22+ großartig Sammlung Botanischer Garten Potsdam : Botanischer Garten …

# Botanical Garden of the University of Potsdam: Complete Visitor Guide

The Botanical Garden of the University of Potsdam (Botanischer Garten der Universität Potsdam) is one of Germany’s under-the-radar plant collections – small enough to feel manageable in a morning, but big enough to keep serious botany fans busy all day.

Set on Maulbeerallee 2 at the edge of Sanssouci Park, the garden is both a public attraction and a working university facility, with research collections, themed outdoor areas, and historic greenhouses packed with rare species.

Use this guide to understand what’s actually there, how it’s laid out, and how to fit it into a Potsdam or Berlin day trip.

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## Quick facts

– Location: Maulbeerallee 2, 14469 Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany
– Role: Botanical garden and arboretum maintained by the University of Potsdam
– Size: Approx. 8.5 hectares total, with about 5 hectares open to the public
– Plant diversity: Around 10,000 plant species / taxa cultivated across outdoor areas and greenhouses
– Status: Listed as one of the twelve largest botanical gardens in Germany in the BGCI GardenSearch database
– Setting: Immediately southwest of the Orangery Palace in Sanssouci Park, divided by Maulbeerallee into two main sections

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## Why the Potsdam University Botanical Garden is worth your time

### A compact, high-density garden

Compared with the huge Berlin-Dahlem botanical garden, Potsdam’s university garden is smaller but very dense. On roughly 8.5 hectares you get:

– Outdoor zones covering everything from alpine rock gardens and Eurasian steppes to North American prairies and Central European deciduous forest.
– An arboretum and themed plantings for marsh and aquatic plants, roses, wildflowers, useful crops, medicinal and aromatic herbs, and protected German species.

That mix makes it excellent if you want to understand how different ecosystems look and feel in one walkable loop.

### A serious collection behind the scenes

The garden isn’t just ornamental. It supports teaching and research at the University of Potsdam, especially in biology, ecology and plant sciences.

Key points that matter to plant nerds:

– Around 9,000–10,000 taxa cultivated overall, with roughly 4,000 taxa outdoors.
– Strong greenhouse collections of succulents (around 880 taxa), Araceae (~250 species), Aizoaceae (~260 species), Haworthia (55 species), ferns (~230 taxa), orchids (~320 taxa), Begonia species and Australian Proteaceae, plus Chinese medicinal plants.
– Conservation work including about 50 species from the federal state of Brandenburg that are threatened with extinction, grown outside in dedicated plots.

If you’re building a longer Germany itinerary around botanical gardens or conservation projects, this one is absolutely in that conversation.

### A post-war garden with a layered history

The garden in its current form dates from 1950. It was created after World War II on land that had been part of Sanssouci Park and the so-called Paradise Garden.

A few historical details:

– After the war, Sanssouci Park came under Red Army control and briefly operated as a branch of the Moscow Botanical Garden.
– In 1950, a new university garden was laid out along the northern edge of Sanssouci. Maulbeerallee now divides it into two areas:
– North: Paradise Garden, now mainly a teaching and display garden.
– South: Institute buildings, greenhouses, and additional outdoor beds.

That layout is still visible when you walk in today.

### A garden that actively interrogates colonial legacies

Botanical gardens across Europe are increasingly addressing how plant collecting and scientific classification were tied to colonial projects. Potsdam’s garden has taken a rare, explicit approach:

– The university has developed a postcolonial interpretive tour in the greenhouses that looks at:
– Botanical collecting practices
– Economic exploitation of natural resources
– Eurocentric narratives around plants and landscapes of Potsdam
– The tour was developed as a master’s thesis on “botanical gardens postcolonial,” and reviewed by specialists in racism, colonial history, and diversity training. of Potsdam

If you care about ethical travel and how scientific institutions are re-examining their own histories, this makes the Potsdam garden particularly interesting.

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## Layout & main areas

### Outdoor zones

Based on current reference material, the main outdoor sections include:

– Arboretum – trees and woody plants from different climate zones.
– Regional and global habitats
– East Asian collections
– Eurasian steppe communities
– North American prairie plantings
– Central European deciduous woodland plots
– Alpine garden – rock garden style, focusing on high-altitude species.
– Rhododendron and rose plantings – useful for visiting in late spring.
– Water and wetland areas – marsh plants, aquatic species, and associated wildlife.
– Morphological garden – beds arranged to demonstrate forms of leaves, shoots, roots, flowers and fruit, used for teaching.
– Useful plants – dye plants, fibre crops, food crops, and medicinal or aromatic herbs.
– Conservation plots with endangered German and Brandenburg species.

For photography and general sightseeing, you can comfortably see the highlights in half a day; for detailed plant study, it’s easy to spend longer.

### Greenhouses

The glasshouses are compact but unusually rich in specialist collections. Current documentation highlights:

– Succulent rooms (cacti and other drought-adapted plants)
– A strong Araceae collection (aroids like philodendrons and anthuriums)
– Aizoaceae and Haworthia collections for fans of ice plants and small succulents
– Fern houses, including tree ferns
– Orchid collections with hundreds of species
– Sections for tropical water plants and Chinese medicinal herbs

Information from city and blog sources indicates that an admission fee has historically been charged only for the glasshouses, while the outdoor garden remained freely accessible. This fee and the exact conditions can change, so it’s best to verify directly with the garden before you go.

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## How to Get to the Botanical Garden

You can combine the garden easily with a visit to Sanssouci palaces or central Potsdam.

### From Potsdam Hauptbahnhof

Potsdam Hauptbahnhof is the main rail hub, served by regional trains (including RE1) and the S-Bahn line S7 from Berlin.

From there, several current options are documented:

– By tram or bus (documented routes):
– Some sources describe taking tram line 92 towards “Potsdam, Pirschheide” and getting off at “Maulbeerallee”, then walking to the garden.
– University instructions highlight bus line 695 from Hauptbahnhof to “Orangerie” for the Maulbeerallee buildings near the garden. of Potsdam
– By regional train + walk or bus:
– Regional trains such as RE1 also stop at “Park Sanssouci”; from there you can continue by bus (line 695) toward Sanssouci and Maulbeerallee.

Public-transport routes and line numbers can be adjusted over time. To avoid outdated directions, check a live journey planner (VBB app, DB Navigator, or Moovit) on the day of travel.

### By car

University guidance suggests reaching Maulbeerallee by following signs toward Sanssouci Palace from Potsdam city centre, then continuing along Maulbeerallee past the palace and Orangery. The garden entrance lies just beyond the Orangery forecourt on the left. of Potsdam

Parking regulations change frequently around Sanssouci; always follow the current signage.

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## Practical Visitor Tips

You can jump to specific sections of this guide via these internal links:

– How to Get to the Botanical Garden
– Highlights of the Collections

### Opening hours & seasonality (check for updates)

Several independent and city sources currently describe the garden as: Tourism

– Open daily
– With longer hours in summer (around 09:30–17:00)
– And shorter hours in winter (around 09:30–16:00)

However:

– Some of these references date back a number of years.
– Operating hours and closure days (especially for the greenhouses, or around holidays such as 24/12, 31/12 and 01/01) can change. Tourism

Because of that, treat any specific timetable you see online as indicative rather than guaranteed and confirm on the official University of Potsdam botanical garden webpage or the city of Potsdam site shortly before your visit.

### Tickets and admission

Documented information from older sources states that:

– The open-air grounds have historically been free to enter.
– Admission fees were charged only for the greenhouses.

This policy is subject to change, and exact prices are not consistently listed in up-to-date English-language sources. To avoid surprises, check:

– The garden’s own website (linked from the Potsdam city page).

### Accessibility & inclusivity

There is limited centrally compiled English-language data on step-free routes, surfaces, or accessible facilities inside the Potsdam botanical garden. To plan an inclusive visit:

– Use the official site or email contact to ask about step-free entrances, accessible toilets, and support for visitors with mobility or sensory impairments.
– If you’re travelling with children or multi-generational groups, the relatively compact size and high density of themed areas can be an advantage, as long as you plan rest points and sheltered areas in advance (especially for hot or wet days).

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## Highlights of the Collections

### 1. Brandenburg’s threatened species

One of the most meaningful sections is the outdoor plots devoted to around 50 plant species from Brandenburg that are threatened with extinction.

These beds:

– Serve as ex-situ conservation – a backup population if wild habitats are degraded.
– Offer visitors a concrete way to see what “threatened flora” looks like, rather than just reading a list of Latin names.