Tropenhaus im Botanischen Garten

Forty-three Hectares of Garden and Fifteen Greenhouses

With forty-three hectares and around twenty thousand plant species, the Botanical Garden in Dahlem is one of the largest and most species-rich in the world. Its first director, Adolf Engler, gave it a guiding principle in 1889 that still holds true today: the world in a garden. Fifteen show greenhouses are spread across the grounds, and the largest of these is the Great Tropical House. Even from the outside, it is a structure in itself, a self-supporting hall built between 1906 and 1907, which requires no internal supports and was technically astonishing for its time. In 1968, it received new acrylic glass glazing, and between 2006 and 2009, the listed building underwent a fundamental renovation, which halved its energy consumption. A day ticket for the entire garden costs 10 Euros, reduced to 5 Euros, and with it, all greenhouses are open. Tickets can be purchased at the ticket office or online in advance.

Giant Bamboo under a Twenty-Three Meter High Ceiling

Inside, humid warmth greets you, and that’s precisely the appeal on cold days. On a sixty by thirty-meter footprint and under a twenty-three-meter high ceiling, a piece of tropical forest grows: a giant bamboo pushes its culms over twenty-six meters high, a screw pine stands on stilt roots, next to it grow cycads, a royal palm, and a tree-like Dutchman’s pipe. One half of the house showcases the tropics of the Old World, meaning Africa, Asia, and Australia, the other the American tropics. For a first date, the Tropical House plays to its strengths by allowing you to walk side-by-side and talk, instead of sitting opposite each other. The weather outside doesn’t matter, and you determine the length of your visit yourself: a round through the house takes half an hour; with the other greenhouses and the extensive open-air area, it easily turns into half a day. A note for planners: The Botanical Museum on the premises is currently being modernized and will remain closed for a while; the greenhouses and garden are not affected by this.