University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden, usually referred to simply as the Copenhagen Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located in the center of Copenhagen, Denmark. It covers an area of 10 hectares and is especially famous for its extensive complex of historic greenhouses, built in 1874.
The garden is part of the Danish Museum of Natural History, which is part of the Department of Natural Sciences at the University of Copenhagen. It serves both research, education and entertainment purposes.
The identification code of the University of Copenhagen Botanical Gardens as a member of the Botanical Gardens for Plant Protection (BGCI), as well as the initials of its herbarium is C
The Botanical Garden was first founded in 1600, but it was moved twice before it got its present location in 1870. It was probably founded to preserve a collection of Danish medicinal plants after the Reformation saw that many monasteries and their gardens were abandoned or destroyed.
The first garden, known as Hortus Medicus, was created on August 2, 1600 by royal charter on a piece of land donated by King Christian IV . It was located in Skidenstrada (now Crystalgade), and on this site was also built a residence for a university professor. The care of the garden was entrusted to the professor in the residence, regardless of what chair he occupied. In 1621, Ole Worm personally took over responsibility for the garden and enriched it with a large number of Danish medicinal plants, as well as rare foreign species, which he received from his many professional contacts abroad.
A second botanical garden was laid out by Georg Christian Oder in 1752 in the newly founded Frederiksstaden district at the request of Frederick V on a plot divided in half by Amaliegada north of Frederick's hospital. The smaller western part, occupying just under half a hectare, was equipped with a greenhouse, while the eastern part remained largely unplanted. The garden was opened to the public in 1763.
In 1770, part of the Eder garden was transferred to the University Botanical Garden. Last year, Christian VII donated to the University 2500 thalers, interest on which will go to the botanical garden. This created an economic basis for the expansion, but since there was no room for it at its original address, an off-site solution was eventually chosen.
Oder became the first director of the Botanical Garden. To emphasize its economic importance, and in the spirit of the Enlightenment, he began a work in progress, which was to become Flora Danica, an illustrated work describing all Danish and Norwegian plants. Oder was dismissed in 1771 in the case of Johann Friedrich Struensee .
In 1778, both gardens were closed when the King rebuilt the land in Amaliegada and at the same time donated a plot of land behind the Charlottenborg Palace to establish a new botanical garden of larger size. The plans for this garden received royal approval on July 22, 1778. He was to have two directors, one appointed by the university and the other by the king. The first appointment to this position at the university was Christian Friis Rottböll, who already managed the garden after the retirement of Oder, and the first royal appointment was Johan Theodor Holmsheld . At the same event in the garden worked Associate Professor. The first person to hold this chair was Martin Val, who played a major role in moving the plants from the Oder Garden to Charlottenborg Garden.
In 1817, the model with the double director was abandoned when Jens Wilken Hornemann became the sole director of the garden. At this stage, the garden occupied about 1.6 hectares in a small, marshy area, which was limited to Charlottenborg, Nyhavn, Mint and Bremerholm. Along the Nyhavn clique was built the main building, which housed a botanical museum, library and residential buildings for the director and botanical gardener. There were also rooms for the storage of sensitive plants in winter. The first greenhouse in the garden, Guiones Koldhus (Coolhouse Guione), was built in 1784. In 1803 the King funded the construction of a new complex of greenhouses of 200 square meters, and in 1837 were added minks.
In 1841, Joachim Frederick Shaw replaced Hornemann as director and garden. Among his initiatives were the creation of a new section on Danish species, containing 570 species, and improved cataloguing of plants and seeds. His ownership lasted until 1852. At this stage, the garden became even closer, and it became clear that another expansion was needed.
The botanical garden got its present location in 1870. Four years later, in 1874, at the initiative of the founder of Carlsberg J.. K. Jacobsen, who also funded it, in the gardens appeared a large complex of greenhouses. His inspiration was the glass building of the Crystal Palace, built for the Great Exhibition in London in 1851.
In 1977, the gardens, including greenhouses, were included in the list of the Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces, the Danish Department of Nature Conservation.
Botanical Garden of Copenhagen is an informal garden with free entrance. There are winter gardens, museum and herbarium, library (entrance by appointment), store for plants, seeds and a small selection of garden tools and places for eating.
In botanical gardens there are more than 13,000 species. The garden is divided into several sections, including: Danish plants (600 species), perennial plants (1100 species), annual plants (1100 species), mountaineering with plants from the mountainous areas of Central and Southern Europe and coniferous hill, planted with conifers. trees. One of the newest inclusions is rhododendron garden.
The garden has many beautiful samples of trees. The oldest tree in the gardens is a taxodium from 1806, which was moved from the old place at the age of 60 years.
There are 27 greenhouses in the garden. The most remarkable is a 3000-square meter conservatory complex of 1874. The Palm House in its center is 16 meters high and has narrow cast-iron spiral staircases leading to the aisle in the upper part. Among the plants are a palm tree from 1824 and a beautiful collection of cages, some of which are over 100 years old. The greenhouse, 50 meters long, has an extensive collection of cacti and other succulents, and in another - orchids and begonias. The modern greenhouse is designed for cauditic forms. The garden also has a special greenhouse with air conditioning, which can recreate an environment suitable for Arctic plants.
