Garden Museum

Room 19 – Monastery, bourgeois and farm gardens

The first gardens in Germany were the gardens of the medieval monasteries. Although they were primarily vegetable gardens, by the beginning of the 9th century the first forms of decorative garden were already appearing in monasteries such as St Gallen. Later on, there was scarcely any difference between the gardens of the large Baroque monasteries and the pleasure gardens of the secular rulers.

The bourgeoisie had gardens in the town and the country. They were primarily kitchen gardens where fruit and vegetables were grown. From the Renaissance on, wealthy patricians owned large gardens outside the town walls which were no less magnificent than those of the aristocracy. In the farm gardens a style was developed that has altered little over the centuries.