Stiftung Insel Hombroich

The 21-hectare landscape park in Museum Insel Hombroich consists of three areas, each with a language of its own. Firstly, there is the old park with the Graubner-Pavillon (Graubner Pavilion), the Orangerie and the Rosa Haus (Pink House). Next, there is the wetland landscape with the walk-in sculp­tures Turm (Tower), Labyrinth, Hohe Galerie (High Gallery), Anatol-Atelier (Anatol Studio) and Cafeteria. And then there is the terrace with the Tadeusz-Pavillon (Tadeusz Pavilion), Zwölf-Räume-Haus (Twelve-Room House) and the Schnecke (Snail).

The landscape concept developed by Bernhard Korte in the 1980s thrives on the delicate balance between expert culti­va­tion, aesthetic sensi­bi­lity and pure, unspoilt nature. Here, the landscape architect succeeded in trans­forming the wild, overgrown park and the adjacent farmland areas into a hugely diverse whole. Rese­ar­ching the area with the aid of old maps and aerial photo­graphs, he detected buried oxbow lakes of the Erft river and used a pump system to form new bodies of water. The farmland became flood­plains with willow trees, edged with wild­flower meadows that once again provide a home for prehis­toric plants such as water-crowfoot and bur-reed.

Mighty trees and exotic shrubs are in their element in the old park, together with countless bushes and flowers – including a wide range of wild orchids and spring snow­flakes. By contrast, the terrace remains true to the centuries-old agri­cul­tural usage of the land with its farm garden, walnut trees and a chestnut and lime tree avenue.

The culti­va­tion concept remains as it ever was, with all acti­vi­ties kept to an absolute minimum – usually only to offset compe­ti­tion – and under­taken with the greatest of care. General change, plants dying by natural means and tran­si­tional stages like seed pods or fallen leaves are all part of the horti­cul­tural concept as well.