Stadtpark and Botanical Garden Gütersloh

Prologue

The park consists of the Volkspark and the 3-hectare Botanical Gardens. The Volkspark was created by F. W. Schoedder of Iserlohn in the style of an English landscape garden from 1909 – 1914. Typical features include broad curved paths, rising and falling ground, groups of trees as backdrops, and lines of sight. A special feature is the “Eiswiese”, which is used for skating in winter. Old varieties of fruit such as “Schöner aus Wiedenbrück” are grown in the orchard. Furthermore, attractive playgrounds such as the climbing area were installed.

The Botanical Gardens were created from 1912 onwards under the direction of Karl Rogge, who designed a show garden with typical features of geometrical garden design. Among these are pools with geometrical surrounds, arbours and high hedges of hornbeams.

Additional gardens such as the “sun garden”, a medicinal garden, a “fountain garden” and a semi-natural garden were created during the last phase of enlargement in 1997/8. Olafur Eliasson’s “scent tunnel” is a permanent installation. Finally, the tropically-themed Palmenhaus Café is worth a mention.