Botanical Garden of TU Darmstadt

Today, the garden comprises about 4.5 ha (11 acres) of open land as well as 1,300 m2 (14,000 sq ft) of greenhouse space, on which well over 8,000 plant species are cultivated, with a notable collection of rare trees in its arboretum (1.5 ha (3.7 acres)), as well as an alpine garden and heather.

The history of the botanical garden dates back to 1814,[3] when the moat of the Residential Palace Darmstadt was fed with the water of the Darmbach and the latter from the sewage of the neighbouring old town, which spread an unbearable stench during the summer months.

[4] Johannes Hess, a Grand Ducal building advisor, also interested in botany, therefore proposed draining and the establishment of a botanical garden on the newly acquired site.

He was the first director of the garden and at the same time a teacher at the higher vocational school, the forerunner of today's Technische Universität Darmstadt.

Over the years, together with the gardening director Peter Schmidt, he assembled a collection of foreign woody plants that is still important today.