Planten un Blomen is a large public park in the heart of Hamburg, extending across roughly 47 hectares between the city centre, the exhibition grounds and St. Pauli. It is far more than an ordinary urban green space: visitors find landscaped gardens, ponds, lawns, fountains, mature trees and quiet paths, all within easy walking distance of Hamburg’s main shopping streets and transport connections. The park is often regarded as one of the city’s greenest and most attractive public spaces.
The name is Low German and means ‘plants and flowers’. It reflects the park’s horticultural character and became established in connection with the Low German Garden Show held there in 1935; the name was later extended to the wider park. A visit can include the Japanese Garden and its tea house, the tropical greenhouses, the rose garden, the medicinal-plant garden and the Old Botanical Garden. There are also children’s play areas, a water playground, miniature golf, outdoor chess and, in the colder months, an ice rink.
The park’s history reaches back to 1821, when botanist Johann Georg Christian Lehmann planted a plane tree and established a botanical garden near the Dammtor. Much of the surrounding landscape occupies the former Wallanlagen, the defensive ramparts built around Hamburg in the seventeenth century and removed after the fortifications became obsolete. During the twentieth century, the area was repeatedly redesigned for major horticultural exhibitions, including the International Garden Shows of 1953 and 1973, which helped shape the park visitors see today.
Planten un Blomen is important to Hamburg because it combines history, horticulture, recreation and culture in a remarkably central location. In summer, its famous water-and-light concerts bring music, illuminated fountains and large crowds together, while theatre performances and other events make the park a lively cultural venue rather than merely a place for a stroll. At the same time, it forms part of Hamburg’s green belt and offers residents and visitors a valuable pause from the surrounding traffic, offices and exhibition halls – an unusually peaceful piece of nature in the centre of a major city.
Planten un Blomen
Hamburg
Germany
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