125 years of the Chemnitz Botanical Garden

On Saturday 26 August at 1 pm, a celebratory colloquium will be held in the Botanic Garden to mark its 125th anniversary for friends, patrons and sponsors as well as long-standing supporters.

Representatives of the media are also cordially invited.

Mayor Michael Stötzer, the Head of the Parks Department Peter Börner and the Director of the Botanic Garden, Dr Sten Gillner, will welcome the guests. This will be followed by a presentation on the topic of "Veteran trees and national heritage trees - fascination, special features, risks and opportunities". The guests will then be given a guided tour of the show garden. Finally, a donation of 10,000 euros will be presented to the Chemnitz Botanical Garden Association by a private individual. The donation will be used to purchase a laser engraving device for the botanical garden in order to improve the labelling of plant genera and species for visitors.

The event marks the start of several events with an extensive programme to mark the 125th anniversary of the Botanic Garden, to which the general public is also invited. The highlight will be the autumn festival on 16 and 17 September. On 22 and 23 October, there will be a bird exhibition organised by the 1st Bird Breeders and Bird Lovers Association of Chemnitz. During the Advent season, there will be an Advent craft event.

In addition, numerous lectures will be offered for an interested specialist audience in the period from September to November 2023. (Overview at the end of the press release)

History and educational work

The Chemnitz Botanical Garden has a long tradition as an educational centre. The school plant garden was built in 1898 and opened as a botanical school garden in 1901. To this day, the educational programme for pupils, young people and interested parties has been maintained and expanded on site. In addition to the botanical garden itself, the school biology centre of the city of Chemnitz, the NABU nature conservation centre of the Erzgebirge regional association and the Chemnitz Botanical Garden Association (Förderverein Botanischer Garten Chemnitz e. V.) ensure this with a wide range of activities. Other active associations and interest groups - two beekeeping associations, a cactus and succulent plant association and a mushroom enthusiasts' association - complement the educational programme.

As a nationally important educational centre, visitors can explore the relationships and knowledge about flora and fauna 365 days a year. There are botanical collections in the open air and in show greenhouses on an area of 13.45 hectares. Central European open land biotopes and forest communities are a valuable speciality of the area.

The botanical garden also organises several different events every week, such as guided tours, feeding sessions etc. (by prior arrangement). NABU also organises events in the Botanical Garden.

All information can be found at
https://www.chemnitz.de/chemnitz/de/leben-in-chemnitz/freizeit/botanischer-garten/index.html

Cultivation and evaluation of plants

Negative changes in the vitality, health and phenological development of vegetation as well as increased mortality are evident in many areas of the site. The aim is therefore to establish resilient plant populations that can maintain their vitality in the long term, even in hot and dry periods of weather. The aim is to establish a high level of species diversity in order to compensate for losses caused by individual events that cannot yet be estimated, e.g. the occurrence of previously unknown pathogens, with other species. The Botanic Garden should therefore increasingly utilise the possibilities for cultivating and evaluating plants from drier and warmer regions.

Chemnitz Botanic Garden is involved in an international seed exchange programme with 189 botanic gardens around the world. This offers the opportunity to establish plants that are potentially adapted to future climatic conditions and that have so far been used only rarely or not at all in Central Europe.

Future co-operations

For the first time, there will be a co-operation with the Faculty of Applied Arts Schneeberg of the West Saxon University of Applied Sciences Zwickau from October. In a total of five events, botany and botanical contexts as well as the botanical garden itself will be brought to the fore for the students and the diverse shapes and colours of the flora will be made available for drawing lessons.

A further cooperation is being developed with Klinikum Chemnitz GmbH. Students on the TU Dresden/MEDiC model degree programme are involved in the botanical garden and can realise smaller horticultural projects.

Lecture series to mark the 125th anniversary of the Chemnitz Botanical Garden

Events organised by the Förderverein Botanischer Garten e. V.

The venue is the Botanical Garden, Leipziger Straße 147. Participation is free of charge.

Thursday, 7 September, 5 p.m.

"The challenge of establishing woody plants in historic gardens of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg", lecture by Dr Sten Gillner

Thursday, 21 September, 5 p.m.

"Facades as usable areas and gardens of the future", lecture by Niklas Weisel

Thursday, 28 September, 6 p.m.

"In the land of berries and bears - Alaska", lecture by Wolfgang Berthold

Thursday, 19 October, 6 p.m.

"Trees: On the trail of the secret of ageing", lecture by Prof Doris Krabel

Thursday, 26 October, 6 p.m.

"Insights into the hidden half of trees - research in the root area", lecture by Dr Sandra Korn

Thursday, 2 November, 5 p.m.

"Sustainable land use and regional value creation in the agricultural and food industry in the context of urban and rural areas - results from the research project", lecture by Anke Hahn

Thursday, 9 November, 5 pm

"The Zeisigwald - forays into nature and history", lecture by Dr Thorid Zierold

Thursday, 23 November, 5 p.m.

"The Beneath project - carbon and water balance of a beech forest rich in deadwood in the Düben Heath", lecture by Dr Britt Kniesel

Thursday, 30 November, 5 p.m.

"The tree - a successful model of earth and life history?", lecture by Prof Ronny Rößler