History of the Botanic Gardens

Historical background

The Botanical Garden of the University of Helsinki was established in 1678 in the City of Turku (Åbo), the then capital of Finland, by professor Elias Tillandz. After the burndown of the City in 1827 the garden was moved to Kaisaniemi in the centre of Helsinki in 1829. The most valuable plants from the outdoors and greenhouse were transported by horse wagons to Kaisaniemi, which also got numerous donations of plants from the Universities of St. Petersburg and Dorpat.

The planning of a new garden in the Kumpula Campus area was launched in 1986 and the practical work started two years later. The Botanical Garden will be operating both in Kaisaniemi and in Kumpula.

In Kaisaniemi there is an attractive old systematic style garden with several old Empire style buildings from the 1830's. The plants in the systematic sections are grouped together according to their family or genus.

A small area is displaying a restricted amount of ornamentals. At the end of the year 2000 there were 2,889 plants of different origin cultivated outdoors in Kaisaniemi including 1,643 woody plants.

The oldest and largest part of the greenhouses is the Palm House which was constructed in 1889 and designed by architect Gustaf Nyström. He designed also the wings on both sides of the Palm House. They were constructed in 1896.

The greenhouse collections were totally lost during the World War II when three bombs struck the garden in February 1944 and badly damaged the greenhouses. Only one cypress (most probably Cupressus sempervirens) remained alive. Also Giant Waterlily (Victoria cruziana) was saved since the seeds remained alive at the bottom of frozen pool.

The greenhouses were in very poor condition at the end of the last century and were renovated in 1996 - 1998. The renovated greenhouses were opened to the public on September 21, 1998. Today there are more than 900 taxa from different parts of the world.

Key historical events

• 1678 – The Botanical Garden was originally established in the city of Turku.
• 1829 – The Garden moved to its present location at Kaisaniemi in Helsinki.
• 1832 – Construction of the large glasshouse was completed.
• 1833 – The Garden was opened to the public.
• 1835 – Construction of the small glasshouse was completed.
• 1884 – The grouping of the herbaceous plants was 'modernised'. Finland's first rock garden was established.
• 1886-1887 – The glasshouse plants were catalogued for the first time.
• 1889 – Construction of the Palm House designed by architect Gustaf Nyström was completed on the site of the former large glasshouse.
• 1892 – Pool for aquatic plants completed in the small glasshouse and cultivation of Giant Waterlilies (Victoria amazonica) begun.
• 1903 – Construction of the Botanical Institute and Botanical Museum building designed by architect Gustaf Nyström was completed.
• 1933 – Centenary year of the Botanical Garden. The glasshouses contained 1.500 different plants, and the garden 5.000.
• 1944 – In February, during the Continuation War, three bombs struck the Garden, badly damaging the glasshouses. Only one cypress was saved. Seeds from the Giant Waterlily remained at the bottom of the frozen pool and were later used to grow new waterlilies. All other plants in the glasshouses were lost.
• 1948 – Newly repaired, the glasshouses were reopened to the public. Plant donations had been received from botanical gardens elsewhere in Finland and, in particular, Scandinavia. The glasshouses now had approx. 1.600 plants.
• 1953 – The round waterlily room was completed as an extension to the small glasshouse.
• 1977 – Systematic registration of the plants was begun.
• 1990 – Three dismantled Empire-style wooden houses from Punavuori in Helsinki were erected at the Kaisaniemenranta side of the Garden. One of them houses a café.
• 1996 – The glasshouses, by now in poor condition and in danger of collapse, were closed and a major refurbishment begun.
• 1998 – The refurbished glasshouses were opened by the President of the Republic Martti Ahtisaari on September 21.
• 2004 – The administrative position of the garden was changed from that of a department within the Faculty of Science to that of a unit within the Finnish Museum of Natural History, which signified that its collections received national status.