Here blooms a green retreat within the city. This is Eschenburgpark in Lübeck. It’s a place where history and nature intertwine.
The Eschenburgpark offers a serene escape. It invites us to step back in time. Imagine Lübeck centuries ago. The meadows before the Burgtor gently sloped toward the Trave River. Since the 17th century, this picturesque location became a favorite. Wealthy Lübeck citizens built summer houses and gardens here.
The heart of today’s Eschenburgpark was once the Kuhlmannsche Garten. Around 1804, architect Christian Frederik Hansen designed Villa Kuhlmann for the cousin of the Baur brothers of Hamburg. Today, that villa houses the Brahms-Institut.
It is hard to know exactly when the garden originated. An 1806 map shows three smaller, separate properties. Carl Haase created the earliest clear depiction of the garden in 1823. His plan shows the Kuhlmannsche Garten densely planted. Paths weave through the trees. Only the eastern part had ring-shaped plantings of individual trees. This design likely mirrored contemporary English landscape gardens. Existing trees, shrubs, and hedgerows were kept. This created a pleasing natural effect.
Johann Kuhlmann owned the park around 1795. He was a merchant and consul. His daughter married Bernhard Heinrich Frister. Frister became a councilor and later mayor. In 1822, the garden came into his possession. His descendants sold the land and villa in 1876 to Henry Koch. Koch expanded the garden northward. Most of the large trees still standing today date from this time.
In 1885, Johann Hermann Eschenburg acquired the garden. The park gets its name from him. The following year, he significantly enlarged it by buying land to the south. A pond was added to the southwestern area. In 1891, a wrought-iron fence enclosed the entire property. Details about the garden’s design at that time are scarce. We know little about the flowerbeds or the specific plantings. Yew trees were favored. Exotic ginkgo trees were also planted. Areas along Gertrudenstrasse served as kitchen gardens. They grew fruits and vegetables. There was also a greenhouse.
After Eschenburg’s widow died in 1939, the German Reich became the new owner. During World War II, the villa served as the residence of Lübeck’s police president Walther Schröder. The garden was neglected and became overgrown. After the war, residents leased parts of the land for vegetable cultivation and animal husbandry. Since October 1950, the Villa Eschenburg housed the Schleswig-Holsteinische Musikakademie and Norddeutsche Orgelschule.
In 1955, the city decided to open the garden to the public. This was done on the initiative of city garden director Ernst Hagemann. The Musikakademie agreed. A maintenance contract outlined the rights and duties of the city and the academy. This covered the design, care, and use of the park. The contract remains in effect today. In 1957, the garden opened to the public as the Neuer Volksgarten. Organizationally, it belonged to the school garden. The park was designed as a dendrological teaching garden. It was planted with rhododendrons, some rare for Europe at the time. The park was locked each night at dusk for many years. This was to protect the valuable plants.
Significant changes were made during the redesign. The original character of a private garden was lost. This happened even though preserving it was part of the maintenance contract. In 1970, another major change occurred. The Dorothea-Schlözer-School was built on the southern edge. Part of the Eschenburgpark was ceded for this purpose.
In 1986, the garden office received instructions. For ecological reasons, the Eschenburgpark was no longer to be actively maintained. Instead, asphalt surfaces were removed. Some paths were eliminated. Renaturation measures were implemented. This led to the loss of some valuable woody plants. The spatial effect of the park is no longer clear because of increasing wild growth. Paths that dated back to the early 19th century were removed. These paths had become superfluous. Paths from the 1950s were retained. These no longer made sense because they were oriented toward display plantings that no longer existed. The pond is increasingly silted up.
Today, the Eschenburgpark, with its unassuming appearance, sees few visitors.
Despite its present state, the Eschenburgpark carries echoes of its past. Close your eyes. Can you hear the laughter of families picnicking on manicured lawns? Can you imagine the scent of exotic flowers carried on the breeze? The Eschenburgpark is a reminder that even neglected spaces hold stories.