Lecture: "Sisal, tea, vanilla: the role of botanical gardens then and now"

Botanical gardens have been researching, documenting and presenting the world of plants and preserving them in their extensive collections for centuries. In doing so, they make a significant contribution to the preservation of plant diversity. There are almost 100 gardens in Germany and they cultivate around 50,000 plant species in their scientific collections, which corresponds to around a fifth of all described flowering plants. As particularly beautiful and exciting places of learning, they bring joy and beauty to many millions of visitors every year and impart knowledge about the diversity of the plant world. We take a look at the history of gardens, how they were founded in the north and south of the world, and their role in the past and today.

But where does this wealth of forms come from and to whom does this diversity actually belong? Did you know that some botanical gardens were instrumental in supporting colonial interests? That the cultivation of vanilla, tea and sisal could only spread through illegal transfers via botanical gardens? The cultivation of useful plants was associated with a great deal of horticultural knowledge. Some plants flowered in cultivation but did not bear fruit. The most famous example is the expensive vanilla. It belongs to the orchid family and is pollinated by hand - in cultivation, but also in Witzenhausen. Sisal arrived in Tanzania from Mexico via the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew, Florida and Hamburg. One botanic garden was directly involved in breaking the sisal monopoly.

As curator of one of the smallest botanical gardens in Germany, Marina Hethke talks "out of the sewing box". She has worked scientifically on the educational work of German botanical gardens, visited important institutions worldwide from Candy to Kew, New York, Santo Domingo to Warsaw and has been involved in the Association of Botanical Gardens for 25 years.

Admission free.