Strengthening residents’ connection with their gardening heritage in Bamberg (Germany)

About Bamberg

Bamberg is a growing midsize town and an urban district in the south of Germany, in the state of Bavaria. The Town of Bamberg was inscribed on the World Heritage List under criteria (ii) and (iv) in 1993. It is a good example of a central European town with a basically early medieval plan and many surviving ecclesiastical and secular buildings of the medieval period.

The World Heritage site comprises three urban districts, including the Market Gardeners’ District. The typical gardeners’ houses and their cultivated areas show how gardener families have lived and worked for generations. The inner-city commercial horticulture in Bamberg, practiced since the Middle Ages, is unique in Germany and was included in the German Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2016.

Unfortunately, the number of cultivated fields and gardening businesses that remain active in Bamberg has decreased considerably. Of the more than 500 horticultural businesses that once existed, about 30 are still active today. Competitive pressure, climate change, and lack of follow-up are just some of the reasons behind the decline.

Reconnecting residents with their gardening heritage 

In modern days, market gardening in Bamberg is carried out by a group of approximately 30 gardening families. The families have formed an association to market their produce at a local level and keep alive the centuries-old gardening tradition. Local gardeners have also revived the cultivation of historical crops, such as liquorish, which had a very strong presence in the city until the 1960s, when its cultivation was abandoned due to cheaper imported alternatives.

In addition to the action of local families, the Bamberg World Heritage Office has developed a gardening programme that connects aspects of city planning, heritage protection, tourism, and horticulture. It consists of awareness raising activities, financial incentives for gardeners, thematic tours, a marketing campaign, and a sustainable land use approach. Gardening has been included in the exhibition in the Bamberg World Heritage Visitor Centre, and is included in the wider strategy to improve the urban sustainability of Bamberg.

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic had both positive and negative impacts on Bamberg’s gardening culture. On the one hand, the pandemic presented Bamberg gardeners with new challenges. A survey taken among the gardeners by the World Heritage Office and the Bamberg Gardeners’ Interest Group reflects that 75 % of the garden companies agreed that the most significant difficulty during the spring and summer 2020 was keeping track of the changing regulations.

On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a rising interest in urban food production and gardening. Most of the Bamberg nurseries reported higher sales compared to the same period of the previous year. Bamberg nurseries offer a large variety of herbs, shrubs and vegetable plants, and cut flowers, among other things. 87.5% of those surveyed said that the current pandemic had increased the demand for local garden products. The survey results show that customers want to support local producers in a targeted manner and are presently attaching greater importance to short transport routes and sustainability.

The Bamberg nurseries have also observed that their customers prefer to shop in an outdoor environment and favour personal relationships with producers. In the Bamberg nurseries, customers buy from certified masters of their profession and directly from the producer. If anyone needs help with cultivation and plant care, the Market Gardeners’ District is the right place to go.

The ongoing efforts by local communities and the Bamberg World Heritage Office have created an opportunity for the residents of Bamberg to strengthen the connection with their gardening heritage and promote sustainable consumption patterns. At the same time, experiences with new forms of gardening, such as self-harvest gardens, show that gardening in Bamberg continues to evolve along new paths. The next challenge, gardeners and site manager say, is to make this a lasting change.

Source: Ms Patricia Alberth, Site Manager, City of Bamberg, 2020.

To learn more

• Visit the project page to learn about the initiatives developed by the Bamberg World Heritage Office to protect and promote the historic gardens.
• Visit the website of the Association of Bamberg Gardeners and the digital Storyboard.
• Watch the video Faszination Weltkulturerbe – Gärtnerstadt Bamberg.
• Watch the video Reaping What You Sow (Documentary / english subtitles) - YouTube by Christian Beyer

Contact

Bamberg World Heritage Office

• Website: welterbe.bamberg.de/en
• Address: Untere Mühlbrücke 5, 96047 Bamberg, Germany
• Email: info@welterbe.bamberg.de

Image credits

• Cover image: Market Gardeners District in the Town of Bamberg; Author: Jürgen Schraudner; Source: Bamberg City Archive

Note: The cases shared in this platform address heritage protection practices in World Heritage sites and beyond. Items being showcased in this website do not entail any type of recognition or inclusion in the World Heritage list or any of its thematic programmes. The practices shared are not assessed in any way by the World Heritage Centre or presented here as model practices nor do they represent complete solutions to heritage management problems. The views expressed by experts and site managers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Heritage Centre. The practices and views shared here are included as a way to provide insights and expand the dialogue on heritage conservation with a view to further urban heritage management practice in general.