The state garden show is being held in the brine town of Bad Dürrenberg this year. Rehwaldt landscape architects have won the competition to design the garden show grounds. More about the historic spa gardens and the backbone of the site for the Bad Dürrenberg State Garden Show.
The installations at the Bad Dürrenberg 2024 State Garden Show are reminiscent of salt, which was the town's most important export in Saxony-Anhalt for centuries. Copyright: Landesgartenschau 2023 gGmbH
Bad Dürrenberg’s historic spa gardens overlook the Saale valley and are the setting for the fifth Saxony-Anhalt State Garden Show. The town’s historic graduation grounds form the backbone of the garden show. It is the longest continuous and still functioning graduation tower in Europe. It comes as no surprise that the Bad Dürrenberg 2024 State Garden Show is all about salt and salt production. For example, there is a salt landscape, a graduation bench, white furniture and healing brine mist that permeates the grounds.
Rehwaldt landscape architects from Dresden won the competition to design the site back in 2018. They transformed the historic park and the adjacent Saale slopes into a modern, open and inviting recreational space as part of the garden show. To do this, they renovated the historical facilities and added contemporary elements. The Bad Dürrenberg State Garden Show is open to the public from April 19 to October 13, 2024 under the motto “Salt Crystal & Flower Magic”. Day tickets cost 19 euros per person.
On the way to becoming a green brine city
Like many other state garden shows, the one in Saxony-Anhalt was originally scheduled for 2022. However, it was postponed by two years due to the pandemic. The competition winners, Rehwaldt Landscape Architects, developed the historic spa gardens for the Bad Dürrenberg State Garden Show into a multifaceted facility. On the one hand, they wanted to restore the value of the historic grounds and, on the other, integrate contemporary garden spaces.
The town hoped that the major event would have a positive impact on its image. Among other things, the measures should help to position Bad Dürrenberg as a “green brine town” and present it as a place to live and work. This should enable attractive long-term development.
Bad Dürrenberg is located directly on the Saale river in the historic Saale-Unstrut region. Halle, Leipzig and Naumburg are the nearest major cities and offer good connections. As “white gold”, salt still shapes the history of the brine town, which is a state-approved health resort with a state-approved healing spring.
Many magnificent flowers can be admired in the temporary flower hall from April to October 2024 Copyright: Landesgartenschau 2023 gGmbH
Imposing graduation tower as the backbone of the garden show
The site of the Bad Dürrenberg State Garden Show extends across the town’s historic spa gardens, the Saale slope and down to the floodplain, where the old tradition of fruit growing and viticulture has been revived. The area covers around 15.3 hectares and Rehwaldt Landscape Architects completed the project in 2024, just in time for the start of the garden show. The client was the brine town of Bad Dürrenberg.
Visitors can linger in the square by the coal railway tunnel, which has now become a multifunctional town square. It offers a shady canopy of trees, seating and restaurants as well as an integrated information point on the history of the coal railroad.
From there, it is not far to the northern entrance on Borlachplatz, which is intended to provide a generous prelude to the Bad Dürrenberg State Garden Show. A wooden deck provides shade for everyone waiting at the main entrance. This is followed by a large lawn area that opens up the view to Borlachplatz with its green and stone zones. The graduation tower serves as a design motif and identity creator on the square. At 636 meters long and 12 meters high, it is an imposing structure that serves as the backbone for individual sub-areas: entrance, connection to the area in front of the town hall, relaxation area with wooden deck and further lawn area.
The historic graduation house in Bad Dürrenberg is always a motif during the State Garden Show Copyright: Landesgartenschau 2023 gGmbH
Historic cultural landscape on the Saale
The Kurpark has become a diverse park and now also has contemporary garden spaces that will be valuable for the city beyond the Landesgartenschau. At the same time, Rehwaldt Landscape Architects have attached great importance to preserving historical facilities such as the Palm House. A multifunctional space has been created there, which serves as an event venue as well as a presentation area for special plants. During the garden show, the temporary flower hall is located next to the very popular palm and bird house.
The historical garden structure is still present in the northern spa gardens and has been further developed in keeping with the listed buildings. The borders along the paths present various plant themes and there is a water parterre next to the playground. This hybrid garden space offers opportunities to play and relax.
The themed gardens with an integrated stage are located in the zone of the civil servants’ gardens. This diverse area is particularly popular at the Bad Dürrenberg State Garden Show. And in the south of the spa gardens there are seating areas and the “Gradengrüst”, a spatial conclusion and highlight at the southern end of the historic graduation tower, which is a reminder of the former extent of the grounds.
The Landesgartenschau extends down to the Saalehang, where a historic cultural landscape with estate gardens, newly cultivated wine terraces and orchards can be seen. The café on the Amtsberg is a new attraction. The water is also easier to reach thanks to the bathing and gondola jetty and wooden walkways along the Saaleweg.
A new water area enhances the spa park and offers space for play and relaxation Copyright: Landesgartenschau 2023 gGmbH
Brine festival and state garden show in Bad Dürrenberg
The jury decided in favor of the proposal by Rehwaldt Landscape Architects, as the work was strongly oriented towards the existing structure and thus appreciates the preservation of historical monuments. The spa gardens and forest garden were almost entirely left in their original structure or carefully renovated. The jury also emphasized the spacious entrance, the wide promenade along the main building, the open, stone Borlachplatz and the open space at the Palm House. The protection of nature and species on the Saale slope was another reason for the decision.
The Bad Dürrenberg State Garden Show can be admired until October. If you would like to learn more about the history of the brine town, you can visit the Borlachturm with its museum. Salt was still produced in Bad Dürrenberg until 1963. Every year in June, the town celebrates Johann Gottfried Borlach’s discovery of the brine spring in 1763 – this year, thanks to the State Garden Show, it should be a particularly exuberant celebration.
Read more: All state garden shows 2024 at a glance.