No, my friends - this is not about beer. It's actually about nature. And it's about 4.5 hectares of it on the northern border of Halle's historic city centre. The Botanical Garden is part of the Institute of Biology, specifically Geobotany. It has been part of Martin Luther University for 200 years. The site was originally part of a monastery. As was customary at the time - between the 12th and 16th centuries - medicinal herbs were planted there, among other things. The monastery was largely destroyed in 1531. The current areas of the park became the "princely gardens" of the rulers of Halle. In 1698, a professor and doctor planted the first beds, laying the foundation stone for the botanical garden. Around 100 years later, the university bought all the land.
Attention is rewarded
Today, these areas are covered with plants that are home to various plants that are outside all year round - and not in box-like beds in rows (hihi). No, no. I'm talking about winding paths, some of which are barely visible. Paths that look like they lead to another world because you walk through a huge wall of leaves and don't know what's behind them. Of small hills and steps and then again of manicured flowerbeds reminiscent of an English garden. Of ferns and yellow steppe grass that you can walk through instagrammably while dreamily running your hand over the leaves and stalks. Every biome, every region of the world has been given a more or less large spot here.
You can even spot the odd animal here - the fish between the Victoria House and the aquatic plant house make it easy. Small aquariums show some of the species of plants on display. In a pond near the entrance there are supposed to be amphibians and the like. But perhaps it was already too cold when I visited - unfortunately I came away empty-handed. That's life.
But I was all the luckier elsewhere. I found one of my highlights at the south-west end of the garden: countless lizards, from tiny to finger-length!
The Central Asian rock plants can be found on a small slope in the west of the botanical garden. As this corner has many cracks between the stones and dense growths on top, it provides the ideal habitat for the nimble little animals. If you arrive in the afternoon, when the sun is in the west and the slope is therefore completely bathed in warm light, they come out of their hiding places and lie on the heated stones. As soon as you approach, they quickly scurry away and you only notice them when they run away. But if you sit down on the steps or simply stand still, they crawl out again to catch more sun. A really cute sight - unless you're afraid of lizards.
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