Loismann Botanical Garden

An idyllic place, pleasantly cool on hot summer days. Possibility for a rest or a picnic. With a view of the Dortmund Ems Canal

Just a few hundred meters from the southern slope of the Teutoburg Forest, near the Dörenthe farming community, there is a remarkable example of historical garden culture. The Loismann Botanical Garden was created more than 100 years ago by the farmer of the same name. The decisive factor was his passion for collecting exotic trees and climbing plants. The somewhat hidden facility is located directly on the Dortmund-Ems Canal south of the country road to Riesenbeck.
To this day, the image of the botanical garden is dominated by numerous tall, evergreen conifers. The private garden in the middle of a rural idyll is popular with botanists and dendrologists. From the small car park directly at the entrance, the garden is accessed via a comfortable walkway after a short climb. Numerous benches allow you to relax and get to know and study the various plants from different vegetation zones.

The history of the Botanical Garden began with the construction of the Dortmund-Ems Canal in 1894-95. The excavated material from the canal was piled up as a waste heap directly on the Loismann farm. At first, the farm owner did not know what to do with the waste heap. One day he came up with the idea of planting the area with selected trees and shrubs. In 1898 he planted the first fruit trees. Over the course of the early 20th century, the Botanical Garden developed on the more than one hectare area through the further planting of numerous native and exotic trees. Farmer Loismann spared no effort or expense in developing his own Botanical Garden. For example, to improve the water supply to the facility, he had a nearly 1.5 kilometer long water pipe laid from the Teutoburg Forest to his farm.
As is usual for the systematic plant collection of a botanical garden, he put the Latin names on the various trees and briefly described the origin and special features of each plant. His passion was the various conifers, especially from North America, as well as the gingko tree, which was still rare at the time. In addition to countless flowers, shrubs and trees from many countries in the northern and southern hemispheres, he also painstakingly grew poisonous and non-poisonous medicinal plants.
To this day, the Loismann Botanical Garden is maintained by members of the family and is thus one of the few remaining private historical green spaces in the region.
Source: gaerten-in-westfalen.de/de/garten-und-parks-in-westfalen-lippe/zu-den-garten-und-parks-in-westfalen-lippe/ibbenburen-loismanns-garten