The Urzeitgarten (Primeval Garden) at Hirschstetten Botanical Gardens offers a journey back in time, showcasing flora that existed millions of years ago, even before the dinosaurs. Visitors can explore ancient trees and plants, designed to evoke a prehistoric landscape.
The Urzeitgarten, located within the Hirschstetten Botanical Gardens, provides an immersive experience that travels approximately 400 million years into the past. This 1,300 square meter garden is planted with species that existed in prehistoric times, predating the age of dinosaurs. It features 'living fossils' such as Ginkgos, large tree ferns, and Araucarias, whose forms have remained largely unchanged over millions of years, alongside the remarkable Wollemia nobilis, a conifer thought to be extinct until its rediscovery in 1994.
The garden's design enhances its ancient theme. An earth wall encircles the area, serving both as a visual boundary and an expansion of the planting space, while the central part of the garden is sunken. A pathway symbolizing a dried riverbed meanders through the prehistoric flora. At the garden's heart lies a rock cave with seating, adjacent to a small pond and a fire pit. A misting system not only maintains the humid conditions required by the tree ferns but also contributes to the evocative, misty, archaic atmosphere. To further emphasize the primeval landscape, significant amounts of deadwood have been incorporated, including a large Black Walnut stump that stands as an imposing focal point near the pond.
