Giessen Botanical Garden

Giessen, Germany, Germany

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Giessen Botanical Garden, formally known as Botanischer Garten der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, is a historic botanical garden in Gießen, Hesse, Germany, maintained by the Justus-Liebig-University of Gießen and recognized as the oldest botanical garden in Germany still at its original site, founded in 1609 when Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, donated part of his palace garden to the newly established university for cultivation as a hortus medicus (medical garden).

Physician and botanist Ludwig Jungermann originally laid out the garden over 1,200 square meters, and by 1773 it was described as a botanical garden rather than a medical garden, covering 4 hectares today. The garden contains approximately 8,000 plant species primarily for research and teaching use by students of botany, agronomy, geography, medicine, and veterinary medicine, featuring diverse collections including tropical and subtropical plants, succulents, orchids, ferns, and plants from various regions representing different ecosystems.