Freiburg Botanic Garden
Encyclopedia
Freiburg Botanic Garden (German: Botanischer Garten Freiburg or Botanischer Garten der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg) is a botanical garden
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...

 in the Herdern district at Schänzlestraße 1, Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 and is associated with the University of Freiburg
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...

. The current director of the garden is Professor Dr. Thomas Speck.

The garden was founded in 1620 at the University of Freiburg
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...

. It was one of the first botanic gardens in Germany. The garden was originally part of the University of Freiburg Faculty of Medicine
University of Freiburg Faculty of Medicine
The University of Freiburg Faculty of Medicine is the medical school and biomedical research unit of the University of Freiburg...

, where it was used for teaching purposes. During the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....

, the garden was destroyed.

The garden was rebuilt in 1766, but was forced to relocate to make room for the fortifications built by the Marquis de Vauban to protect the city after Freiburg had been annexed by France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 in 1677. The botanic garden was laid out near the river Dreisam
Dreisam
Dreisam is a river in Germany near Freiburg. It empties into the Elz. The waters of the Dreisam feed the famous Freiburg bächle....

. Its design was heavily influenced by the onset of the Age of Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...

 and by the increased interest in botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

 during the second half of the 18th century. Again part of the Faculty of Medicine, the garden measured approximately 6.6 acres (26,709.3 m²) in area. Despite damage from floods and the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

, the garden included an impressive 3,000 plants by 1829, as well as greenhouses built in 1827 and 1828. Directors of the botanic garden from this period included Karl Julius Perleb
Karl Julius Perleb
Karl Julius Perleb was a German botanist and natural scientist.From 1809 to 1811, he studied at the University of Freiburg and attained a doctorate first in philosophy and 1815 in medicine. A stay in Vienna followed. In 1818, he returned to the University of Freiburg, and started post-doctoral...

, Fridolin Karl Leopold Spenner, Alexander Braun
Alexander Braun
Alexander Carl Heinrich Braun was a German botanist from Regensburg, Bavaria.He studied botany in Heidelberg, Paris and Munich. In 1833 he began teaching botany at the Polytechnic School of Karlsruhe, staying there until 1846...

, Carl Wilhelm von Nägeli, Heinrich Anton de Bary and Julius von Sachs
Julius von Sachs
Julius von Sachs was a German botanist from Breslau, Prussian Silesia.At an early age he showed a taste for natural history, becoming acquainted with the Breslau physiologist Jan Evangelista Purkyně. In 1851 he began studying at Charles University in Prague...

.

In 1878 the garden at the Dreisam had to be abandoned, and the garden relocated to what is now the Institutsviertel (institutes quarter) and remained at this location until the First World War. In 1912 the garden moved to its current location in Herdern district of Freiburg, when a new institute for botany was built there. The garden sustained damage during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 in the 1944 air raid on Freiburg.

Today the garden contains some 8,000 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

, with research centered upon Black Forest
Black Forest
The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....

 fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

 flora of the Carboniferous
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...

 period, and the functional morphology
Morphology (biology)
In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....

 and biomechanics
Biomechanics
Biomechanics is the application of mechanical principles to biological systems, such as humans, animals, plants, organs, and cells. Perhaps one of the best definitions was provided by Herbert Hatze in 1974: "Biomechanics is the study of the structure and function of biological systems by means of...

 of living and fossil plants. Its collections include plants from alpine regions, dunes, heaths, marshes, and bogs, with four exhibition greenhouse
Greenhouse
A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...

s (900 m²) containing tropical plants, fern
Fern
A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...

s, and cacti
Cactus
A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae. Their distinctive appearance is a result of adaptations to conserve water in dry and/or hot environments. In most species, the stem has evolved to become photosynthetic and succulent, while the leaves have evolved into spines...

 and succulents.

External links

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