Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam
About Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam
Hortus Botanicus is a botanical garden in the Plantage district of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is one of the world’s oldest botanical gardens.
History
The Amsterdam city council founded the Hortus Botanicus (initially named the Hortus Medicus) in 1638 to serve as an herb garden for doctors and apothecaries, as botanical extracts were the primary treatments for illnesses during this time period. Physicians and pharmacists received their training and took exams there.
The garden’s initial collection was amassed during the 17th century through plants and seeds brought back by traders from the Dutch East India Company for use as medicines and potential commercial possibilities. A single coffee plant in Hortus’s collection served as the parent for the entire coffee culture in Central and South America.
In 1646, Johannes Snippendaal was appointed director of the garden. During his tenure, he determined the collection comprised 796 plant species, most of which were medicinal plants. Many of these plants are still grown at the Hortus Botanicus in its Snippendaal garden, referred to as ‘the 17th century pharmacopoeia of Amsterdam.
The garden
Snippendaal Garden
In the 17th century, medicinal herbs were vital to the city’s health care. Therefore, when the Hortus was founded in 1638, medicinal plants made up the core of the plant collection. The plants were used for the education of doctors and pharmacists in the 17th century.
In 1646, Johannes Snippendaal was appointed as prefect (director) of the Hortus Medicus Amsterdam. In that same, year he managed to catalogue the entire collection of the Hortus. By the end of that year, he counted 796 different plant species, the majority of which were medicinal plants, but special ornamental plants were also included. By making this list, he wrote the first catalogue of the Hortus Medicus Amsterdam.
In 2007, the Hortus completed a unique project: a translation of Snippendaal’s catalogue and the realization of a garden containing the plants described in the catalogue. The plants growing in this Snippendaal Garden were also being cultivated in the Hortus Medicus in 1646. Nothing is known about the layout of the Hortus Medicus. Bureau SB4 (Wageningen) made a contemporary design, reminiscent of the straight rectangular beds of 17th century gardens.
Large Pond
Especially in summer, the large pond can be located from far by the impressive Gunnera. Every year, the giant leaves grow from scratch. The pond is sided by a dune perch, showing plant species that grow in the Dutch dunes, and sided by the Rhododendron collection which bursts out in colours every spring.
