It was probably founded to secure a collection of Danish medicinal plants after the Reformation had seen many convents and their gardens abandoned or demolished.

[2] The first garden, known as Hortus Medicus, was created on 2 August 1600 by royal charter on a piece of land donated by the king, Christian IV.

In 1621 Ole Worm personally took over the responsibility for the garden and he enriched it with a great number of Danish medicinal plants as well as rare foreign species he received from his many professional contacts abroad.

The preceding year Christian VII had donated 2,500 thaler to the University, the interest from which would be used for the Botanical Garden.

This had created the economical foundation for an enlargement but since there was no space for it at its original address, the off-site solution was ultimately opted for.

In 1817, the model with a double directorship was abandoned when Jens Wilken Hornemann was made the sole director of the garden.

At this stage the garden encompassed approximately 1.6 hectares in a low, waterlogged area that was bounded by Charlottenborg, Nyhavn, the Mint and Bremerholm.

There are conservatories, a museum and herbarium, a library (admission by appointment only) a shop plants, seeds and a small selection of garden equipment and eating place.

The Palm House at its centre is 16 metres tall and has narrow, cast-iron spiral stairs leading to a passageway at the top.

[9] Here is the list of some plant species growing at the Palm House:[10] The university's botanical museum and herbarium are housed in a building situated within the garden, giving the garden staff ready access to reference works and more than 2 million dried plant specimens.

It is a Historicist building inspired by Italian palazzi, a style which Herholt had previously relied on in his now demolished National Bank at Holmens Kanal.