DGGL Culture Prize 2023 awarded

After a four-year break, the DGGL Culture Prize was awarded again in 2023. We present the four winners and their projects.

How can citizens get involved in the interests of gardens and parks, what form of organization or participation promises success? Answers to these questions were provided – almost incidentally – at the German Society for Garden Art and Landscape Culture (DGGL) cultural awards ceremony, which was held again after a four-year break due to the coronavirus. The four prizewinners were both individual actors and alliances, whose work therefore took place in very different formats. The event was held in the rooms of the Cologne Flora Festhaus, which was originally built in 1864 and whose history, marked by ups and downs, is itself an example of the value of civic engagement. The fact that the award winners included the Friends of the Cologne Botanical Gardens, founded in 1982, was therefore well justified. Its commitment has not only contributed to the preservation and development of the historic “Flora/Botanischer Garten” park, but its donations and member campaigns have also made the current construction of two (energy-efficient) show greenhouses possible. From next spring, plant lovers will once again be able to encounter expanded tropical and desert landscapes in them.

Commitment to public green spaces can take the form of traditional associations, initiatives with a broader social base and lone campaigners: A prominent and original example of the latter is Klaus Bäumler, a former judge, former head of a Munich district committee and long-time honorary head of the “Public Green Working Group” of the “Münchner Forum – Diskussionsforum für Entwicklungsfragen e.V.”. Thanks to meticulous archive research, clear language and a fearless approach, he has repeatedly succeeded in protecting historic green spaces, from Munich’s Finance Garden to the English Garden (whose persistent pursuit of being cut up by a tramway has been an ongoing threat for years) from the demands of traffic and other economic and political interests.

A Thuringian action group called “Stoppt den Ausverkauf von Weimars Grün” (Stop the sell-out of Weimar’s green spaces) was also honored for its successful advocacy for the preservation of the historic green corridor of the park on the Ilm (Tiefurt, Ilm, Belvedere). Given the composition of this initiative – Grüne Liga, BUND, NABU, Fridays for Future, Naturschutzbeirat, Die Linke – the DGGL’s decision can almost be read as a political statement in these politically turbulent times. In any case, their successful commitment was aimed at a historic green corridor that had long since been decided by the city council, but was called into question again in recent years as a result of assertive economic interests. Specifically, it was about the demolition of former industrial halls and the renaturation of the corresponding intermediate section, which was secured thanks to media work and, not least, a petition to the state parliament in Erfurt. According to the partners of the alliance present, a cheer for the Thuringian constitution, which provides for this instrument.

Michael Rohde, garden director of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg and honorary professor at the TU Berlin (garden monument conservation), was also awarded the Golden Lime Leaf for his many years of commitment to the care and preservation of historic gardens. The DGGL stated: “Among the experts entrusted with the preservation of valuable historic gardens and parks, Rohde was the first to recognize the challenge of climate change and climate adaptation. Michael Rohde’s visionary role in recognizing the topic in the research discourse and in maintenance practice deserves special mention”. We congratulate all award winners.

The DGGL Culture Prize was awarded for the last time in 2019. Read all about it here.