Gardens of the World
In Marzahn Recreational Park
Marzahn Recreational Park is open to garden art from around the globe. The new Karl Foerster Herbaceous Perennial Garden brings to seven the number of “Gardens of the World“ in the cosmopolitan city of Berlin.
The first of the attractions, the Chinese Garden, was opened to the public after four years of work on 15th October 2000.
At 2.7 hectares it is the largest Chinese Garden in Europe. It was developed in close collaboration with Berlin’s partner city of Beijing: the garden was designed exclusively by Chinese landscape architects and all materials – even the impressive Thai-Hu stones – were imported from China. All the construction work was carried out by Chinese artisans. The garden is completely authentic.
A self-contained horticultural world with pavilion, pond, watercourses, a dry garden and impressive ornamental rocks has been enchanting visitors to the Recreational Park since May 2003.
The Japanese Garden of Merging Water also features typical Japanese plants such as Japanese maple, Japanese flowering dogwoods and Japanese lavender heather.
Sitting snugly in the Park’s glasshouse, the Balinese Garden has showcased a section of a traditional Balinese living complex and a plethora of tropical plants since December 2003.
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The Oriental Garden of Four Rivers represents the garden tradition of a number of oriental countries. Its conception as an enclosed garden room divided by four rivers symbolically corresponds with the idea of paradise in the Old Testament or the Koran.
The Korean Seoul Garden is a generous gift from the city of Seoul to Berlin. It occupies an area of 4,000 square metres and boasts a diverse naturalistic landscape, courtyards, elaborate decorative figures and a pavilion.
Serving as examples of European garden art, a Hampton Court-style maze and a labyrinth similar to the one at Chartres Cathedral in France were opened in 2007
Mazes and labyrinths are widespread in European garden art and many were built in court gardens during the Baroque period. While a labyrinth has just one path leading from the entrance to the exit, a maze consists of several paths. Not all lead to the exit, with some turning out to be dead ends, allowing a walk through the maze to become an adventure.
As part of the Gardens of the World project the Shrub Garden was renewed and expanded in 2006 and 2007 and reopened on 9 March 2008. This garden is a place of beauty and reconciliation with nature, in keeping with the ideas of Karl Foerster, the shrub grower and garden philosopher from Potsdam-Bornim. This new garden means that early 20th century German garden culture is now also represented in the Marzahn collection of international gardens.
The Italian Renaissance Garden, which opened on 31 May 2008, serves as a further example of European garden art. It is not just a representation of a garden from another country but also a journey back in time to another century of European culture.
The new garden is called the Giardino della Bobolina in reference to a 1.30-metre marble figure placed in the main space of the new garden.
The overall Gardens of the World concept is an ambitious undertaking by Grün Berlin Park und Garten GmbH, the operator of Marzahn Recreational Park, whose importance extends beyond the region of Berlin.
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The project is intended to contribute to the economic wellbeing of the region as a whole. This is in keeping with the objectives of the joint “Improvement of the Regional Economic Infrastructure“ programme, the main sponsor of the project.
Under discussion: the Christian Garden
