Hardt (Wuppertal)
The Hardt-Anlagen , or mostly abbreviated Hardt , are a park on the partially wooded elevation Hardtberg in the inner city area of Wuppertal , on the border between the districts of Elberfeld and Barmen .
The Hardt-Anlagen are one of the oldest city parks in Germany and part of the street of garden art .
history
Large parts of the Hardt were fallow land at the beginning of the 19th century , which for a long time was used as a quarry and pasture. The previously forested Hardt had already been largely cut down during the Thirty Years' War . In 1807, the city of Elberfeld decided to reforest the ridge to counteract the lack of wood in the city.
The Elberfeld doctor Johann Stephan Anton Diemel is considered to be the founder of the Hardt plant as a city park , on whose initiative the first areas were landscaped and made accessible to the public during the replanting of the Hardt. The Diemel memorial erected in 1824 on the ascent to Elisenhöhe and the Diemel staircase named after him, one of the numerous footpaths that lead from the city up to the Hardt, remind of him today.
In the later years, the Elberfeld Beautification Association pushed ahead with the further expansion of the Hardt systems. The association, founded in 1870, had set itself the goal of preserving important forests and open spaces for the recreation of the citizens in the expanding Wuppertal urban area.
In 1880 the Hardt Association hired the garden artist and Prussian horticultural director Heinrich Siesmayer to develop the Hardt facilities as a landscape garden . At the same time, the former quarry was included in the gardens and equipped with a large artificial waterfall .
In 1890 the botanical garden was laid out as a school garden on the Hardt. Its original location was today's rose garden on the northern edge of the Hardt plant. It was not until 1910 that the botanical garden was moved to its current location in front of Villa Eller . Since then, the villa and the neighboring Elisenturm have formed a unit with the botanical garden.
During the Second World War, the parks and buildings were partially badly damaged. The meadows and the area of the city gardening were used temporarily for growing vegetables. The facilities were reopened as "Bunte Hardt" in 1954 for the 25th anniversary of the city of Wuppertal and expanded to the east as far as the Bismarck Tower.
The Hardt facilities were last expanded when the “New Hardt Garden” was laid out on the Elisenhöhe as part of the 2006 Regionale . Three new, publicly accessible greenhouses were built on the site of the former city nursery , the adjacent areas were integrated into the existing landscape park and a central square with a fountain was created between the Elisenturm, Villa Eller and the new greenhouses.
Gardens and parks
The historical main entrance to the Hardt facilities is on the southwest side of the Hardt on the edge of the Elberfeld city center.
Old Hardt
Here is the area of the "Alten Hardt". This area is the starting point for the development of the Hardt facilities into a city park, but after several redesigns, the "Alte Hardt" is no longer preserved in its original form.
Former quarry
Above the "Alten Hardt" there is a former quarry , in which building material for streets and houses was extracted well into the 19th century. The quarry was included in the Hardt facilities around 1880 and designed together with the "Alte Hardt" as a romantic park, the entry point of which is marked by a large arched bridge. Within this area, the park is laid out in terraces. Small squares with monuments, park benches and play equipment are staggered on several levels from the lower Hardtstrasse up to Elisenhöhe. Numerous small vantage points allow a view of the Elberfeld city center. This part of the Hardt facility also houses the playground building and the forest stage, which is used for concerts in the summer months. There used to be an artificial waterfall on the steep wall above the Waldbühne, but it is no longer preserved today.
New hardt
The "Neue Hardt" is located on the gently sloping slope north of the former quarry. This area was redesigned as an extension of the “Alten Hardt” after 1880 by the garden artist Heinrich Siesmayer , who also planned the Wuppertal Zoo . In the lower area, promenades and flower beds were laid out and the “Bergisches Haus” became an important restaurant for excursions. This is no longer preserved today. In the upper area, the Hardt was designed as a spacious landscape garden with trees, bushes, curved paths and large meadows. Today this area is used as a lawn in summer and as a toboggan run in winter.
Rose garden and extension to the Bismarck tower
On the northern edge of the Hardt-Anlagen, above Teutonenstraße, there is a small rose garden , which is surrounded by a path and pergolas . This is also where the expansion of the Hardt systems up to the Bismarck Tower begins. This area was only integrated into the Hardt facilities after the Second World War. The defining design feature is the “Reichsallee”, an avenue that leads straight across the Hardtrücken to the Bismarck Tower. On both sides of the street, meadows, bushes and groups of trees continue the design of the “Neue Hardt” as a landscape park.
Botanical Garden
The Botanical Garden is located on the Elisenhöhe above the former quarry and the "Neue Hardt". Originally laid out by the city nursery as a school garden on the north side of the Hardt, the Botanical Garden has been located on the southern slope below Villa Eller and the Elisa tower since 1910. On an area of 2.5 hectares, the garden houses around 4,000 different plant species in various garden rooms and greenhouses. The garden is accessible free of charge.
Hardt's new garden
The city nursery was originally located directly next to the Botanical Garden, and its premises, located in the middle of the Hardt facilities, were not accessible to visitors. As part of the Regionale 2006 , this area was redesigned and integrated into the Hardt facilities. As the “New Hardt Garden”, it creates the connection between the Elisenturm, the Botanical Garden, the “New Hardt” and the expansion of the Hardt facilities along the Reichsallee with spacious meadows, new paths and a central square. In the center of the “New Garden”, three publicly accessible greenhouses were built to house tropical crops, cacti, bulbs and tubers.
Forest areas
Pure forest areas are almost no longer preserved on the formerly wooded Hardtberg, only on the northwest side (above the Neuenteich road) there is a smaller and on the south side of the Hardt (above the Hardtufers) a larger forest.
Buildings
While the rather steep south-facing slopes in the late 19th century were often built on with villas or houses from the Wilhelminian era in the lower part, there are some allotment gardens on the northern edge.
Observation towers
There are two historical observation towers in the Hardt facilities :
Elisenturm
The Elisen Tower, which is around 21 meters high, is located on the Elisenhöhe. This tower was built in 1838 by the entrepreneur Engelbert Eller on the foundation of an old windmill. Initially built as a private observatory , the tower was opened to the public as an observation tower in the mid-19th century. As such, it is still open every day and allows a panoramic view of the Botanical Garden down to the city center of Wuppertal-Elberfeld and the surrounding mountain slopes.
Bismarck Tower
In the eastern area of the Hardt facilities, roughly in the middle of the Hardtberg, is the 22 meter high Bismarck tower. This tower was built in 1907 as one of a total of 47 Bismarck towers that were built in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century according to a uniform design by the architect Wilhelm Kreis . The tower stands exactly on the former city limits between Elberfeld and Barmen and allows a panoramic view of both cities. The tower is usually open on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays in dry weather. You can tell from a distance that the tower is open by the fact that the Wuppertal city flag is raised on the top of the tower.
More buildings
Villa Eller and Orangery
The textile manufacturer Engelbert Eller had the Elisenturm built on the Hardt in the first half of the 19th century and had his private garden laid out below the tower. Around 1875, the " Villa Eller " was built as a summer house next to the tower . The Villa Eller, together with the Von-der-Heydt summer house, is one of the few villa-like summer houses that can be found in Wuppertal. As a typical building from the early Wilhelminian era, there are numerous historicizing style elements on the playful building. The juxtaposition of brick and sandstone is also typical of buildings from this era. In the years 1890–1895, the house was rebuilt and expanded to include the orangery , a large greenhouse, the architecture of which added Art Nouveau elements to the ensemble of buildings.
Villa Eller, together with the orangery, garden and Elisenturm, passed into the ownership of the city of Elberfeld after the death of Eller's wife, who moved their botanical garden to the Eller estate in 1910. The villa was badly damaged in the Second World War. Although not completely rebuilt, the original architecture of the villa is still clearly visible. The house and its lavish interior furnishings have been under monument protection since 1994. The orangiere and the terrace in front of it are now used as a restaurant and café.
Gardener's house
Above the former quarry is the gardener's house, which was built in 1882 in place of the old hermitage.
Cork hut
At the edge of the botanical garden is the "cork hut", a shed that was built in half-timbered construction and clad on the outside with tree bark .
Café Hardt Terraces
In the middle of the Hardt complex is the Hardt-Terrassen café, the oldest building in the complex: the former Stein'sche Gut with a half-timbered house from the 18th century was originally used for agriculture before the city of Elberfeld took it over and used it as a restaurant and beer garden integrated the park. The beer garden is open during the summer months.
Directions
The Hardt facilities can be reached via numerous stairs and footpaths from the neighboring districts. From the Elberfeld city center, the district bus line 643 runs through the Hardt facilities to the church university . The Hardt facilities are closed to car traffic, and there are only a few parking spaces (at the Botanical Garden and at the Bismarck Tower). Especially when the weather is nice and during events on the Waldbühne, the capacity of the parking spaces and the bus line is often insufficient for the numerous visitors.
literature
- Hardt garden monument. Rocks, palm trees, observation towers. With Elke Brychta, Elisabeth Bückmann, Klaus-Günther Conrads, Dirk Fischer, Arno Mersmann, Günther van Norden, Gela Preisfeld, Anne-Maria Reinhold, Andreas Schmiedecke, Christoph Schwab, Sibille Spiegel, Frank Telöken. Edition Köndgen, 2013, ISBN 3-939843-38-5
- Antonia Dinnebier : “Die Hardt, one of the first public parks in Germany”, in: Ralf Putsch, Tanja (ed.): “Original from the valley. Wuppertal innovations and pioneering achievements ". Wuppertal 2019, Edition Köndgen, pp. 66–71, ISBN 978-3-939843-93-1
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Stadtbaurat Koch: The public green. In: Elberfeld. Berlin, German Architecture and Industry Publishing House (DARI), 1928
- ^ Matthias Rickling: City Lexicon. Kassel: Hercules 2008
- ↑ a b Wolfgang Stock: Wuppertal street names . Thales Verlag, Essen-Werden 2002, ISBN 3-88908-481-8
- ↑ a b City of Wuppertal, Department of Green Areas and Forests: 200 years of Hardt Park in Wuppertal. Press release, 2007.
- ↑ www.strasse-der-gartenkunst.de - Hardt, Botanical Garden ( Memento from September 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) as of May 12, 2010
- ↑ a b c d e f g Information boards on the history of the Hardt, set up in several places in the Hardt facilities
- ↑ a b www.regionale2006.de - Regionale 2006: Rediscovering historic parks ( Memento of the original from January 17, 2016 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. As of May 12, 2010
- ↑ www.wuppertal.de - observation towers as of May 13, 2010
- ↑ Entry in the Wuppertal monument list
Coordinates: 51 ° 15 ′ 40.2 " N , 7 ° 9 ′ 32.7" E