Gewächshaus für tropische Nutzpflanzen
Encyclopedia
The Gewächshaus für tropische Nutzpflanzen is a botanical garden
specializing in tropical
crop
s, maintained by the University of Kassel
. It is located in greenhouses at Steinstraße 19, Witzenhausen
, Hesse
, Germany
, and open several afternoons per week.
The greenhouses were first established in 1902 to support the colonial School of Agriculture, Trade and Industry (founded 1898), and then consisted of a central palm house
with adjacent tropical and cold houses. These houses were replaced in 1937 with larger facilities which were extensively damaged in World War II
. Postwar reconstruction was slow and the greenhouses did not resume operation until 1957 under the auspices of the Deutschen Instituts für Tropische und Subtropische Landwirtschaft GmbH (DITSL). A modern greenhouse (1200 m²) was built in 1965, with many improvements in 1971, and seminar rooms (300 m²) and research area (150 m²) added in 1987 and 1995 respectively.
Today the greenhouses proper (1200 m²) are divided into five areas: a palm house
(240 m²) of 10 meters height, and coffee
house (225 m²), cocoa house (225 m²), field cultures room (225 m²), and orangery
(225 m²), each 5 meters in height.
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...
specializing in tropical
Tropics
The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
crop
Crop
Crop may refer to:* Crop, a plant grown and harvested for agricultural use* Crop , part of the alimentary tract of some animals* Crop , a modified whip used in horseback riding or disciplining humans...
s, maintained by the University of Kassel
University of Kassel
The University of Kassel, founded in 1970, is one of the newer universities in the state of Hesse. The university is in Kassel, and as of September 2010 has about 18,113 students...
. It is located in greenhouses at Steinstraße 19, Witzenhausen
Witzenhausen
Witzenhausen is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northeastern Hesse, Germany.It was granted town rights in 1225, and until 1974, it was a district seat....
, Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
, 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 open several afternoons per week.
The greenhouses were first established in 1902 to support the colonial School of Agriculture, Trade and Industry (founded 1898), and then consisted of a central palm house
Palm House
A palm house is a greenhouse that is specialised for the growing of palms and other tropical and subtropical plants. Palm houses require constant heat and were built as status symbols in Victorian Britain...
with adjacent tropical and cold houses. These houses were replaced in 1937 with larger facilities which were extensively damaged in 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...
. Postwar reconstruction was slow and the greenhouses did not resume operation until 1957 under the auspices of the Deutschen Instituts für Tropische und Subtropische Landwirtschaft GmbH (DITSL). A modern greenhouse (1200 m²) was built in 1965, with many improvements in 1971, and seminar rooms (300 m²) and research area (150 m²) added in 1987 and 1995 respectively.
Today the greenhouses proper (1200 m²) are divided into five areas: a palm house
Palm House
A palm house is a greenhouse that is specialised for the growing of palms and other tropical and subtropical plants. Palm houses require constant heat and were built as status symbols in Victorian Britain...
(240 m²) of 10 meters height, and coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
house (225 m²), cocoa house (225 m²), field cultures room (225 m²), and orangery
Orangery
An orangery was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classicising architectural form. The orangery was similar to a greenhouse or conservatory...
(225 m²), each 5 meters in height.