Ausstellungskatalog - Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum ...

Pflegen und Erhalten 1910 – 2010 · Care and Conservation 1910 – 2010
From Coal Heating to Climate Control Technology
While the necessary water for the care and conservation of the living
collection is still partly taken from the wells and rain water
cisterns installed around 1900 in the Botanic Garden, the supply
of heating and electricity has totally changed.
Up to the mid-1960s the greenhouses and the Botanical Museum
were heated by coal burned on site, the provision of which was
always difficult in times of crisis; in 1965 the central heating system
was connected up to the district heating supply. Only after the
Second World War did the growth of the greenhouse plants begin to
be promoted by electric light, which resulted in the huge lamps installed
in the Main Tropical Greenhouse, reopened in 1968. They
extended the short winter days in Berlin and thus facilitated the
cultivation of the tropical plants.
At least as important were other changes: ventilation dampers
and Venetian blinds, which were operated by hand, were superseded
by increasingly intelligent electronics. The materials used in
greenhouse construction have also changed: the simple industrial
glass used in 1900 was followed by Plexiglas and finally, in the
Main Tropical Greenhouse, which was remodelled in 2006-9, UVtransmissible
safety glass with insulating properties. Energy efficiency
and ingenious climate control technology are currently the
most important elements in the further upgrading and renovation
of the greenhouse facilities. HWL
103
Aus: Alfred Körner, Die Bauten des Königlichen Botanischen Gartens in
Dahlem, Berlin 1910. BGBM, Bibliothek.
Unten: Plan der Dampfkesselanlage von 1909. BGBM, Archiv.