Botanischer Garten Jena
About This Site
The Botanischer Garten Jena is Germany's second-oldest botanical garden, growing out of a 1586 physic garden and shaped in the 1790s by Goethe, who commissioned its greenhouses and inspector's house as the Weimar minister responsible for it.
From physic garden to Goethe's institute, 1586–1794
A small physic garden was founded here in 1586, by the Collegium Jenense where the university itself began — after Leipzig's of 1580, the second-oldest garden of its kind in Germany.[1] Goethe took charge of the duchy's scientific and artistic institutions under Duke Carl August in 1776 and was tasked with establishing a proper botanical institute at Jena; he found the botanist August Johann Georg Karl Batsch to run it, and in 1794 made Batsch the garden's first director.
What Goethe built here, 1794
In 1794 Goethe commissioned the rerouting of a water supply, the construction of several greenhouses and, finally, the inspector's house. He spent many hours in the garden himself, pursuing botanical study and his own poetic work away from the demands of his ministerial office.[1]
Questions visitors ask
- What is the Botanischer Garten Jena?
- The Botanischer Garten Jena is Germany's second-oldest botanical garden, growing out of a physic garden founded in 1586 and shaped in the 1790s by Goethe, who commissioned its greenhouses and inspector's house as the Weimar minister responsible for it.
- What is Goethe's connection to the Botanischer Garten Jena?
- As the Weimar minister responsible for the duchy's scientific institutions, Goethe found the botanist August Batsch to run the garden, made him its first director in 1794, and commissioned the greenhouses and the inspector's house that year — he also spent many hours there himself, on botanical study and his own poetic work.
- How much does it cost to visit the Botanischer Garten Jena?
- €5.00 for adults, €3.00 reduced, €13.00 for a family card (two adults with their own children); children under 6 are free.
- What are the opening hours of the Botanischer Garten Jena?
- 1 April to 31 October, 10:00 to 19:00 (last entry 18:30); 1 November to 31 March, 10:00 to 18:00 (last entry 17:30); open daily except 24 and 31 December.
Sources
- Geschichte — Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, retrieved 30 August 2026
Connected Historical Figures
writer • statesman • naturalist
As the Weimar minister responsible for the duchy's scientific institutions, he commissioned the greenhouses and the inspector's house here in 1794 and spent many hours in the garden himself.
Visit Information
€5.00 adults; €3.00 reduced; €13.00 family (2 adults with their own children); children under 6 free
1 Apr–31 Oct: 10:00–19:00 (last entry 18:30); 1 Nov–31 Mar: 10:00–18:00 (last entry 17:30); daily except 24 and 31 December
Fürstengraben 26, 07743 Jena
In Weimar's history
Historical periods
Goethe pursued his own poetic work here alongside his botanical studies, the same years that produced Weimar Classicism a short road away.
For roughly sixty years a duchy of a few thousand people held the centre of German literature, because its ruler kept inviting writers to live there and then gave them jobs. That is the whole mechanism, and it ran from Goethe's arrival in 1775 to his death in 1832.