ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDEN. 93 



HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COLLECTIONS AT THE BERLIN 



GARDEN. 



The greater part of the botanic garden located on the Potsdamer 

 Strasse was covered during the middle of the seventeenth century 

 with hops for the Elector brewery. In 1679 Frederick William, the 

 Great Elector, razed the brewery and planted in the space fruit trees 

 and garden truck. For this purpose he imported from Holland, Eng- 

 land, and France seeds, living plants, and young trees. The garden 

 developed under the guidance of the original gardener in charge, 

 Michel Mann, and the Great Elector's avocation was to spend his 

 spare hours going over it. Through his intense interest in this gar- 

 den it soon became a model for the whole country. Under King 

 Frederick I, however, the whole internal arrangement was changed. 

 Conservatories and propagating garden were installed and a small 

 orangerie was created. Out of the original adjunct to the royal 

 kitchen grew an imperial amusement park. About 1700, under 

 Frederick William I, a king noted for his saving qualities, the ad- 

 ministration and upkeep of the garden was turned over to his body 

 physician, who also was a botanist and was a companion of the 

 famous French botanist Tournefort on a visit of the latter to the 

 Orient during that year.- Under the administration of this excel- 

 lent official the institution grew by leaps and bounds by the accumu- 

 lation of seeds and living plants from different sections of Europe. 

 This man died about 1715, and at that time the King transferred its 

 jurisdiction to a scientific society, which was supposed to maintain 

 it out of its own funds. Until 1893 there was a gradual expansion of 

 the garden. In 1893 the question of the transfer of the garden to a 

 place permitting more expansion was taken up seriously. On the 

 basis of a detailed expert opinion regarding the transfer or reorgani- 

 zation of the imperial botanic garden and botanic museum, prepared 

 by the director of the gardens and a number of expert collabora- 

 tors, in July, 1895, the ministry of ecclesiastical affairs and public 

 instruction and the ministry of public works made arrangements for 

 the relocation of the gardens at Dahlem. The new buildings were 

 erected under the supervision of the inspector of buildings who 

 was a competent architect and the director of the garden. It seems 

 that the old botanic garden was not razed, but kept as it was, and 

 the information given is that since 1897 the propagating houses were 

 subjected to only the most essential repairs. It evidently is kept up 

 in conjunction with the new gardens at Dahlem. In 1899 to 1901 

 residences for the director, instructor, and other assistants were 

 erected at the new botanic garden at Dahlem ; in 1900 to 1901, smaller 

 propagating houses ; in 1902, a large colonial house and cultured cul- 

 tured cultivation houses and a number of other smaller houses ; in 

 1903, the winter house; construction of the exhibition houses began 

 in 1902 and was completed in 1909. 



18. The Dresden Botanic Garden. 



[Extracts from Fuhrer durch den Koniglich Botanischen Garten in Dresden.] 



Established 1889. 



The present botanic garden in Dresden was added in September, 

 1889, to the " Great Garden," and its planting was begun in 1890. 



