Thematic excursion 1:
Historic landscape park “An der Ilm” and historic city Weimar
(UNESCO World Heritage "Classical Weimar")
Saturday, 24th May 2008
Time frame: 8:30 - 17:30.
Excursion guides: Martin Kümmerling (Univ. of Applied Sciences Erfurt), Norbert Müller (Univ. of Applied Sciences Erfurt) & Angelika Schneider (Klassik-Stiftung Weimar)
Excursion Fee: 30€
In Germany, the tradition of landscape gardening reaches back more than 250 years. Nowadays these parks are refuges for endangered species of forests and grasslands within the cities. Together with old brown-fields they harbour the highest biodiversity within urban areas. Several species and habitats are unique to these old landscape parks. The parks “An der Ilm” and “Belvedere” in Weimar, both established in the middle of the 18th century belong to the most famous examples.
We offer a botanical-historical tour through the Park “An der Ilm” where cultural heritage is combined with historical garden culture and the experience of nature. With the city centre of Weimar and the city castle as its starting point, the park stretches both sites of the Ilm creek approx. 1.6 km to the south with an area of 48 ha. The park is part of a kilometre-wide green corridor along the Ilm connecting the Belvedere Park upstream and the Tiefurt Park downstream. In spring 1776, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe lived in his estate at the “Stern” and influenced the design of the first buildings in the Ilm Valley. The famous Garden House and its counterpart, the Roman House, on the opposite bank of the Ilm are important elements of a park that is designed for spectacular Sichtachsen (“viewshafts”) as well as numerous ornamentations including monuments, figurines, and bridges.
Examples of garden culture (e.g. historic garden of Goethe’s garden house) and features typical of park forests, meadows and lawns as well as effects of use and management will be presented. The flora of the Ilm Park comprises around 400 vascular plants including several indicator species of ancient garden culture (e.g. Asarina procumbens, Geranium phaeum, Ornithogalum umbellatum agg. (Star of Bethlehem), Telekia speciosa, Tulipa sylvestris).
Park "An der Ilm" and Stadtschloss (town palace). |
Park "An der Ilm", Goethe’s Garden House with park meadow. |
Park "An der Ilm", Roman House. |
During the excursion we will guide you through the historic city of Weimar and the Bauhaus Museum. Buildings from the "Classical Weimar" period are designated as one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. Together with Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, Christoph Martin Wieland and Johann Gottfried Herder also contributed to the Classical Weimar period that ran from 1775-1832. Important European ideas of literary criticism, art theory, aesthetics and teaching evolved in Weimar in that time. The world-famous Bauhaus school of architecture and applied arts was originally founded in Weimar and is part of another UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Bauhaus museum displays pioneering works by Walter Gropius (the Bauhaus’ first director), Henry van de Velde, Johannes Itten, Lyonel Feininger and Marcel Breuer. The Weimar Classic Foundation maintains one of the biggest Bauhaus collections in the world.
The excursion will end in front of the Liszt building giving everybody the opportunity to visit the Liszt Museum and to explore independently the city of Weimar.
Historical city of Weimar, Lukas Cranach building at the market square. |
Detail market square. |
Bauhaus Museum. |
Thematic excursion 2:
Wartburg Castle by Eisenach (UNESCO World Heritage "Wartburg") and Bachhaus in Eisenach
Saturday, 24th May 2008
Time frame: 8:00 - 18:30.
Excursion guides: André Hölzer, Anita Kirmer
Excursion Fee: 30€
Castles are evidence of human influence that reaches back in time for many centuries. Isolated on hilltops, they altered the course of natural vegetation development in their surroundings because of clear-cutting and logging, eutrophication by waste deposition, introduction of ornamental plants, forestry and agriculture, recreational activities and tourism. Ancient and actual human interference is reflected by the actual vegetation and can be documented by characteristic indicator species. In otherwise natural surroundings, castles are hot spots of urban biodiversity.
In a botanical-historical tour round the “Wartburg” castle we will show you the human influence on typical plant communities of the region. Spectacular views reveal the natural beauty of the area.
In addition the Wartburg Society will provide a guided tour through Wartburg Castle showing its cultural highlights.
The 900 year old Wartburg Castle is situated on a 410 m precipitous hill to the southwest of Eisenach, Germany. In 1999, the Wartburg Castle was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List as an "Outstanding Monument of the Feudal Period in Central Europe" and is linked to "Cultural Values of Universal Significance".
Wartburg Castle was first documented in 1080. Bruno, the bishop of Merseburg, described in his book of the Saxon War "De Bello Saxonico," the temporary military camp of King Heinrich IV by a castle called Wartberg. It was the seat of the Thuringian landgraves until 1440, and as a place of courtly culture it became around 1207 the venue of the Sängerkrieg, the Minstrels' Contest, with contestants such as Walther von der Vogelweide, Wolfram von Eschenbach, and many others, taking part. Wartburg Castle was temporarily home to many celebrities. Elizabeth, the daughter of the King of Hungary, grew up as the fiancée and later consort of Ludwig IV (1211-38). She was to be one of the best-loved saints of the Middle Ages. It was at Wartburg Castle where Martin Luther translated the New Testament, creating the foundations of the Protestant faith and at the same time standardising the German language (1521-22).
Wartburg Castle from the south. |
Wartburg Castle from the northeast. |
Wartburg Castle, medieval garden. |
Wartburg Castle is located within a nature conservation area called “Wartburg - Hohe Sonne” that covers 600 ha. The geological bedrock mostly consists of conglomerate with sandstone and shale layers (sediments of Early Permian). Reflecting site conditions, aspect, and ancient use, different Beech, Oak and Maple woodland types are typical (e.g. Luzulo-Fagetum, Melampyro-Fagetum, Luzulo-Quercetum petraea, Fraxino-Aceretum). The vegetation of the cliffs contains both typical and rare species such as Polypodium vulgare, Potentilla argentea, Saxifraga granulata and Dianthus gratianopolitanus.
Directly beneath Wartburg Castle, nitrophilous pioneer woodlands dominated by maple species have developed due to the tradition of waste deposition in former times. On open moist waysides, walls and rocks several useful and ornamental plants of ancient times are naturalized: e. g. Cymbalaria muralis, Doronicum pardalianches, Geranium lucidum, Sedum spurium, Syringia vulgaris and Tanacetum corymbosum.
Dry oak forest (Luzulo-Quercetum petreaea) southeast of the castle is the natural vegetation on acidophilous rocks. |
Typical for open rocksites is the rare Dianthus gratianopolitanus (Cheddar Pink). |
An example for naturalized ornamental plants is Doronicum pardalianches (Great False Leopardbane) herein nitrophilous pioneer woodland. |
  Bachhaus Eisenach. |
To round-off the picture, we plan a visit to the world-famous Bachhaus Eisenach which is now over 600 years old. It is dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach. Since 1907, it has served as a museum. At that time it was presumed to be the birthplace of Johann Sebastian Bach. Its purpose is to provide information about Johann Sebastian Bach to the public and to care for his music. |
Thematic excursion 3:
Nature Park “Schöneberger Railway Area” and inner city of Berlin
Saturday, 24th May 2008
Time frame: 7:00 - 20:00.
Excursion guides: Ingo Kowarik, Moritz von der Lippe (Technical University of Berlin, Institute for Ecology)
Excursion Fee: 30€
The special political situation in West Berlin enabled the development of specific urban-industrial ecosystems. One excellent example is the Schöneberger Südgelände that is situated on the southern border of the inner city of Berlin and covers an area of approximately 18 ha. It is the oldest documented brown-field in the world. Originally a desolate freight railyard, then for over four decades an almost untouched new wilderness, today it is one of the first official conservation areas in Germany in which urban-industrial nature is protected and made accessible to the public. Beginning with the stepwise closure of the area in the 1950s, natural development began to take place, which, by 1981, had led to a richly structured mosaic of dry grasslands, tall herbs, shrub vegetation and individual woodlands. Both the herbaceous and the woody vegetation are richly structured and provide habitats for a multitude of plant and animal species. Rare and threatened species are found primarily in the dry grasslands and only rarely in the woody vegetation.
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The Nature Park Schöneberger Railway Area (“Schöneberger Bahngelände”) in Berlin is a 40 years old abandoned railway area. In the last years the area was opened for public and is used for environmental education as well as for art exhibitions.
Due to the inaccessibility of the site, the development of the new wilderness was unnoticed for a long time. At the beginning of the 1980s, plans to clear the vegetation in order to erect a new freight train station led to strong protests. At the end, it was determined that the Südgelände should be developed as a nature park as compensatory measure for new railyards in the inner city area. Thanks to the help of interested citizens and the financial aid of the “Allianz Umweltstiftung” this site could be opened to the public in 2000. The so called Nature-Park was recognised as a “worldwide project” of the EXPO 2002. The Nature-Park impresses due to its high biodiversity. On the basis of the high amount of rare and endangered plant species it is the floristically most valuable brown-field in Berlin.
To preserve the uniqueness of this area a special master plan had been developed that was based on the model of simultanity of culture and wilderness as well as on distance and nearness of the visitor. In some parts, visitors are asked to walk on elevated pathways which run along the former railway tracks to avoid disturbance. The contrast between dynamic nature and the remnants of the railway industry heritage is fascinating to all visitors. Unfettered wilderness development is always taking place in parts of the Südgelände. Through the spatially differentiated maintenance plan, the earlier and middle stages of nature development are maintained and thereby the diversified vegetation complex is maintained in the long run. The species targeted for nature conservation profit as well from the maintenance measures. The public acceptance of the park is extremely high. The excursion will show you most interesting places, characteristic vegetation communities and typical plant species within the nature park.
Berlin, Reichstag. |
Berlin, the capital of Germany, is one of the most fascinating cities of Europe due to its unique history, culture and world class museums. It is a city of contrasts and contradictions, countless historical and modern attractions. Monuments of Prussian grandeur stand side by side with reminders of a divided country alongside stunning new architectural developments. Therefore, part of the day is open for a guided tour through the inner city of Berlin (by foot). |
