Palmhuset (Trädgårdsföreningen)

The Trädgårdsföreningen was founded in 1842 on a meadow granted by Charles XIV John. Under head gardener Georg Löwegren, in post from 1859 to 1916, the park acquired a large palm house to replace a Victoria regia house demolished in 1873. The structure was ordered from the Scottish firm Alexander Shanks & Sons and shipped from Scotland in May 1878; funding came through public bond subscriptions. The Palmhuset was inaugurated on 25 November 1878 as the "new winter garden", modelled on the Crystal Palace of 1851.

The cost is given as 145,000 kronor by Swedish Wikipedia and 150,000 by another article; the same encyclopedia names Victor von Gegerfelt and Heinrich Kaufmann as architects, while documentation of the restoration project stresses the role of the engineer Shanks. After the city took over, the building deteriorated before being restored between 1981 and 1985, with the ironwork dismantled, sandblasted, the glass replaced by plexiglass and aluminium doors fitted. It is protected as a historic monument; sources give 1974, 1976 or 1985, and the whole park has been protected since 2 June 1992. A new restoration, begun in 2023, is due to finish in autumn 2026.

The Palmhuset is built of cast iron and glass, with a brick north side. It covers about 1,000 m² and its central nave rises 15 m. Its arched roof takes its cue from the great English glasshouses of the mid-nineteenth century, the Crystal Palace among them; the Swedish National Heritage Board counts it among the few surviving examples of this type of architecture in the world.

The interior is divided into five sections: in the centre, the palm nave, held at a minimum of 15°C; to the east, the tropical house and the water house, the warmest and most humid; to the west, the Mediterranean house, the driest, and the camellia house, at about 10°C in winter. The current restoration, led by Krook & Tjäder with antiquarian Victoria Ask, uses period materials (glass, cast iron, wood, linseed-oil paint) and rebuilds two demolished rear extensions.

The central nave gathers some thirty palm species, including fishtail, feather and fan palms, along with tree ferns; the tallest palm reaches 14 m. The tropical house shows cacao, star fruit, bottle gourd and a cycad, a group of which only about a hundred species survive. The water house holds Victoria cruziana, whose flower opens for only two nights, along with carnivorous pitcher plants and epiphytes.

The Mediterranean house displays olive, fig, cork oak, mistletoe and dragon's blood tree; the camellia house has about forty specimens, including the tea plant and some fifteen varieties of Camellia japonica, in bloom from October to April.

The Palmhuset stands in the Trädgårdsföreningen, a park in central Gothenburg within walking distance of the central station. Entry to the park and the glasshouse is free, and a visit combines well with the neighbouring rose garden, the cafés and the rest of the park. The camellias bloom from autumn to spring; the building hosts guided tours and annual events. Restoration runs until autumn 2026 (Mediterranean and camellia houses), so some sections may be closed.