Show Glasshouses of the Marburg Botanical Garden (Lahnberge)

For a long time the University of Marburg grew its plants in a garden in the town centre, today's Alter Botanischer Garten, laid out in 1810. As the science institutes moved up to the Lahnberge plateau, a new garden was created east of the town between 1961 and 1977. Its layout was designed by the landscape architect Günter Grzimek, and the works involved moving some 80,000 cubic metres of earth.

The garden opened on 1 June 1977, marking the university's 450th anniversary. Of a total cost of 12.4 million marks, 6.4 million went into the glasshouses, more than was spent on all the outdoor grounds. A butterfly house, linked to the tropical house, was added in 2005.

The garden has had lean years: in 2010 it faced closure for lack of funds, until medium-term financing was agreed in 2013. More recently the university built new propagation glasshouses that are not open to the public. With those finished, modernisation of the display houses began in spring 2026, helped by donations from the "Ich blüh' für dich" campaign. The first phase is due to be completed in spring 2027.

The display glasshouses form a compact cluster of adjoining glazed pavilions near the garden's main building. German Wikipedia puts the public area at about 1,700 m²; the garden itself speaks of 2,000 m² of display houses, matched by the same area of non-public propagation houses.

The centrepiece is the tropical house, covering 545 m² with a ridge 12 metres high and kept at 18 to 20 °C. Most of the other houses cover 182 m² with a 7-metre ridge, each with its own climate: 20 to 22 °C for useful plants, 22 °C air and 28 °C water in the 123 m² aquatic house, 18 to 20 °C for ferns, while the 227 m² succulent house drops to 12 °C in winter and the Australian house to 8 to 10 °C.

The current works begin with a complete replacement of the drive mechanism of the roof vents, which are operated by racks, articulated shafts and gearboxes, together with partial renewal of the glass roof. The outer walls are to be reglazed in later phases from 2027.

The tropical house is devoted to rainforest plants and is home to the titan arum. The useful-plants house shows pineapple (Ananas comosus) and coffee (Coffea arabica), the aquatic house grows Victoria amazonica, and Bruguiera sexangula is also listed among the tropical plants.

The Canary Islands house presents a laurel forest, and further pavilions are given over to tropical ferns, succulents, Australian flora and carnivorous plants. The butterfly house, open in summer from mid-May to mid-October, combines plants and butterflies from Central and South America. Behind the scenes, the non-public glasshouses hold scientific collections, including one of the largest collections of tropical orchids.

The glasshouses lie in the upper part of the garden, close to the main building, on the Lahnberge science campus east of Marburg. Throughout 2026 the display houses are closed for works; the butterfly house can still be seen on scheduled guided tours, and the first phase is expected to end in spring 2027, so checking the garden's website before a visit is wise. The 20-hectare outdoor garden, with its arboretum of conifers and broadleaf trees, easily fills half a day, and the old botanical garden in the town centre makes a natural companion visit.