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Göttingen has three botanic gardens: the historic one in the city center and two others, situated outside the city close to one of the university campuses. When I visited in 2017, my friend Esther told me that the university doesn’t want to manage the old garden, since no research to speak of is conducted there any longer – instead, it wants the city to take over the management of it. Arguing that it’s a historic landmark. However, the city is reluctant to take over. Getting back to my recent musings of nature words and fostering feelings of care for the ecosystems of Earth, this got me thinking. A botanic garden is also a place to educate people about botany and ecology. Especially one as beautiful as the old botanic garden in Göttingen holds the potential to both inspire and educate. Most cities fund museums, there to educate about history, art and technology. A botanic garden is an outdoor museum, and therefore part of a city’s mission to offer opportunities for learning. I haven’t been back to Göttingen since, so I don’t know what happened with the management. But I really hope the historic garden is being taken care of as lovingly as when I visited. It was a truly beautiful place.
Photo: Alter Botanischer Garten in Göttingen, Germany, September 2017. Posted on Instagram July 12, 2020.
Katja Malmborg 