Harbkesche wild arboriculture

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With his eponymous description of the Harbkeschen wild tree cultivation, Johann Philipp Du Roi created the most important wood log of the 18th century.

The Harbkesche wild Arboriculture was a pioneering forestry project, which had the naturalization of foreign tree species in Germany since the mid-18th century to the goal. The Brunswick doctor and botanist Johann Philipp Du Roi published his detailed records of the plantings in Harbke ( Borde district , Saxony-Anhalt ) under the same title in 1771 and 1772 . It is considered "the most important German-language dendrological manual of the 18th century."

Beginnings and intention

On the initiative of Wolfenbüttel court president Friedrich August von Veltheim (born October 21, 1709 in Harbke; † April 19, 1775 in Braunschweig), whose family had held the manor in Harbke since 1308, the first consignment of seeds from North America arrived in 1755. By 1770 around 1400 plant items from many parts of the world had come to Harbke, where they were grown over a large area and divided according to their origin.

The economic importance of forestry at that time was immense, since wood was used everywhere as the most widely used building and material, but above all as heating material. To counter the impending wood shortage , von Veltheim made contact with the English botanist Philip Miller , who had made a name for himself in specialist circles with various publications. Through Miller's mediation, around 50 different tree and shrub species came to Harbke between 1755 and 1758. In 1759 the gardener Daniel August Schwarzkopf procured corresponding plants from England on behalf of Veltheim. From 1759 to 1770 the German émigré and later court gardener Catherine the Great , Johann Busch, took care of the North American crops via London.

From forest to landscape park

The blossom of the tulip tree in Harbker Schlosspark. There is also a copy from Veltheim's time in the Lustwald.

Since von Veltheim's endeavors were aimed at checking not only American but, if possible, all important woody plants in the northern temperate zone for their suitability for the local climatic conditions, he also received programs from numerous regions of Europe, e. B. Switzerland, Tyrol, the Netherlands or Russia. Furthermore, he was in lively exchange with the most important gardens in the country.

Von Veltheim had his forest area measured early on and divided into fields in order to ensure sustainable management. The trial areas in the so-called pleasure forest were clearly separated from the rest of the commercial forest. They covered more than 200 acres (approx. 50 ha) and were given names that reflected the origin of their crops: Florida, Newfoundland, Cotopaxi, Lebanon, Ukraine and the like. a. For Friedrich August von Veltheim, the pleasure forest combined the pleasant with the useful: design elements increasingly complemented the forest efforts, the forest became a landscape park.

A dendrological encyclopedia

A plaque commemorates Friedrich August von Veltheim.

However, the cultivation of foreign trees in the Harbker Forest was primarily based on a strong scientific drive from the Veltheims. Corresponding specialist literature was not yet available in Germany at that time, and forest topics were only dealt with marginally in hunting books. A grievance that Friedrich August von Veltheim tried to remedy with his undertakings. In 1765 he gave the young doctor Johann Philipp Du Roi, who had just completed his studies in nearby Helmstedt , the botanical supervision in the pleasure forest and the adjacent castle park.

After five years Du Roi finished his empirical work and published the two-volume work Die Harbkesche wilde Baumzucht . Du Roi describes the 95 different genera with their hundreds of species and the practical experience that can be drawn from their cultivation with a previously unknown level of accuracy. The Harbkesche wild tree cultivation is considered today as the first scientific publication on dendrology ( wood science) in the German-speaking area.

Harbke becomes a center of attraction

Today there is a nature trail and a forest cemetery in the Florida valley.

As a result, the Harbker plants were not only popular study objects for foresters, garden theorists and other botanical enthusiasts (e.g. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe during his visit in 1805); There was also a brisk trade in Harbker seeds from foreign and local trees. Numerous parks and forests, also far outside Germany, obtained their planting material from here, so that Harbkesche wild tree cultivation paid off not only in scientific terms, but also in hard cash.

Some tree species that were particularly recommended for cultivation in Germany based on the experience gained were the Weymouth pine , larch , robinia , poplar , red oak and walnuts . Harbkesche wild tree cultivation is considered by experts as the "first really large-scale German attempt at cultivation with foreign, mainly American hardwood and coniferous trees under forest conditions and under forest scientific observation according to today's standards."

Veltheim's legacy

After the death of Count Röttger von Veltheim (1848), grandson of Friedrich August, the production of semen in Harbke was stopped. Of the cultivated areas at that time, only the “Florida” quarter is recognizable and familiar. The diverse stock of trees and an old tulip tree in the "Florida Valley", as local people call this part of the Harbker Forest because of its curved landscape, bear witness to the bloom of earlier years here to this day. A place has been dedicated to Friedrich August von Veltheim on a mighty larch, and a memorial plaque commemorates the founder of the Harbker forest tests. His traces are still omnipresent, especially in the palace gardens. Quite a few exotic species have stood the test of time and in this way keep the memory of the Harbke's wild tree cultivation alive.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Johann Philipp Du Roi: The Harbkesche wild tree cultivation partly North American and other foreign, partly native trees, shrubs and shrub-like plants, described according to the characteristics, the cultivation, the properties and the use. Braunschweig 1771, Volume 1. https://books.google.de/books?id=h9onAAAAYAAJ&hl=de&source=gbs_similarbooks
  2. ↑ Johann Philipp Du Roi: The Harbkesche wild tree cultivation partly North American and other foreign, partly native trees, bushes and shrub-like plants, described according to the characteristics, the cultivation, the properties and the use. Braunschweig 1772, Volume 2. https://books.google.de/books?id=v_MnAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=de&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
  3. ↑ Ernst Münch: The larch riddle as a race question. In: Tharandter Forstliches Jahrbuch, Volume 84, Issue 7, Berlin 1933, p. 453.
  4. ↑ Urte Stobbe: Daniel August Schwarzkopf (1738-1817). Court gardener and garden inspector at the Kasseler Hof at the time of the garden art debate at the end of the 18th century . In: Die Gartenkunst  21 (2/2009), pp. 213–226 (220).
  5. ↑ Marcus Köhler: Early landscape gardens in Germany and Russia. The landscape gardener Johann Busch as a mentor of a new style. Berlin 2003.
  6. ^ Christian Cay Lorenz Hirschfeld: Theory of garden art. Volume 4, Leipzig 1782, pp. 240-246.
  7. ^ Rolf Kirsch: Early landscape gardens in the Lower Saxony area. Dissertation at the Georg-August University of Göttingen, 1988, p. 149.
  8. ↑ http://www.gemeinde-harbke.de/verzeichnis/objekt.php?mandat=138957
  • Location "Lustwald" according to the historical map:
    • Measuring table sheet 2097: Hötensleben, 1902 Hötensleben. - record 1900. - 1: 25000. - [Berlin]: Reichsamt für Landesaufnahme, 1902
    • online excerpt: kartenforum.slub-dresden


Coordinates: 52 ° 11 ′ 39 ″  N , 11 ° 3 ′ 15 ″  E