The predecessor to the Botanical Garden was the kitchen and herbs garden adjacent to the Berlin Palace, now transformed into the Lustgarten (Pleasure Garden). In 1676, another kitchen garden was created in Potsdam Street, but this was put in under the auspices of the newly established Berlin University, so that the science institution could make it a world-class botanical garden. The Arboretum was completed first, and the initial plantings came in 1888, as well as renovation of some of the old buildings. However, as the space in the city wasn’t enough for such a purpose, 41 hectares of new land previously used for agriculture was purchased on the edge of Berlin, and construction work began. The Botanical Garden’s designer and first chief manager was Adolf Engler, who led the original work of turning the land into a scientific botanical garden.

The heart of the Botanical Garden was finished within seven years of the start of the development process, with Engler responsible for the garden’s layout and Alfred Koerner for the architecture. The first section was the Zentralstelle der Deutschen Kolonien (Central Site of the German Colonies), exhibiting a variety of flora species that researchers found in the lands colonised by this European country. The official opening of the facility took place in 1910, some years after the first visitors were welcomed in 1904, but that was due mainly to the decision to wait until the Botanical Museum building was also ready to use. After this period, the most important changes to the garden were made during the Nazi reign and in the postwar times. Reconstruction began after the Berlin Blockade, with the help of both the Allied forces and Berlin’s citizens.

Paying a visit to Berlin’s Botanical Garden can be very enriching because of the strict order by which the different plants species are presented to the public. The garden’s division into large sections helps with learning about the relationships between the different types of plants, in what habitat they grow and also what they’re used for. For example, in the southwestern part there’s the Arboretum, where native German trees are planted and also the Geographical Garden, where plants in their natural landscapes are shown. Further, there are also medicinal and economic gardens and numerous greenhouses for the plants that require different climate conditions. For handicapped visitors, the Botanical Garden also provides a special sensory garden.

Not only plants make up the Botanical Garden’s complex, however. The different greenhouses and other buildings are also interesting for having been constructed in the 19th or at the beginning of the 20th Century. The world’s biggest greenhouse, the Tropenhaus (Tropical House), with its glass-covered steel skeleton that even survived the bombings of World War II, houses various tropical plants, among which are a huge bamboo tree. Many elaborate pavilions dispersed around the Botanical Garden lure tourists to take a rest from wandering. The Botanical Museum, Herbarium and Library provide knowledge-hunters with tons of further information.