Description of the attraction
The Botanical Garden of the University of Warsaw is the oldest botanical garden in the Polish capital, located in the center of Warsaw.
The Botanical Garden was founded in 1811 for the purposes of the Warsaw Medical School. The plants were brought from abroad by the gardener Karl Lindner. In January 1814, Professor Hoffmann presented a plan for the garden and pointed out the need for planting plants according to a special Linnaean system. He also stressed that the garden should be a school of gardening, with training for gardeners, and suggested that the rules for ordinary visitors be greatly tightened.
In December 1818, the garden was transferred under the tutelage of the University of Warsaw with the consent of the Russian Emperor Alexander I. Since then, the garden began to flourish. The territory was divided into 3 zones: the scientific part, intended for teaching students and scientific research, the pomological part - for training future gardeners and the open part - for the general public. Plants began to be brought from all over the world, and by 1824 the collection numbered more than 10,000 species.
In 1944, during the Warsaw Uprising, the garden was completely destroyed. Since 1945, painstaking restoration work began: new pavilions, greenhouses were built, thousands of plants were planted, the monuments of Professor Michael Schubert and James Libra were restored.
In 1960, Ludmila Karpovicova took over the management of the garden, thanks to whose efforts, on July 1, 1965, the Botanical Garden was included in the register of cultural monuments of the city of Warsaw. Since 1966, the garden has become a member of the International Association of Botanical Gardens.
Currently, one of the priority areas of the garden is the conservation of biodiversity of wild plants, as well as educational activities.
