Metasequoia Avenue, Mainau Island

On the island of Mainau, an impressive avenue of primeval redwoods lines the path to the butterfly hall. The metasequoia was only rediscovered in China in the 1940s. A decade later, the first tree came to Mainau from Kew Gardens. Today, over 50 specimens grow here, which shine with fresh green in spring and a strong copper red in autumn. The trees on the avenue are up to 27 meters high, some of them have an impressive trunk circumference of up to six meters.

giants of prehistoric times
It is a living fossil under which dinosaurs walked: Metasequoia (also Chinese redwood). It was discovered as a living specimen in China in the 1940s. Just ten years later, the island of Mainau received its first specimen, measuring around 30 cm in size, from the Royal Botanical Gardens "Kew Gardens" in Richmond, Great Britain. The fact that the tree immediately felt at home in its new home on the flower island is shown by the 51 metasequoias that grew from cuttings of the mother tree.

It is a living fossil under which dinosaurs once walked: Metasequoia (also known as Chinese redwood). It was discovered as a living specimen in China in the 1940s. Just ten years later, the island of Mainau received its first specimen, measuring around 30 cm, from the Royal Botanical Garden "Kew Gardens" in Richmond, Great Britain. The fact that the tree immediately felt at home in its new home on the flower island is shown by the 51 metasequoias that grew from cuttings of the mother tree.Today, over half a century later, they impressively and majestically frame the visitor path to the butterfly house. On hot days they provide cool shade and show fresh green in spring and a copper color in autumn - the Metasequoia Avenue invites you to pause and take a moment to reflect.