Botanical Garden
University of Wrocław
ul. Sienkiewicza 23
50-335 Wrocław
Tel. (71) 322 59 57
ob@uwr.edu.pl
www.ogrodbotaniczny.wroclaw.pl
Valid ticket required. (Prices available on the website).
Mondays – Sundays: 9 am – 7 pm
April to September 9 am – 6 pm, October 9 am – 5 pm
Exhibition Panorama of Nature, greenhouse and aquariums: 10 am – 6 pm
Director: Prof. Zygmunt Kącki
Deputy Director: Agata Kaznowska MA
Director of the Tissue Culture Laboratory: Prof. Krystyna Kromer
Director of the Laboratory of Plant Ecology: Ewa Stefańska-Krzaczek PhD
Departmental heads: Paweł Fedorów MsC, Wioletta Foremska MSc, Justyna Kiersnowska MSc, Jolanta Kochanowska MSc, Miłosz Kurczakowski BSc, Magdalena Mularczyk PhD, Krzysztof Reczek MSc, Karolina Sokołowska MSc

The Botanical Garden of the University of Wrocław is the second oldest university garden in Poland (after the one at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków) and it is the only one in the so-called Recovered Territories. It was established in 1811 together with the University of Wrocław (then Breslau) by the Prussian state. The garden was laid out on an site that had once been a fort located at the foot of a monumental Gothic church in Ostrów Tumski. One of its main attractions is the remaining part of the oxbow lake, formed out of the River Oder (former Oder river bed). In 1974 the garden was entered on the list of monuments of what was then the Wrocław Voivodeship. The garden contains more than 11,500 taxa of plants from various continents which are are grown on nearly 7.5 hectares of land, in the open air, in greenhouses and in aquariums. The plants are divided into the following categories: plant systematics, an arboretum, nature education (with sections for plant morphology and biology, specimens which appear in the Polish Red Book of Plants, an alpinarium, a section with climbing plants and a permanent palaeontological exhibition entitled Panorama of Nature), aquatic and marsh plants with a fine collection of tropical freshwater plants, ornamental plants and greenhouse plants with rich collections of succulents and plants of the pineapple family (Bromeliaceae). There are two research laboratories which operate within the garden’s administrative structures: one related to tissue cultures and the other to plant ecology, as well as a library. In 1988, the University of Wrocław also acquired 5 hectares of a dendrological park in Wojsławice (now in the Niemcza district), which had been established by a landowner and collector of plants, Fritz von Oheimb (1850–1928). The arboretum which had long been known for its fine collections of rhododendrons and azaleas (Rhododendron) and rare species of trees and shrubs, has now become a branch of the Botanical Garden. In 2005, the land surrounding the arboretum was also acquired thus expanding its size which now covers 62 hectares. This has made it possible to significantly enlarge the dendrological collection and to also lay out a large garden of perennial plants (on two hectares of land), an orchard with historical cherry varieties (covering 12 hectares), a GEOretum – in other words, a geological exhibition in a former quarry, and more recently the Polish Millennium Garden which contains protected and endangered plants and varieties of trees, shrubs and perennials raised by Polish plant breeders. Both in Wrocław and Wojsławice there are a total of nine national collections, including the largest collection in Europe consisting of more than 3,000 species and cultivars of the daylily (Hemerocallis) genus. Each year numerous open-air events are held in both establishments, such as RODOmania – a meeting of lovers of ericaceous plants (commonly known as the heath and heather family), Bee’s Day and the Lower Silesian Pumpkin Festival, as well as shows, workshops, exhibitions and concerts.
Magdalena Mularczyk PhD