Copenhagen Botanical Garden

The garden belongs to the university and occupies about ten hectares laid out in the 1870s on the line of the demolished city ramparts, which is why it has an artificial lake in an old moat and a rock garden built up on the rampart bank. Around thirteen thousand species are grown. The centrepiece is the Palm House of 1874, a curved iron and glass structure inspired by the great British glasshouses, with a cast-iron spiral stair climbing to a walkway among the palm crowns, and a chain of connected houses running off it for cacti, orchids and a butterfly display in summer. Outside are systematic beds, a Danish native plant section, perennials and rhododendrons, and it functions as a free public park for the surrounding streets.

History

The botanical garden was first founded in 1600, probably to keep a collection of Danish medicinal plants after the Reformation had left many monastery gardens abandoned, and it moved twice before reaching its present site in 1870. The first garden, the Hortus Medicus, was created by royal charter on 2 August 1600 on land given by Christian IV in today's Krystalgade, and from 1621 Ole Worm enriched it with Danish medicinal plants and rare foreign species. In 1752 Georg Christian Oeder laid out a second garden in the new Frederiksstaden district, opened to the public in 1763, and as the garden's first director he began the Flora Danica, an illustrated work describing all Danish and Norwegian plants. In 1778 both gardens were closed and a larger garden was established behind Charlottenborg Palace. The present garden of 10 hectares is part of the Natural History Museum of Denmark and is noted for its complex of historic glasshouses from 1874 (Wikipedia, University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden).

What's there

• The 1874 Palm House - curved glass with a spiral stair to a canopy walkway.
• The rampart rock garden - built on the bank of the old city wall.
• The moat lake - water surviving from the demolished fortifications.
• Thirteen thousand species - systematic beds across ten hectares.

When to go

April to October for the outdoor garden at its best; the glasshouses work year round and are a warm refuge in winter. Two hours. Closed Mondays in winter. Spring for the rhododendrons and bulbs.

Good to know

The glasshouses charge separately and some are closed for restoration at times. The Palm House stair is narrow and steep. Paths are gravel and get muddy after rain. It is a working university collection, so labelling is scientific rather than popular.

Nearby

Statens Museum for Kunst and Rosenborg are next door; Norreport station is at the gate.

Key facts