fortification status in 1873 , the Cyriaksburg citadel also lost its importance. Military use was severely restricted and parts of the city fortress were gradually demolished . However, the remaining buildings continued to be used as accommodation for troops and materials.
The Erfurt Beautification Association, founded in 1841, nevertheless managed to clear areas of the site directly adjacent to the fortress. Under his direction, in the summer of 1885, the first plantings, paths and viewpoints were created, benches were set up and the resulting complex was made accessible to the public. Primarily financed from donations, the association also took care of the maintenance and expansion in the following years.
With the end of the First World War in 1918, the military use of the fortress ended for the time being. The city of Erfurt then acquired the entire Cyriaksberg from the Prussian state on April 24, 1924 for 200,000 gold marks . Among other things, the purchase was accompanied by the obligation to preserve the former fortifications and to use them exclusively for public purposes. With the aim of a recreation center for the growing urban population of the city to create, began in 1925 the works. Due to the unsuitable soil quality , these were difficult, delayed and consequently became more expensive. At the same time, other fortress structures such as the tower reduit , both corner batteries and the northern side cape were razed. The execution took place partly as part of the emergency program 1926/27 by the unemployed.
After the horticultural remodeling was completed, the urban green space was opened to the public in May 1928. The first rose and perennial gardens were to be found in the 13.2-hectare park, and a youth hostel was temporarily operated in the remaining outbuildings of the fortress . The southern former gun turret was converted into a lookout tower for visitors in 1935, and the Waidmühle - still preserved at the site today - was reconstructed and set up for demonstration purposes.
Further plans, such as the planned organization of the Reichsgartenschau in 1942 for the 1200th anniversary of the city, were thwarted by the beginning of the Second World War . The area was used again for military purposes. From 1943 the Wehrmacht stationed soldiers here, installed anti-aircraft guns on the towers and opened the vaults of the fortress as shelters for the civilian population. The condition of the site after the end of the war was correspondingly desolate, but was subordinate in view of other war damage.
1950 to 1960 Kulturpark Cyriaksburg
Just four months after the end of the war , the first regional garden show of the post-war period took place in Erfurt from September 29 to October 14, 1945, primarily in the Thuringia Hall. With the slogan Fight Hunger , it was part of the main exhibition Erfurt - Economy under construction . As in the event Creating More Food the following year , the focus was on cultivation methods for self-sufficiency and improving the general supply situation. The management and organization of both events was entrusted to the landscape architect Gustav Allinger . However, the location proved to be of limited development potential, so a change of location was considered.
In the course of the ongoing reconstruction, the city administration under Lord Mayor Georg Boock decided on January 29, 1948 to refurbish the area around the Cyriaksburg with the aim of creating a permanent exhibition area. The first construction work began in the spring of 1949 without state recognition or funding. The Potsdam landscape architect Walter Funcke (1907–1987) was responsible for the concept, which was partly based on the design principles of the 1939 Reichsgartenschau . In doing so, he retained the basic structure of the park that existed before the war and added functional routing and, in some cases, temporary exhibition architecture. This resulted in four exhibition halls, five model allotments , various viewing gardens and a Mitschurin garden . In addition to other design elements such as pavilions and four fountains , the early form of today's water axis, the two fortress towers were each integrated as a public observatory and viewing point.
On July 6, 1950, the first garden show was finally opened with the participation of over a hundred exhibitors on the 35 hectare site of the Cyriaksburg under the motto Erfurt is blooming . For the duration of the show, the Erfurt Flower Express , a visitor train , operated on a 1,600 meter long circuit on loan from the Dresden Park Railway . In parallel, was held from 13 to 24 September 1950 in Markham , the first horticultural exhibition of the GDR instead. Nevertheless, the regional Erfurt event was a success, with 551,000 visitors within ten weeks up to September 17, 1950.
In this way, the facilities were preserved and, with changing designs, were subsequently run as a permanent, teaching and flower show . Again following a decision by the city administration, work began the following year to create a cultural park. In part voluntary and unpaid work as part of the national reconstruction work , a 40-hectare recreation center with restaurants, animal enclosures, children's playground and an open-air stage was created, which was opened on May 1, 1953 as the Cyriaksburg cultural park . The Erfurt Flower Days , held from July 15 to September 21 of the year, were attended by 455,000 people.
With the first seed export show and horticultural exhibition of the GDR , a presentation took place from August 20 to September 18, 1955 - for the first time supported by the state - which brought the town's seed cultivation and export tradition back to Christian Reichart into focus. After two world wars, new international trade relations had to be established. For this purpose, among other things, a five-language export catalog was published, which offered around 1900 varieties of seeds . In just one month, 510,000 guests, some of them international, were received on the exhibition site, which now measures 45 hectares.
The GDR Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, which is responsible for organizing the event, then decided to hold the fair every two years in Erfurt. With the goal of a socialist counterpart to the existing IGA -Austragungsort un Blomen Planten in Hamburg and the National Garden Festival to create, met on 30 July 1957, the Working Group on agricultural exhibitions of CMEA . Subsequently, the community of states gave the GDR the task of organizing a horticultural exhibition in the socialist countries.
Due to the city's long horticultural tradition and previous activities, the Central Committee of the SED decided to found the GDR International Horticultural Exhibition in Erfurt on August 26, 1958 , with retroactive effect from June 1, 1958. Last but not least, the geographically favorable location and the existing infrastructure are also likely and the special topographical characteristics of the terrain were decisive. Thus the horticultural exhibition was finally relocated to Erfurt. The previous venue in Markkleeberg expanded its agricultural exhibition and held it for the first time in 1958 with international participation - later as agra-Markkleeberg .
1961 to 1990 iga
The primary task of preparing and carrying out the first horticultural exhibition of the socialist states in 1961 made high demands on the city and the venue. Reinhold Lingner, one of the leading garden and landscape architects in the state, was entrusted with the overall planning and implementation management. Previously worked as a manager at the Building Academy of the GDR in Berlin, Lingner moved his place of residence and worked in Erfurt from 1958. Landscape designer Walter Funcke, whose plans from 1950 had been revised and included, was also present with some drafts.
The framework plan drawn up by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in 1958 and the design by Reinhold Lingner were decisive for the immediate preparation and development of the iga . From the second half of 1958, the planned expansion of the area to be expanded to 57 hectares began. A total of 36 construction companies, 6 gardening and landscaping companies and 79 craft businesses were used for this purpose. In order to ensure that the building was completed on time, the townspeople were again called upon in March 1959 to provide support in the form of voluntary work.
In the following two years, among other things, over 100,000 cubic meters of earth were moved, 18.3 kilometers of road and path connections and 42 kilometers of power lines laid, primarily on the expansion area previously used as arable land. In addition, 13 exhibition halls with 9,300 square meters of floor space, 1,200 square meters of greenhouse space, 9 smaller pavilions, various water areas and fountains and other small architecture were created. The green space design was also complex, for example the previously treeless extension areas of the site were planted with large trees, some of which were decades old, and around 10 hectares of lawns and flowerbeds were laid out with diverse planting. On the opening day, the preparation and construction was completed on schedule, and all parts of the exhibition were completed.
The first international horticultural exhibition of the socialist countries ( iga ) was ceremoniously opened on April 28, 1961 by Agriculture Minister Hans Reichelt . In addition to the host GDR, exhibitors from the Soviet Union , Romania , Bulgaria , Hungary and Czechoslovakia demonstrated the state of development of the vegetable, fruit and ornamental plant industry at that time. At the same time, newly created facilities such as the horticultural museum and a branch of the Erfurt city and district library with a reading garden opened. A post office and a police station were also opened. When the exhibition ended on October 15, 1961 after almost six months of the event, the number of visitors was around 3.5 million.
In the following years, teaching and performance shows with a predominantly national character determined the event program. The main exhibitions, which have been shortened significantly, have been moved to September in order to achieve a convenient timing with the Leipzig Autumn Fair . For the second international horticultural exhibition planned for 1966, participants from the non-socialist economic area were admitted for the first time . This development was to continue until 1972.
Among the more than 1,100 exhibitors at the iga 66 , which took place from April 16 to October 9, 1966 , for the first time there were also some from Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark . According to official figures, the event was attended by 2.3 million people from a total of 76 countries. Exhibitors from Belgium , Austria and Switzerland also took part in the horticultural exhibitions, sales shows and export fairs held between 1967 and 1972 .
By 1971 the exhibition area was expanded to 104 hectares and supplemented with open-air vegetable areas, greenhouses and a tree nursery show area. In addition to organizing national and international horticultural exhibitions, flower shows and comparing vegetables and fruit varieties, there were also annual press festivals initiated by the district newspaper Das Volk and the festival of lights at the end of the season, each with tens of thousands of visitors.
In preparation for the 15th Workers' Festival, which took place mainly on the iga from June 7th to 9th, 1974 , a modern leisure center measuring more than 3 hectares was handed over. In the same year the first quadrennial of the arts and crafts of socialist countries, which were held between 1974 and 1986, opened. In 1976 the 20 millionth guest was welcomed. Since, understandably, many allotment gardeners have always been represented among the visitors, the VKSK also presented itself with its own exhibition hall from 1980.
At the beginning of the 1980s, a 4 hectare rose garden in the western part of the site was completed, and with the construction of the first plant show house in 1983, the beginning of a development followed that continues to this day. Occasional renovation and repair work on the infrastructure, which is now several decades old, was also carried out. However, economic bottlenecks, intensified from the mid-1980s, increasingly resulted in the lack of necessary modernization and value preservation measures.
Between 1961 and 1989 around 37 million guests visited the 700 horticultural and special exhibitions and special shows.
1991 to 2005 ega
After German reunification , the iga not only lost its sponsor, the GDR Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, but also a large proportion of the previous visitors. The State of Thuringia founded the Erfurt Garden and Exhibition GmbH (ega) on November 27, 1991 , took over responsibility as the sole shareholder and financed ongoing operations. Consumer exhibitions and fairs adapted to the changed economic framework conditions, such as the forerunner of today's largest consumer fair in the state, the Thuringia exhibition , were organized. A model system for prefabricated houses and gazebos was created.
The tradition of the art exhibition, which took place on a regular basis from 1974, was taken up. In the summer of 1991, Configura 1 was presented in 7 exhibition halls and with international participation , followed by a second edition in 1995. As a sign of good cooperation, the city of Mainz donated the city partnership founded in 1988, the ega, to the Mainzgarten for the city's 1250th anniversary. At the end of 1992 the area was placed under monument protection by the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments as a unique historical document in Germany in terms of horticultural exhibition design.
In the period that followed, the search for future-oriented concepts was largely unsuccessful, also due to the lack of funds for investments and maintenance measures. In 1994, the Thuringian Ministry of Finance approved a usage concept that provided for the division of the previously 104 hectare site into three parts. When the division was made, a 36-hectare section remained in the east, with the original park area around the Cyriaksburg and the core of the iga 61 . This area passed into municipal ownership on July 1, 1995. The rest of the area was built on in the following years with the state broadcasting house of the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk and the children's channel of ARD and ZDF . The Erfurt exhibition center was located in the western section .
In addition to the area and its previous facilities, a large part of the exhibition halls (10) - and thus part of the historical building ensemble - was lost. But also remaining facilities were examined from an economic point of view. In 1996 the central restaurant, which was in need of renovation and was last used as a disco, was demolished, including the rendezvous bridge in the center of the complex. Other facilities such as the park library with its reading garden could not be operated economically and were therefore given up.
At about the same time, the city made more investments in the reconstruction and redesign of the park with the support of the state of Thuringia. This gradually created new points of attraction which, coupled with attractive event planning, allowed the number of visitors to rise again in the following years.
2006 egapark until today
After the Stadtwerke Erfurt Group had already taken over 94 percent of the ega's shares at the beginning of 2003, the company was renamed again in 2006. Now called egapark , the tradition of organizing regular exhibitions and special shows was continued and the further development and revision of the park was accelerated. In 2007 the tropical house was redesigned and a year later the sculpture garden, which bundles a large part of the existing sculptures, was laid out. Since the KinderMedienZentrum moved to the park area in 2007 , it has been used for filming the children's and youth television series Schloss Einstein .
In preparation for the 50th anniversary of the iga , the reconstruction of the fairground took place in 2008. Furthermore, the pergolas in the hall courtyards, the historical signposting system, the original park benches and, last but not least, the circular pavilion at the playground have been renovated in accordance with the preservation of historical monuments. In the anniversary year 2011, various events and an anniversary show focused on the time it was made. Several market-oriented and monument-compliant future concepts were also developed - also with regard to the BUGA application.
2021 location of the Federal Garden Show
As early as 1993 and 1998, the city was considering applying to host the Federal Garden Show . However, at the time it was not compliant to hold such a show on an existing exhibition site. Due to a change in the rules of the umbrella organization, this is now possible and so the decision was made in 2011 to initiate a corresponding application.
As the main exhibition area of the BUGA 2021, the egapark - then in the 60th year of its existence - is planned as a garden show location and event area. The botanical-dendrological garden, which is also directly adjacent to the iga 1961 design concept in terms of materials and colors, is intended to expand the area , including the Dreienbrunnenpark .
The largest construction project for the Federal Garden Show in the egapark is the two-zone climate house Danakil . The construction costs for this alone amount to 20 million euros. Visitors follow the path of water through deserts and rainforests.
In addition to the inclusion of the Petersberg in close connection to the historic old town , a temporary cable car with the route Domplatz - Petersberg Fortress - egapark is also being considered. Another defined external location is the nine-hectare Nordpark in the north of the city . A connection with the Gispersleben Kilianipark is planned by means of the adjacent Gera-Aue green corridor. The area of the Erfurt lakes is also considered as a correspondence area.
In December 2011, the award of the BuGa 2021 to Erfurt was confirmed.
Location, conception and structure
The garden show grounds are located in the south-western outskirts of the city directly on Bundesstraße 7 , on the 265 meter high Cyriaksberg and thus 45 meters above the old town. After the partial demolition of the city fortress , which had been there since the Middle Ages , the area was opened up for horticultural purposes from 1885. In the decades that followed, the ridge rising in a westerly direction was continuously expanded. The open-air design, which began in 1925 on 13.2 hectares, was continued after the Second World War and came to an end in 1971 with a site area that had grown to 104 hectares.
After the site was divided into three in 1995, a 36 hectare section remained in the eastern area. This in turn is divided into the former cultural park area, which emerged from the historical fortress and was used as a location for regional garden shows from 1950, and the expansion area as the exhibition and core area of the international horticultural exhibitions held from 1961.
Exhibition grounds iga 1961
To the east of the main entrance is the main exhibition area of the international horticultural exhibition, the main design elements of which have been preserved in the version mainly designed by landscape architect Reinhold Lingner in 1958/59. The concept at that time was partly based on the international style and is characterized by a clear, simple design language.
The assembly helper
Directly at the main entrance is a 2.55 meter tall sculpture by Fritz Cremer, one of the leading sculptors in the GDR , with the assembly aid . The statue, designed in the style of Socialist Realism , shows a worker with a pickaxe. It symbolizes the many nameless demolition and reconstruction workers and their reconstruction work in the post-war years.
After the areas had already been transformed into a cultural park with the help of the National Building Organization (NAW) in 1953, the population of Erfurt was asked again in 1959 to participate in the planned expansion of the site as a permanent horticultural exhibition in non-profit and unpaid work. To ensure that it was completed on time, 364,000 hours of work were performed up to the opening in April 1961. By the end of the exhibition season, the number of hours should have grown to 416,530. To honor these achievements and to commemorate them, the city acquired the bronze for the entrance area to the iga in 1961 . The first casting of the monument has stood in front of the Rotes Rathaus in Berlin since 1958 .
Exhibition halls
With the expansion of the garden show site, which began in 1958, 13 exhibition halls were created in wood and steel construction with a total of 9,300 square meters of floor space. The functional buildings, which were architecturally uniform and designed in a simple form typical of the time, were staggered around a large open space to create space. The adaptable interior of the halls was column-free and without a solid floor, and the generous glazing ensured a high level of daylight penetration. The participating exhibitors were given the option of designing the interior according to their national characteristics and ideas.
After 1990 the buildings lost their original purpose, and thus most of them (9 pieces) were dismantled in the course of the redistribution of the site from the mid-1990s.
Today, opposite the main entrance, as the southern end of the fairground, is the main hall, which dominates in its architecture. Formerly known as the Hall of Friendship of Nations , all participating nations of an exhibition jointly took on the design of the interior. The other three halls, each with an area of 900 square meters, were used by the GDR's breeding operations to present their fruit, vegetable and ornamental plant products, but also for special exhibitions. When the first exhibition buildings were built from 1958, they were architecturally uniform with a one-sided glass facade still made of wood. The buildings accompanying the main axis of the path are linked to green courtyards and pergolas.
Central flowerbed
The 370-meter-long and over 6,000-square-meter alternating flora, which extends along the main axis, is the largest ornamentally planted flower bed in Europe. Twice a season, from the end of March to May and from July to October, around 150,000 flower plants are artfully arranged. The planting changes annually and always follows a certain theme.
The bed, which originally represented the city's traditional flower seed cultivation, has been cultivated almost without interruption since 1961. Only in 1962 was the area used as an additional exhibition area for agricultural machinery as the “road of mechanization ”. The design draft for the initial planting, which consisted of 100,000 tulips and 120,000 pansies, was done by the photographer and artist Alice Lingner (1903–1969), the wife of the chief architect. In 2011, for the 50th anniversary of the iga , the bed was designed in reminiscence of the 1960s in form patterns and color gradients typical of the time.
Play and leisure area
Children's playground
After playing and sporting facilities had already existed in previous years, a completely redesigned leisure area of around 35,000 square meters was laid out in 1974. In addition to various zones for leisure games and sports, a 600 square meter water playground was also created. The installed play and sports equipment was among the most modern in the GDR at the time and was therefore also used for presentation.
From the 1990s onwards, it was revised and adapted to meet today's requirements. The now largest children's playground in Thuringia offers modern, child-friendly attractions and play equipment. With the stepped water paddling pool and the adjacent "concrete head" and the rope pyramids for climbing, facilities from the 1970s - which have been renovated in the meantime - have also been preserved.
Children's farm
The complex, built in the style of a Thuringian three-sided farm in the mid-1990s, consists of a farmhouse, barn and stables. Domestic pets such as donkeys, goats, sheep, pigs, geese, ducks and chickens are housed here in a species-appropriate manner. A nutriage enclosure and a cottage garden adjoin the courtyard .
Rotunda pavilion
When the recreation area was rebuilt in 1974, a multifunctional event pavilion was created at the same time. The building designed by the architect Klaus Thiele is characterized by a concise polygonal shape. In addition, the all-round glazing, like the tensioned roof construction, give the building a filigree appearance. Today the pavilion is considered to be an important representative of GDR modern architecture and an essential element of the exhibition grounds.
After the building was initially used as a theater, cinema and exhibition space, a change of use and the long-term operation of a café followed a little later. At the end of the 2009 season, the facility closed when the pavilion was in need of considerable renovation. After the damage had been analyzed, the future of the striking rotunda was partially publicly debated. The fundamental renovation began in autumn 2010, largely preserving the original structure and preserving the monuments.
On February 29, 2012 the pavilion was reopened as the ega arena after the renovation . It is now used as a restaurant and has a small event room in the basement.
Plant show houses complex
The facility, which is open all year round, consists of five interconnected warm houses and is divided into the following subject areas:
Tropical house
The park's first permanently open show greenhouse opened in 1983. Even then, it had an extensive collection of tropical vegetation. After a good two decades of growth, the plants brought the house to its capacity limits, and the technical systems also required an overhaul.
During the redesign of the double-nave greenhouse, the roof was raised in the middle and the floor level was lowered at the same time. As a result, in addition to a new spatial experience, there was more space for, for example, larger palm trees . In addition to the actual thematic design of the facility, a panorama platform including seats was integrated and the entrance area changed.
The newly reconstructed tropical house was opened to the public on October 31, 2007. On an area of 600 square meters, a Central American jungle landscape is presented, designed with ponds, watercourses and pyramids borrowed from the lost Maya culture. But the focus is on the rainforest with its diverse flora in connection with exotic animals such as the iguana Eddi and several red-eared slider turtles . Typical crops for the region such as cocoa, bananas, papaya, vanilla and coffee are also cultivated.
Cactus house
A corresponding show house was opened in 1985 in the home town of the oldest cactus nursery in the world. The collection includes around 3200 cacti and succulents in around 800 species.
Orchid house
This August 22, 1986 passed the public area displays some 300 genera and species of the plant family of orchid plants . In addition to tropical companion plants, a pair of pygmy marmosets are also at home here.
Butterfly house
In 1997, the first butterfly house in Thuringia was inaugurated in the complex of the plant show houses. Around 300 specimens of 25 species of tropical butterflies live between the tropical plants that serve as a habitat for the animals. The visitor can experience the animals up close on an area of 360 square meters.
Victoria House
The Victoriahaus, which opened in September 1998, is named after the water lily plants of the genus Victoria that are cultivated there , and depicts a jungle landscape. A rock and water landscape was also created from volcanic stone. In addition to a 14,000 liter aquarium, there are also some Pacus in another water basin .
Historical park area around the Cyriaksburg
This sub-area is shaped by the remaining buildings of the former city fortress from which the park originally grew. Building on the initial design of the terrain in the 1920s, a garden show area was created from 1948 onwards, based on designs by landscape architect Walter Funcke. In contrast to Reinhold Lingner's later conception, Funcke largely avoided lines of sight, dominants and stringent forms, rather he included the surroundings, especially the views of the city.
In the years that followed, there was a further expansion in line with the culture park movement of that time with the usual design elements. For example, expanded play and sports facilities, gastronomic facilities and a large open-air stage were created. Starting from the main entrance at Gothaer Platz at the time, the area extended mainly to the early form of the central restaurant, which was built in the late 1950s and later also formed the spatial boundary of both parts of the site.
According to the plans of the landscape architect Reinhold Lingner, the connection with the design principles of the expansion areas of the international horticultural exhibition, which was developing further west, took place from 1958. Although the system was further developed and revised in the years that followed, especially from the mid-1990s, the original basic structures were essentially retained.
Water axis
Already at the first garden show Erfurt blooms in 1950, four fountain basins - called "water cups" - were integrated into the area as central focal points. Designed by landscape architect Walter Funcke at the time, it was also responsible for the redesign and expansion of the water area in the run-up to the opening of the iga in 1961. Taking into account the already existing and again revised fountain basins, a continuous, interlocking water landscape, partly with swamp and bank zones, was created.
The system that accompanies a main path and is spanned by a bridge is lined with shrub beds, meadows and an old tree population. With a total length of 150 meters, it acts as a link between the two park areas. A water axis in a very similar shape can be found on Potsdam's Friendship Island, which also goes back to the same author.
rose Garden
The rose garden, located on a stepped south-facing slope, was inaugurated on May 7, 2000. In 8 thematically structured areas, the “Queen of Flowers” can be found in around 500 species and varieties in a wide variety of growth forms. In addition to additional green space design, a water lily pond is also integrated. The equipment elements of the 28,000 square meter garden include bird aviaries, various sculptures and sculptures, as well as a fountain from the facility that existed in the western part of the egapark until 1995 . Terraces, pavilions, pergolas with various seating options and a water treading basin serve as places of retreat .
More themed gardens
Iris garden
At the same time as the creation of the south entrance in 1964, which served as a link to the adjacent municipal park, the Iris Garden was laid out. Named after the plant breeder Alexander Steffen (1871–1952), the genus is represented in 180 varieties and species in the themed garden. As part of the planned Federal Horticultural Show in 2021, the iris garden will be renovated for 860,000 euros.
Lily garden
The garden area, comprising 150 varieties and species of this genus, is flanked by a fountain basin with manual control. Located on the upper plateau of the southern slope, there is a view of the adjacent parks and the Steigerwald . A redesign took place in autumn 2010, partly according to plans that go back to the time the facility was built.
MDR GartenReich
Since 2000, the MDR garden has been broadcast from the egapark in the summer half of the year. In 2014, the "MDR GartenReich" was designed as a separate garden for the MDR, which serves as an outdoor location for the television program. Various series of experiments, such as the process of breeding and selection of annual flowers and perennials, can be viewed there. Test plantings for echinacea (sun hats), heuchera (purple bells) and gerberas , which are tested for their aesthetics, durability and winter hardiness, are designed for the long term .
Observation tower
The two 1,528 incurred turrets of the fortress originally wore red-roofed cone roofs . In 1827 these were demolished and replaced by flat roofs, later cannons were positioned here.
During the partial demolition of the castle, as a result of the city's fortification decreed in 1873, its moat was also filled in, which is why 8 meters of the towers disappeared into the ground. The tower, which is now 15 meters high on the southern slope, was converted into a viewing tower for visitors in 1935 . In the years of the Second World War, the round buildings served as flak towers again for military purposes.
Used again as a viewing platform from 1950 onwards, extensive renovation and restoration work began in 1998. Parts of the historical fortress, including the lower floors of the tower, were exposed again and made clear.
In autumn 1999, a 21.10 meter high steel spire with a viewing platform (5 meters in diameter) was put on. Based on the earlier conical roof shape, a 61-step spiral staircase leads to the plateau. The historic fortress tower is now one of the highest (273 meters above sea level ) and most beautiful viewpoints in the city.
Observatory
The public observatory , located in the former gun tower to the north , was opened in July 1950 as part of the first garden show Erfurt blooms . Much of the existing technology, such as the 2.5 m long telescope ( opening width : 130 mm, focal length : 1,950 mm), originally came from the Humboldt School, which was almost completely destroyed by a bombing in 1945 . The school and public observatory, which opened here thanks to a donation in 1911, was partially outsourced in 1944 as a preventive measure.
Due to the low light pollution of the surroundings and the height (265 meters above sea level), the choice of location was not for the tower. Its rotating dome has a diameter of 5 meters and was the first to be manufactured by VEB Carl Zeiss Jena after the Second World War. With tens of thousands of visitors a year, the facility was one of the most successful of its kind in the GDR.
To this day it is the first and only public observatory in the birthplace of the important astronomer Johann Hieronymus Schroeter .
Sculpture garden
Under the heading Zeitfiguren-Figurenzeit , 21 sculptures are presented in concentrated form on an area of around 4500 square meters . They are part of a fund of around 70 sculptures that have accumulated on the park grounds over decades. The collection includes works by leading representatives of figurative art in the GDR, such as Fritz Cremer , Waldemar Grzimek , Walter Arnold , Heinrich Drake , Helmut Braun and Christa Collector .
The bronze figures can be seen separately in symmetrically structured sub-areas framed by hedge plants. The immediate vicinity is lively with grasses and shrubs and a gravel and steppe candle bed . The area in the core area of the fortress and thus in one of the oldest areas in the egapark was opened on May 31, 2008. In addition to the permanent exhibition, there are temporary exhibitions of figurative sculptures that change every year. A studio as a facility for guest artists is directly adjacent to the garden.
Waidrad
The historic Waidmühle was from its original stand and location Pferdingsleben implemented on the park grounds and placed in 1935 at its present location. Today an exhibit of the German Horticultural Museum, the cultural monument symbolizes the important and economically important tradition of woad cultivation in Erfurt.
As a blue dye, the woad plant was the most important dye-supplying plant of the Middle Ages. The cultivation, processing and above all the export of woad established the prosperity of the five woad towns of Erfurt, Arnstadt , Gotha , Bad Tennstedt and Bad Langensalza as well as the surrounding regions in the Middle Ages . For example, the woad trade formed an essential basis for the means to expand the city's land holdings, and in 1392 one of the first and second largest universities in the country was founded. The typical woad merchants' houses, which can still be found today mostly near marketplaces, bear witness to this era.
The failure to observe a regulated crop rotation and, above all, the importation of the indigo plant , which provided thirty times the amount of dye , initiated, among other things, a sustained slump in the woad market . At the beginning of the 20th century - after the fully synthetic production of indigo had succeeded - the last woad mill in horse life ceased its work. Today there are still five wood mills in Thuringia.
German Horticultural Museum
The museum is housed in the main building of the Cyriaksburg citadel , the defensions barracks built between 1824 and 1826. It was opened as part of the iga in 1961 and operated in that form until autumn 1994. After several years of renovation and expansion, the museum was reopened on May 25, 2000.
Since then, information on the history of horticulture and garden art has been provided on around 1500 square meters of exhibition space. The program of events also consists of changing special exhibitions, specialist lectures and workshops . In the historical fortress building there is also an underground tunnel that leads to a 40 meter deep fortress well and two former cannon yards . The museum is unique of its kind in Germany and Europe.
Parking platform
The open-air stage was created in the early 1950s as part of the Cyriaksburg cultural park in the former quarry of the fortress. Equipped with the most modern projection screen in the country, the open-air theater was one of the largest in Europe at the time. With a capacity of 3,100 seats and a stage for 1000 participants, it was used for a variety of events such as folk dance performances, concerts, and film premieres and screenings.
Beech forest view
Somewhat out of the way below the side cape II, in the southern area of the Cyriaksburg citadel, there are other fortification structures .
On the one hand, there is the peace powder magazine No. 7, built in 1842, which was later converted and expanded into the iga guest house . On the other hand, there are remains of the former terrace battery, which was heaped up at the same time, which was used to coat the Geratal and the Steigerwald with handguns and artillery.
In the course of the redesign to a public green area, which began in 1885, the small hill was converted into a lookout point. The name Grolmannshöhe at that time goes back to Wilhelm von Grolman (1829-1893), from 1882 to 1888 commander of the 8th division in Erfurt. He played a decisive role in the partial release of the Cyriaksberg area after its defrosting and thus created the conditions for further development. The generous support of the Beautification Association brought von Grolman his honorary membership and later, after his death, a memorial column on the plateau named after him.
In preparation for the first international horticultural exhibition, this area also underwent changes in the years around 1960. Since then - as a reminder - with the Rufer , the scaled-down replica of a sculpture that Fritz Cremer originally created for the figure group of the Buchenwald monument on the Ettersberg has stood here . The east-facing city view reveals in the distance the 482 meter high elevation including the bell tower of the monument complex.
Japanese rock and water garden
Following the guiding principle of Japanese gardens , a pond and rock garden with a waterfall, a Zen garden and a tea house with a tea house garden can be found on an area of 7000 square meters . Other typical design elements are pavilions, stone lanterns, stylized gates and corresponding vegetation. The facility, located on the slope northwest of the main exhibition grounds, was opened on May 5, 2002. In around a year of construction, a garden ensemble in the style of Far Eastern garden art was designed, taking into account the rules of Japanese craftsmanship and using 5000 tons of rock.
Karl Foerster Garden
As a member of the “ Bornim Circle”, which developed around the perennial grower Karl Foerster , to which, for example, Hermann Mattern and his wife Herta Hammerbacher also belonged, Walter Funcke arranged 80,000 perennials on the site for the first garden show in Erfurt, thus placing them at the center of garden design. The display and viewing gardens of that time were probably also referred to as “Staudenschaufenster” because of their symmetrical structure. The sculpture garden, which opened in 2008, is located at this location today, and took up this concept again in a very similar form and supplemented it with art.
The Karl Foerster Garden as it is today goes back to the first design in 1962/63 by the garden and landscape designers Walter Funcke and Hermann Göritz (1902–1998), another companion of Foerster. Executed in a terraced form, the perennial garden extends along the main axis of the path from the entrance to Gothaer Platz.
Sibyl tower
The chapel-like structure, built in the Gothic style in the second half of the 14th century , is located at the entrance to Gothaer Platz . The area around the land monument was once undeveloped and was outside the city wall directly on an important supraregional trade route . Part of this historical route connection now runs through the park area.
There are no documented reasons for setting up the Sibyl Tower or a stone cross in the immediate vicinity . As part of the nationwide open memorial day in 1993, the tower was opened to the public after restoration.
Florinchen
Following the international trend, the iga should also be equipped with an advertising figure . So around 1965 a little gardener with black pageboy cut and dark almond eyes was created - named after Flora, the goddess of blossoms . It was created by Siegfried Kraft, at the time artistic director and chief graphic designer of the iga, and the Berlin puppet designer Gerhard Behrendt , who was responsible for the designs of the Sandman and the Leipzig Fair Man , among other things . From then on, Florinchen, clad in green dungarees and straw hat and always surrounded by flowers, adorned iga's external appearance in many ways. For example, she sold a large number of dolls, and she was also used to create a sandman evening greeting at the end of the 1960s. The mascot was relaunched for the 50th anniversary of the park in 2011 .
Today's logo for the egapark, which in its basic form corresponds to that used in 1961, was designed by Siegfried Kraft. With his design concepts, he shaped the uniform visual appearance of iga for decades . For his work he was honored with the City of Erfurt's Culture Prize in 1968 and the Johannes R. Becher Medal in gold in 1980 .
Others
Press center of the German-German summit Brandt-Stoph 1970
On March 19, 1970, Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt met for official talks with the GDR Prime Minister Willi Stoph in Erfurt. As the first German-German summit , the historic event marked the beginning of the rapprochement between the two German states.
The international interest was correspondingly high, up to 2,000 journalists applied for their accreditation , and in the end around 500 media representatives from 42 countries received approval. It was therefore necessary to provide an adequate press center in addition to the Hotel Erfurter Hof , which was chosen as the conference location . The iga with its generously sized rooms was selected as the location for this . With the aim of creating the best working conditions, workplaces were subsequently set up, direct telephone lines to the Federal Republic of Germany, employees who were experienced in dealing with international guests were trained again and integrated supply options up to a temporary Intershop .
The widely closed and secured press center began operations on March 18, 1970. Government spokesman Conrad Ahlers spoke at the final press conference in front of around 150 journalists .
Press festival 1978
During the 23rd press festival in 1978, the People's Police had several violent clashes with young people. These led to 40 arrests on May 27, following a concert by the groups electra and City , which ended early . One day later, in the run-up to an announced blues party with the group Fusion and the soloists Stefan Diestelmann , Regine Dobberschütz and Hansi Klemm, there was renewed tumult . Sensitized by the events of the previous day, the police took immediate action and the situation escalated . Equipped with batons , protective shields and closed helmets , the police took action with service dogs against the young people, who mainly came from the blues scene . In retrospect, there were officially 26 casualties, 46 arrests and property damage.
In the subsequent trials, some of the juveniles were sentenced to prison terms of up to three years.
Postage stamp issues
The iga was the subject of various postage stamp issues between 1961 and 1979 .
_1961,_MiNr_0854.jpg)
_1961,_MiNr_0855.jpg)
_1961,_MiNr_0856.jpg)
The GDR's Deutsche Post issued 5 stamp series , consisting of a total of 25 special stamps , each with floral motifs. At the opening of the 1st International Horticultural Exhibition on September 13, 1961 , the first series of 3 stamps appeared . The stamps that were only issued at the end of the exhibition were the first to be produced by the VEB Deutsche Wertpapierdruckerei using multi-colored doctor blade gravure printing . In their simple design, the stamps are reminiscent of the current definitive series of flowers from Deutsche Post AG .
On the occasion of iga 66 on August 16, 1966, a series of 4 special stamps was issued. In the summer months of 1972 , 1975 and 1979 , a series of stamps was issued with 6 postage stamps each for various flower exhibitions.
Incidentally were thematically appropriate motif and special and first day covers and sheets with associated Ersttagsstempel designed.
Stamp exhibitions were also organized by the Philatelist Association of the Kulturbund of the GDR on the iga site. The first such event took place in 1961, when the iga opened . Under the heading Plants as postage stamp motifs , a special exhibition was hosted at the time in the premises of the affiliated Horticultural Museum. FLORA 87 , held from May 30 to June 8, 1987, attracted 11,000 visitors to the exhibition halls. A second edition of the exhibition was held from June 29 to July 8, 1990 with the FLORA 90 .
Development of transport infrastructure
In preparation for the first international horticultural exhibition of the socialist countries and the expected increase in traffic - ultimately around 3.5 million people visited the iga in 1961 - various traffic routes in Erfurt were modified and expanded.
Expansion of the tram network
With the aim of being able to reach the site by various means of transport , iga was given numerous parking spaces for vehicles and a petrol station as well as an independent, daily tram connection . For this purpose, the expansion of line 2 began in April 1960 from the previous terminus at Gothaer Strasse to the planned main entrance.
The double-track, 1.3 kilometer long line with a turning loop was handed over to the customer on November 7, 1960 and opened. On April 16, 1961, scheduled passenger traffic with railcars of the Gotha design began . The project was also the first new line of the Erfurt tram after the war.
Conversion and expansion of the airport
The Erfurt regional airport, which emerged from a military airfield in 1956/57, was also extensively expanded. The first construction phase on the new "Jet Airfield Erfurt" began on November 2nd, 1959 and included the construction of the runway , including the associated taxiways and parking areas. The airport remained closed for the duration of the 17-month construction period . The previous domestic air traffic with the destinations Berlin , Dresden and Barth took over the alternative airport Eisenach-Kindel .
After completing the first stage of the Erfurt airport was on April 24, 1961 landing of a Lufthansa - airliner taken out of Berlin again. The first foreign aircraft to land after the reconstruction was an IL-14 operated by the Romanian airline TAROM , which brought exhibition cargo for the International Horticultural Exhibition to Erfurt.
Further measures
In May 1961, the first traffic lights were set up at the inner-city intersection of the Angers . This early traffic light system was controlled manually by a police officer on duty who - from the newly built Angerturm - was used to regulate and monitor the tram , trolleybus and car traffic.
The Gothaer Landstrasse leading to the main entrance of the exhibition grounds, including the parking areas, was equipped with electric street lighting . The conversion of the previous gas lighting in the urban area to electric light, which began in 1960 , was completed in 1968.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kristina Vagt: Between system competition and leisure time enjoyment . In: Martin Baumann, Steffen Raßloff (eds.): City of flowers Erfurt. Waid - Horticulture - iga / egapark . Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2011, ISBN 978-3-86680-812-6 , page 342
- ↑ Jürgen Zerull: Development of the Erfurt garden shows . In: Martin Baumann, Steffen Raßloff (eds.): City of flowers Erfurt. Waid - Horticulture - iga / egapark . Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2011, ISBN 978-3-86680-812-6 , page 220/221
- ^ Nicole Richter: Masterpiece in 30 months . In: Thüringische Landeszeitung . Edition March 25, 2008
- ↑ Susanne Karn: The garden show in Erfurt - from the harmonious cultural landscape to the exemplary teaching show . In: Martin Baumann, Steffen Raßloff (eds.): City of flowers Erfurt. Waid - Horticulture - iga / egapark . Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2011, ISBN 978-3-86680-812-6 , page 294
- ↑ Susanne Karn: Open space and landscape planning in the GDR - using the example of works by the landscape architect Walter Funcke (1907-87) . LIT Verlag, Münster 2004, page 120
- ↑ Heinz Glade: Flowers for the world . Buchverlag Der Morgen, 1st edition, Berlin 1967, page 116
- ↑ Susanne Karn: Open space and landscape planning in the GDR - using the example of works by the landscape architect Walter Funcke (1907-87) . LIT Verlag, Münster 2004, page 43
- ↑ Heinz Glade: Flowers for the world . Buchverlag Der Morgen, 1st edition, Berlin 1967, page 156
- ^ Nicole Richter: Masterpiece in 30 months . In: Thüringische Landeszeitung . Edition March 25, 2008
- ^ Andrea Herz: First International Horticultural Exhibition 1961 in a political context. In: Sheets on regional studies Thuringian State Center for Political Education 2011
- ↑ Alice von Plato: garden art and flower magic . In: Staged Unity . Adelheid von Saldern (Bandhrsg.) Franz Steiner Verlag 2003, ISBN 978-3-515-08301-0 , page 203
- ↑ Alice von Plato: garden art and flower magic . In: Staged Unity . Adelheid von Saldern (Bandhrsg.) Franz Steiner Verlag 2003, ISBN 978-3-515-08301-0 , page 203
- ↑ mdr.de: Buga 2021: Danakil House in Egapark Erfurt gets a roof | MDR.DE. Retrieved April 27, 2019 .
- ↑ BUGA 2021 comes to Thuringia. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Report at T-Online.de from December 22, 2011.
- ↑ Alice von Plato: garden art and flower magic . In: Staged Unity . Adelheid von Saldern (Bandhrsg.) Franz Steiner Verlag 2003, ISBN 978-3-515-08301-0 , page 194
- ^ Sculpture in Berlin - Catalog ( Memento from February 10, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ Alice von Plato: garden art and flower magic . In: Staged Unity . Adelheid von Saldern (Bandhrsg.) Franz Steiner Verlag 2003, ISBN 978-3-515-08301-0 , page 204
- ^ Rüdiger Paul Kirsten: Conflicts, Courage and Collective Plan . In: Martin Baumann, Steffen Raßloff (eds.): City of flowers Erfurt. Waid - Horticulture - iga / egapark . Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2011, ISBN 978-3-86680-812-6 , page 358
- ↑ Erfurt Iris Garden is being renovated for the Federal Horticultural Show
- ↑ http://www.egapark-erfurt.de/pb/egapark,Lde/Home/entzüge/Gartenwelt/Themengaerten/MDR+GartenReich
- ^ Willibald Gutsche: The history of the Cyriaksburg cultural park . In: The Cyriaksburg cultural park in Erfurt and its history . From the series: From the past of the city of Erfurt . 3rd edition, Erfurt 1956
- ↑ Volker Freche / Jürgen Zerull: Humboldt School in Erfurt 1879-2009 . Retrieved September 29, 2011
- ↑ History of (our) school observatory ( memento of the original from February 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved September 29, 2011
- ^ Alfred Priem: The People's Observatory . In: The Cyriaksburg cultural park in Erfurt and its history . From the series: From the past of the city of Erfurt . 3rd edition, Erfurt 1956
- ^ Günter Loibl: 30 years of public observatory in Erfurt . In: Publications of the Natural History Museum . Issue 1, Erfurt 1982
- ↑ Andrea Hildebrand: An idea gets a figure . In: Stadt + Grün . Patzer Verlag , issue 05/2008, page 4
- ↑ Martin Baumann: 50 years of the International Horticultural Exhibition iga 61 in Erfurt . In: Martin Baumann, Steffen Raßloff (eds.): City of flowers Erfurt. Waid - Horticulture - iga / egapark . Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2011, ISBN 978-3-86680-812-6 , page 327
- ↑ Heinz Glade: "Flowers for the World". Buchverlag Der Morgen, 1st edition, Berlin 1967, page 156
- ↑ General Karl Wilhelm Georg von Grolman. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 27, 2015 ; Retrieved February 26, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Carsten Kießwetter: Art means bringing order into chaos . In: Day of the Lord . No. 39, 1996
- ^ Jan Schönfelder, Rainer Erices: Willy Brandt in Erfurt: the first German-German summit in 1970. Berlin, Ch. Links Verlag, 2010 ISBN 978-3-86153-568-3 , page 165
- ↑ False report . In: Der Spiegel 14/1970, March 30, 1970. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
- ↑ Jan Schönfelder: The Erfurt Press Festival 1978 . In: Leaves on regional studies . Thuringian State Center for Political Education 2004
- ↑ Jan Schönfelder: Blueser at the press festival . Accessed September 9th.
- ^ New tumults in the GDR . In: Der Spiegel 24/1978, June 12, 1978. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
- ^ Peter Tichatzky: Colorful GDR stamp world. Eulenspiegel Verlag, Berlin 2011, page 139/140
- ↑ Harald Bischoff: History of the German Horticultural Museum . In: Martin Baumann, Steffen Raßloff (eds.): City of flowers Erfurt. Waid - Horticulture - iga / egapark . Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2011, page
- ↑ William Sehlke: Philately in the GDR . ( Memento of the original from July 6, 2012 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
- ↑ Thuringian Tram Friends e. V .: The Erfurt tram . Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2011, ISBN 978-3-86680-250-6 , page 8
- ^ Jürgen Hanemann: The history of the Erfurt airport 1957-2007 . Rockstuhl Verlag, Bad Langensalza 2010, ISBN 978-3-86777-194-8 , pp. 48-59
- ^ Manfred Soldan: 50 years of the Erfurt-Bindersleben airport . In: Stadt und Geschichte : Issue No. 35 (03/2007), ISSN 1618-1964 , pages 28/29
- ↑ The Ampelmännchen is 50 years old: Erfurt congratulates with a birthday edition . Retrieved October 26, 2011.
- ↑ Hans-Peter Brachmanski : That was the 20th century in Erfurt . Wartberg Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen 2000, ISBN 3-86134-691-5 , page 67
literature
sorted alphabetically by author
- Martin Baumann: The first international horticultural exhibition of the socialist countries in Erfurt 1961 . In: Die Gartenkunst 19 (1/2007), pp. 163–178.
- Martin Baumann, Steffen Raßloff (eds.): City of flowers Erfurt. Waid - Horticulture - iga / egapark . Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2011. ISBN 978-3-86680-812-6
- Susanne Karn: Open space and landscape planning in the GDR - Using the example of works by the landscape architect Walter Funcke (1907–87) . LIT Verlag, Münster 2004.
- The Cyriaksburg cultural park in Erfurt and its history . From the series: From the past of the city of Erfurt . 3. Edition. Erfurt 1956.
- Alice von Plato: garden art and flower magic . In: Adelheid von Saldern (Hrsg.): Staged unity . Franz Steiner Verlag 2003. ISBN 978-3-515-08301-0
Web links
- Internet presence of the egapark
- Internet presence of the German Horticultural Museum on the egapark site
- Friends of the Federal Horticultural Show Erfurt 2021 eV
- iga and egapark on erfurt-web.de
- Private homepage with photo comparisons from 1961 and 2011
Coordinates: 50 ° 58 ′ 3 ″ N , 11 ° 0 ′ 28 ″ E