Karl Foerster. Neue Wege – Neue Gärten.
In the organizer's words:
The garden pioneer from Potsdam
Flowering perennials and ornamental grasses are a matter of course in our gardens today. This was not always the case. They were introduced by Potsdam garden artist Karl Foerster - an honorary citizen of the city.
Karl Foerster (1874-1970) was a gardener, writer and - as he described himself - a cosmopolitan. He is one of the most important gardening personalities in our country. On the occasion of his upcoming 150th birthday, the Potsdam Museum is dedicating an exhibition to him from March 9 to August 18, 2024, which illustrates his many facets.
Foerster's ideas on garden design still shape garden culture today. In his garden in Bornim, he showed how the flowers, foliage and shape of the plants create a naturalistic garden all year round. Enriched by his numerous cultivations, a new, more homely garden style was created.
He described his experiences and his message in numerous publications, influencing generations of landscape architects and perennial plant breeders across national borders. Foerster's garden design still lives on in contemporary gardens in Europe and overseas. Selected examples are presented in the exhibition.
Music, art and travel also played an important role in his life. In his house and garden there was a lively coming and going - in the last century it might have been called a salon. The estate was a world of its own; it went through good times, but also dark times. Much has been forgotten, some things have been lost, and so there are gaps in Karl Foerster's biography, which the exhibition takes a closer look at.
The former home and his garden in Bornim are now a listed building and a place of pilgrimage for gardening enthusiasts from near and far. In order to secure this important monument for the future, the German Foundation for Monument Protection took ownership of it in 2010 and thus - together with its trustee Marianne Foerster Foundation - bears permanent responsibility for its preservation. The German Foundation for Monument Protection provided exhibits from Foerster's house for this exhibition, which have never been shown before, in order to give a better impression of his creative world.
The exhibition is supported financially and as a lender by the German Foundation for Monument Protection and its fiduciary Marianne Foerster Foundation, which looks after Foerster's house and garden and ensures the preservation of the monument, as well as by the Lower Monument Protection Authority in Potsdam.
The exhibition is curated by landscape architect Heidi Howcroft.
A catalog will be published to accompany the exhibition.
Location
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