University Botanic Gardens Ljubljana
Institution Code: LJU
BGCI Member: No
About the University Botanic Gardens Ljubljana
It was on the warm 11th July 1810 when the Ljubljana
Botanic Garden, originally called the Native Flora Garden,
was opened on a plot by the Gruberjev prekop drainage
channel at the northern foot of Ljubljana's castle hill. To
mark the occasion, a linden tree which still grows today
was planted there by Marshal Auguste Marmont, the first
Governor-General of the Illyrian Provinces. The garden was
a section of the École Centrale university college serving
the purposes of medical studies. It was designed by Franc
Hladnik (1773-1844), its first director. Originally it measured
33 ares. Thanks to Hladnik and his acquaintances with
Austrian botanists, it was not closed down after the
French retreat and the re-establishment of Austrian rule,
but was to become the only institution of the time to run
uninterruptedly until the present day. Along with the
National and University Library, the Ljubljana Botanic
Garden is recognised as the oldest running cultural and
educational institution in Slovenian inhabited areas.
Franc Hladnik (1773-1844), the director of the Native
Flora Garden until 1834, also worked as a university college
teacher and, later, the prefect of Ljubljana Grammar
School. As the school ranked among the Austrian lands'
best schools of the time, Hladnik was decorated by
Emperor Franz I. During his tenure, the school's students
included France Prešeren, who was to become the
greatest Slovenian poet, and Hladnik is known to have
acted on his behalf.
Andrej Fleischmann (1804-1867) came to the Garden
in 1819, while he was still Hladnik's student. He became
a gardener and Hladnik's faithful companion on his
excursions. When Hladnik's successor Ivan Nepomuk
Biatzovski left the Garden in 1849, Fleischmann took over
the management and remained the Garden's director until
his death in 1867. 1843 saw the release of his important
work Übersicht der Flora Krains (An Overview of Carniolan
Flora).
In 1889, Alfonz Paulin (1853-1942), who had taken over
the management of the Ljubljana Botanic Garden only
three years earlier, began issuing Index seminum (Seed
Index). This led to the establishment of contacts with 78
botanic gardens across Europe. Between 1901 and 1936
he amassed his famous herbarium collection of Carniolan
flora entitled Flora exsiccata Carniolica.
In 1920, the Garden fell under the auspices of the
University of Ljubljana, founded a year earlier. It remains
to be a unit of the Biology Department at the Biotechnical
Faculty of the University of Ljubljana.
After World War II, in 1946, the Garden was expanded
to 2.35 hectares and the first glasshouse was built on its
site. Due to the widening of a nearby road it was later
reduced to two hectares. A decision was taken that a new
botanic garden should be landscaped as part of Ljubljana's
Biological Centre at the foot of the Rožnik hill opposite the
Zoo, but unfortunately it has not been implemented.
In 1991, the Ljubljana Botanic Garden was protected as
a monument of landscaped nature at the municipal level.
As such it will continue to exist, also as part of the city's
cultural heritage.
The Ljubljana Botanic Garden, which contains around
4,500 plant species from around the world, is an institution
open to the general public. It is worth visiting at any time
of the year. Whenever you come you will be able to find
something interesting and attention-grabbing. But you
may just as well take a walk of or sit about the Garden only
to relax and enjoy landscaped natural surroundings.
Main Address:
University Botanic Gardens Ljubljana
Ižanska 15
Ljubljana
Slovenia 1000 Slovenia
Telephone: 386 1 4271 280
Fax:
URL: www.botanicni-vrt.si
Primary Email: info@botanicni-vrt.si