The gardens of the St. Jürgen monastery outside Rambin

Coming from Bergen, travelers can recognize the monastery grounds of St. Jürgen before Rambin from some distance on the right-hand side of the B 96 by its old trees and the surrounding buildings. Against the surrounding open, arable landscape, the monastery courtyard with its dense woodland clearly stands out as an enclosed garden space and the towering crowns of the rows of lime and chestnut trees of the border planting mark a clear caesura.

Few people are aware, however, that this is a horticultural site that has been preserved apart from minor alterations and that documents a centuries-old garden culture in a unique way in connection with a hospital and later residential use. The cultural-historical and horticultural significance of the grounds lies in the interconnectedness and harmony of the garden spaces, such as kitchen gardens, orchards, parkland and residential area with ornamental square, which are joined together and meet different functional and aesthetic requirements.

However, most travelers pass by without noticing this garden work of art. It was the same for me for years until I was given the opportunity to take a closer look at the history of the Rambin monastery gardens, to immerse myself in them and, in doing so, something of the unique essence of this place came over me.A fascination, a magic, a touch that only gardens with the power of a long horticultural tradition, so completely independent of the changing times, can exude.