Botanical Garden viewing platform

Viewing plattform

Fascinating diversity of the plant world The Botany Department of the Kärnten Museum, with its collections, is located here in the historic quarry on the Kreuzbergl hill in Klagenfurt. The Botanical Garden, the Carinthian State Herbarium, and the Botanical Library form a single unit, the Carinthian Botanical Centre. The Carinthian Botanical Centre's building, completed in 1998, was designed by the award-winning architects Gasparin & Meier. The architecture displays a clear and serene form that deliberately contrasts with the surrounding natural landscape of the garden without competing with it. The two-storey building forms a linear end to the arc of the quarry.

Carinthian State Herbarium: Archive for the future

The archive with the Carinthian State Herbarium is located in the four-storey, tower-shaped building. It comprises more than 260,000 specimens of higher plants, mosses, fungi, algae, and lichens from around the world. Other key areas of the collection include fossil plants, fruits and seeds, and wood samples. Particularly valuable holdings include: • the oldest collections in the herbarium, dating from 1752 • the herbarium of the Klagenfurt pharmacist Alois Traunfellner, comprising 14,000 specimens, from the years 1805 to 1835 • the historical collections of algal specimens with the prominent collection of Maximilian Daublebsky Freiherr von Sterneck The Carinthian State Herbarium is available for scientific research. Herbaria are collections of pressed and dried plants or plant parts. They are usually mounted on sheets of paper and accompanied by data on origin, ecology, and geography. Herbarium specimens serve not only as a basis for the identification and naming of plants but are also important for biodiversity research and for studies of changes in the flora over long periods.

Botanical Library: Reams of knowledge

The Botanical Library comprises over 8,000 monographs, 13,000 journal issues, and 37,000 offprints. Biographical notes, CVs, and botanists’ personal papers and bequests offer insights into the research. Prints from the 16th century, letters from famous figures, as well as drawings and watercolours are securely stored. The Botanical Library is also open to visitors by prior appointment.

Historic quarry: An area steeped in history

The Carinthian Botanical Centre is located in an important historic dimension-stone quarry. Its main period of operation is thought to have been during the construction of the city's fortifications, between 1540 and 1590. The green schist quarried here was likely also used to create the Klagenfurt Lindwurm Monument. The large number of boreholes in the high rock face dates from a later period, when rubble stone was extracted. During the Second World War, the Nazi city administration constructed tunnels in the Kreuzbergl mountain to protect the population from air raids. Some concrete fortifications can still be seen in the Botanical Garden. Sections of these tunnels are now used by the Botanical Centre. The "SURVIVAL" exhibition is located in the tunnel beneath this platform.

Botanical Garden: Living nature conservation and species protection

The Botanical Garden was founded as early as 1862 and was originally located in Klagenfurt's city centre. Since 1958, the Botanical Garden has utilized the diverse ecological niches of the former quarry as an ideal site for cultivating plant species with specific requirements. Currently, more than 3,000 different plant species are cultivated there. Thus, the Botanical Garden serves not only to impart specialist knowledge, promote general education, conduct research, and offer recreation, but also to conserve endangered species. The Botanical Garden is an active member of international networks and exchanges not only knowledge but also plants with other institutions. This is the only way to maintain the large number of different species and continually offer visitors something new.