Forstbotanischer Garten Tharandt

Tharandt, Germany, Germany

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Forstbotanischer Garten Tharandt (also known as Sächsisches Landesarboretum or Saxony State Arboretum) is a forest botanical garden and arboretum in Tharandt, Saxony, Germany, located at Am Forstgarten 1 on the slopes of Kienberg hill. Founded in 1811 by Heinrich Cotta as part of his Forestry College, it is among the world's oldest scientific tree collections and one of Europe's largest collections of winter-hardy woody plants, displaying approximately 3,200 different plant taxa across about 33–34 hectares. The garden is maintained by Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden) and serves as both a teaching and research center for forest botany and ecology. It features around 2,000 species and varieties of woody plants from around the world, including a historic eastern section with individual plant species and a newer North American quarter added in 2001 with 42 natural forest formations. Visitors can explore the garden from April through October daily between 8:00 and 17:00 using marked walking paths totaling 12 kilometers, and group tours are available upon request. The site also includes a forest botany museum, a greenhouse with warm and cold houses, and a forestry shop.