Ellerhoop-Thiensen Arboretum

Ellerhoop, Germany, Germany

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The Ellerhoop-Thiensen Arboretum is a 17.3-hectare arboretum and botanical garden located at Thiensen 4 in the historic village section of Thiensen, Ellerhoop, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, about 30 kilometers northwest of Hamburg.

Founded in 1943 as a nursery by Timm & Co., it was established as a 3.5-hectare arboretum in 1956 by its last owner Erich Frahm in cooperation with dendrologist Dr. Gerd Krüssmann, and the state of Pinneberg purchased the site in 1980, expanding it to 17.3 hectares and developing it together with the University of Hamburg into its current form.

The arboretum features 17 hectares total with about 7.5 hectares open to the public, offering a diverse collection of exotic woody plants and gardens that educate visitors about the development history of plant life from the Triassic period dinosaurs (shown as life-size models) through the Carboniferous, Triassic, and Tertiary periods.

It holds Germany's largest collection of shrub peonies (Strauch-Pfingstrosen), the largest peony collection in Germany overall, and includes themed gardens such as French and Tuscany gardens, traditional German farmer's gardens with hollyhocks, color-themed gardens for yellow, red, mauve, and blue, an amber pavilion with walls replicating what the world looks like to an insect trapped in amber, and seasonal displays from early spring bloomers in March to the colorful Indian October.