Keltengarten Neuer Botanischer Garten

Marburg, Germany, Germany

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The Keltengarten (Celtic Garden) is a unique outdoor section within the Neuer Botanischer Garten Marburg (New Botanical Garden Marburg), a 20-hectare botanical garden on the Lahnberge hills maintained by Philipps-Universität Marburg and opened in June 1977 to celebrate the university's 450th anniversary.

Created in the 1970s when the Biology department's new buildings were constructed on the Lahnberge, the garden houses approximately 13,000 plants from various continents and climate zones despite its heavy, loamy soil, and is divided into multiple outdoor sections including the arboretum, alpine garden (Alpinum), medicinal plants, fern gorge (Farnschlucht), spring forest (Frühlingswald), burial mounds (Hügelgräber), Native American path (Indianerpfad), and the distinctive Keltengarten.

The Keltengarten specifically features plants associated with Celtic culture and heritage, offering visitors a themed experience that connects botanical diversity with ancient European cultural traditions. The garden cultivates more than 9,000 plant species and serves as an important educational and scientific resource for biology, geography, and pharmacy students and schools, while also contributing to species conservation and preservation.

The outdoor areas are open daily year-round (9:00–18:00 in summer from April 1–October 31, and 9:00–16:00 in winter from November 1–March 31), with free admission in winter when the 3,000 m² of showhouses are closed, and admission fees of 5€ for adults and 3€ for reduced-price visitors in summer.