Allotment and community gardens in Leipzig and Halle
In Halle (Saale), 128 allotment garden clubs with around 12,300 gardens are currently members of the Stadtverband der Gartenfreunde Halle/Saale e.V. (Association of Garden Friends Halle/Saale). The members of the association cultivate an area of around 450 hectares. In addition, a growing number of independent urban garden initiatives, intercultural community gardens and school garden projects are revitalising free-standing areas within the city area. These projects are an important contribution to the conservation of biodiversity in urban areas and also tie in with traditions of understanding the garden as a place of communication and learning.
With 270 allotment garden colonies, Leipzig features the highest density of urban gardens in Germany (see PDF). The city is also the origin of the long allotment tradition that started in 1864 with the “Schreber-Movement”. More recently, a movement born in England during the 1960s, known as community gardens, became more and more popular in Germany and introduced alternative methods like permaculture into urban gardening. Besides self-supply and recreation, urban gardens also play an important role when it comes to local climate and biodiversity – two aspects that are incredibly valuable in times of climate change and species loss / extinction crisis.
Get an overview of the allotment and community gardens in Leipzig on our map.
