Berlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden and Museum
Discover the enchanted world of plants at Berlin’s Botanic Garden!
In 1889, Adolf Engler, the original head of the modern Botanic Garden in Berlin, set out to establish “the world in a garden”. Today, you can appreciate his wonderful success – a splendid diversification of plants, from herbaceous and medicinal plants to roses, marine and marsh plants, an arboretum including American trees, an Italian garden, an extraordinary art nouveau Tropical Greenhouse. The Botanic Garden in Berlin is a world leading garden, home to a collection of 20,000 plant species flowering on site drawing close to half a million guests annually.
Berlin’s Botanic Garden – from Arboretum to Tropical Greenhouse, the Botanic Garden offers 43 hectares for guests to roam and explore. Created between 1897 and 1910 by architect Alfred Koerner, the garden has three areas: the Arboretum (woody plants and rose collection), plant formations from similar geographic areas, and an area devoted to systematic botany comprising around 1500 varieties of plants.
The landmark Tropical Greenhouse offers an outstanding example of late nineteenth-century art nouveau style in glass and steel. Twenty-five metres high and set on the eastern boundary of the garden, it towers over another 14 display greenhouses placed around it.
The Botanic Garden is not merely popular in summer. In winter too, you can walk the Seasonal Trails to view the plants of Africa, Australia, East Asia, the tropics and the Mediterranean basin. It's important to note that they permit no dogs other than registered disability assistance dogs.
The Victoriahaus
One treasure in the Botanical Garden is the over 100-year-old Viktoriahaus greenhouse. I refer to the romantic greenhouse after the giant water lily Victoria, and the glass pavilion is home to tropical marsh and water plants.
Botanical Museum
Berlin’s Botanic Garden is also home to a museum devoted only to botany – the sole museum of its kind in central Europe. The Botanical Museum has housed the former royal collection of plants since 1906. This collection has been steadily enlarged and has an impressive assortment of models revealing plant structures imperceptible to the human eye – and an entire forest in a shoe box! You can even find out which plants were presented as funerary goods in the tombs of the Egyptian Pharaohs.
Events in the Botanic Garden – Concerts, Perennials Market and Tropical Nights
When the weather turns freezing in January, the Botanic Garden opens its gates to celebrate its Tropical Nights. On Friday and Saturday evenings, guests can escape winter to experience music and drinks under the palm trees in the Tropical Greenhouse. The Botanic Garden presents many recitals and markets during the year – with summer concerts, the Botanical Nights, the Berlin Perennials Market and the Orchid Show heading the popularity rankings for visitors.
Tours available many days of the year provide the opportunity to gain a deeper awareness of the gardens and their splendid diversity of plants. Highlight or themed tours, by knowledgeable guides, are available in German and English for both the garden and the museum. They are popular so it’s advisable to book well in advance (more details at https://www.bgbm.org/en/guided-tours).
Botanic Garden – Accessibility
The Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum provide wheelchair accessible toilets and lifts. The 3000 square metre Fragrance and Touch Garden is designed for visually impaired visitors. It features scents of eucalyptus, rosemary and chives. Visitors are encouraged to touch the plants!
If you haven’t seen enough plants already, adjacent to the Botanical Garden on Altensteinstraße is the Königliche Gartenakademie, a gardening school with a pleasant café in the greenhouse. The centre of the district, Dahlem-Dorf, is a pleasant place for a walk. On Königin-Luise-Straße the bustle of the city seems distant. In the Luise beer garden, students from the FU Berlin sit under shade trees discussing recent lectures.
It’s busier when the Domäne Dahlem hosts mediaeval festivals or during the annual Christmas market. The manor house is now an agricultural open-air museum with a farm shop. Nearby is the Dahlem museum complex.
Facts For Your Visit
Fee: YesBerlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden Hours:
Opening hours may differ on holidays
- Monday: 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM
- Tuesday: 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM
- Wednesday: 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM
- Thursday: 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM
- Friday: 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM
- Saturday: 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM
- Sunday: 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Address: Königin-Luise-Straße 6-8, 14195 Berlin, Germany
Phone: 030 83850100
Official Website: Berlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden
Berlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden Reviews
Rated out of 5
Stunning plants and flowers over an extremely large park. Everywhere I looked there was something beautiful. The grounds are well kept, and there were tons of pollinators among the outside blooms. The greenhouses were immaculate, and the range of plant species is ginormous. A lovely place to spend some quality time with nature.
Heather Steinmiller - 3 weeks ago
This place is a must if you're in town. It made our top three during our week in Berlin. The greenhouses are stunning, both inside and outside. The large gardens are also very enjoyable, though it was too hot outside for us to walk through all of it. Entrance tickets for students is £3 and it is so worth it. You can be a student at any university, even international, to get the reduced price. Would 100% come back, even for full price tickets!
Maja Loberg - a month ago
We loved this place! Especially the greenhouses.
Nicely done botanical with many species and different environments presented. Loved the small details like stepping stones, and enjoyed the simplicity. Usually, gardens like these are too full to enjoy the plants but here you could focus on every single one of them.
The place wasn't too crowded, price was cheap compared to what we got with the tickets.
There were also frogs and butterflies in the gardens that I loved so much.
If I'd improve something, I would add more fish to the aquariums presenting different water plants. It makes the ecosystem feel complete.
Oona Lehtinen - 2 months ago
If it wasn’t for the Berlin Welcome Card, we probably wouldn’t have thought about coming here to visit, but we are SO glad we did. It was a nice break from the city and being amongst nature was relaxing. This facility is very large and you can easily spend half a day here. We came for a few hours and we didn’t get a chance to walk through anything outside the green house. Everything is well maintained and if I was a plant, I would want to be a plant at this botanical garden. Lol.
Melanie C - a month ago
One of the most beautiful greenhouses we ever visited!
It has greenery from all over the world and the size is just amazing ❤️❤️❤️
They also had a lot of rarity plants that we'd never see in other botanical gardens even in Asia and other part of Europe.
The nicest thing I'd say is how the building is climate-controlled, it is nice to be in without feeling overly warm during summer and I suppose it won't be overly cold during winter.
I'd say it's also nice to be here just to enjoy the vibes outside with coffee or ice cream or for an evening walk.
アライさん - 2 months ago
Directions
How to get to Berlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden by S-Bahn
Nearest S-Bahn Line(s): S1, U9, U3
Nearest S-Bahn Station(s): S Botanischer Garten, S+U Rathaus Steglitz, U Dahlem Dorf
From S Botanischer Garten Station on S1, exit and walk to your right along EnzianstraBe. Go right again at Unter den Eichen and continue to the entrance. Total walking time is about 10 minutes.
From S+U Rathaus Steglitz Station on U9, take Bus X 83 - Königin-Luise-Str. or M 48 - Zehlendorf.
From U Dahlem Dorf Station on U3, take Bus X 83 - Lichtenrade.
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