450 years of Leiden University: Botanical Garden

Leiden University was founded in 1575 and is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university has seven faculties (six in Leiden and one in The Hague), with 33.701 students enrolled in 2025. Every resident of Leiden has visited this beautiful university garden at some point. Usually, it didn't stop at just that one time; you would return with a book to relax in the various gardens. This seventh blog covers: the Hortus Botanicus.

Discover the botanical garden

The Hortus Botanicus Leiden is the oldest botanical garden in the Netherlands, established in 1590. For over four centuries, the Hortus has been the green heart of Leiden. Discover our special collections in the various garden sections and greenhouses, and choose a walking route to add a thematic touch to your visit.

 

What is a botanical garden?

A botanical garden is a specialized garden where various plant species are systematically collected, cultivated, studied, and exhibited. The purpose of these gardens is plant conservation, scientific research, education, and recreation. You will find a wide variety of plant species there.

 

Why are botanical gardens important?

When visiting a botanical garden, you not only discover the beauty of nature, but you also see the many ways in which these gardens have a positive impact on our world:

• Preserving biodiversity: A botanical garden plays an important role in preserving rare and endangered plant species. By cultivating and caring for these special plants, we contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and help preserve the ecosystem.
• Scientific research: Our garden offers a unique environment for scientists to study plants. This research enriches our knowledge of botany and supports important scientific discoveries.
• Learning about plants: In our garden, you can learn about the fascinating world of plants and the importance of nature conservation. Our educational lessons, tours, and workshops are designed to inspire visitors and raise awareness of the importance of healthy nature.
• Climate change and sustainability: We are committed to combating climate change. Our garden serves as a model for the responsible use of natural resources and contributes to a more sustainable future.

Through these diverse functions, our botanical garden contributes to a better world. We are proud of our role in contributing knowledge, protecting biodiversity, and inspiring visitors to make a positive impact on nature.  

History

After the founding of Leiden University in 1575, it proved desirable to establish a 'hortus medicus', a garden where medical students could study medicinal plants. On March 15, 1587, several administrators of the university requested the municipal council to make the undeveloped land behind the Academy Building on the Rapenburg available for the construction of the garden for medical education. Three years later, on February 9, 1590, the plot of approximately 1250 m² was transferred to the university. This is generally regarded as the founding date of the botanical garden.

In 1593 Carolus Clusius professor at the university and the first director (praefectus horti) of the garden. As early as 1592, the Austrian diplomat Ogier Gisleen van Busbeke sent him tulip seeds. Also in that year, Clusius had already had seeds of 251 plant species sent from Crete to Leiden. The garden was planted in 1594.

Because Carolus Clusius was already 67 years old and disabled at the time of his appointment, the Delft pharmacist Dirck Outgaertsz. Cluyt was appointed to take on the daily management as hortulanus. Clusius wanted the garden to be laid out with all species of the plant kingdom known up to that time. Plants that were still unknown at the time, such as tulips, and in later times tomatoes, tobacco plants, and maize, were planted and gained their fame in Northern Europe through the botanical garden. Plants brought to Europe by the Dutch East India Company were also planted. From 1709 to 1730 was Herman Boerhaave director. Under his leadership, the number of plant species was expanded to 5846. Under the directorship of Adriaan van Roijen from 1730 to 1754, the area was doubled and the garden extended to the city wall (where the Witte Singel is now located). He witnessed the arrival of carl linnaeus, who regularly visited the botanical garden in the years 1735–1737. From 1754 to 1786, David van Roijen was director. From 1752 to 1814, Nicolaas Meerburg was first an assistant and later a hortulanus. He published books containing drawings of plants that grew in the botanical garden during his time. Under the directorship of Sebald Justinus Brugmans from 1786 to 1819, the garden acquired the largest area in its history. During the French occupation, he traveled to Paris to consult with the authorities regarding their plans for the university and the botanical garden. This likely led to the preservation of the botanical garden and the university not being closed, as happened to the University of Franeker and the University of Harderwijk. In 1857, the botanical garden was forced to transfer land for the construction of the Observatory. The still young Willem Frederik Reinier Suringar was confronted with this, at that time the deputy to hortus director Willem Hendrik de Vriese, who was traveling.

Between 1931 and 1939, under the leadership of Professor-Director Lourens Gerhard Marinus Baas Becking, the botanical garden acquired a large part of its current layout. The greenhouses that had been built between 1850 and 1890 were demolished and replaced in 1937-1938 by a large greenhouse complex, of which the Victoria Greenhouse was a part. In 1931, the Clusius Garden was laid out on the 5th Binnenvestgracht. This reconstruction of the garden from Clusius's time was therefore not housed at the original location, the Voortuin. It was a reconstruction, based on a plan of the original garden and a list of the plant collection from 1594, of the botanical garden as it looked in Carolus Clusius's time. In 1990, the Clusius Garden was renovated, giving an even better impression of the garden from 1594. In 2009, it was moved to the Front Garden, placing the reconstruction in its original location. In 2006, Paul Keßler became prefect, succeeding Jan de Koning, who had stepped down in 2004.  

Interior nursery

As of 2017, the botanical garden consists of, among others, the Front Garden, the Winter Garden, the Von Siebold Memorial Garden, the Orangery, the system garden, and a tropical greenhouse complex, including the Victoria Greenhouse. The Von Siebold Memorial Garden is a Japanese garden. It was laid out in 1990 – on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the Hortus – as a memorial to Philipp Franz von Siebold who collected plants in Japan and had them transported to the botanical garden. The garden is surrounded by a red wall. A Japanese teahouse stands at the entrance. Hardy plants from Asia grow in the garden. There is a bust of Von Siebold.

In the tropical box complex, among others are Hoya, Aristolochia grandiflora, herb-stir-me-not, Passiflora racemosa, Araceae (aronskelken) including the Reuzenaronskelk or Penisplant (Amorphophallus titanum), tropical ferns, tropical orchids, Strongydon, Strongydon macrobotrys and Nepenthes are seen. In the Victoria Ark, the large water lily can victoria amazonica can be viewed, which is sown anew every year and bloomed for the first time in the botanical garden on July 8, 1872. Next to the greenhouse complex grows a lotus tree (Diospyros lotus) that was planted in 1736. Next to it stands a male nut tree (Ginkgo biloba) from 1785 onto which a female branch was later grafted. The Ginkgo biloba was chosen as Tree of the Year in October 2024 and is therefore the Dutch entry for the European Tree of the Year 2025 election.  

Pieter Pauw

Pieter Pauw (1564–1617), also known as Petrus Pavius, was a Dutch botanist, anatomist, and professor. Pauw studied medicine at Leiden University from November 2, 1581, to 1584, at the time still referred to as the Hogeschool te Leiden. After his studies, he went abroad. In the lectures he attended there, cadavers were dissected by a surgeon under the supervision of a professor. Pauw subsequently went to Rostock, where he took lessons from Henricus Brucaeus and obtained his doctorate in medicine in 1587. Afterwards, he stayed for three months in the northern Italian city of Padua and was taught by Hieronymus Fabricius, but he was forced to return to the Netherlands when his father fell ill.

On February 9, 1589, he began working in Leiden as an extraordinary professor, assisting Gerard de Bondt. From October 10, 1598, Pauw, together with De Bondt, was responsible for the administration and maintenance of the Leiden Botanical Garden. The tree species Aesculus pavia (a type of horse chestnut) was named after Pauw by Herman Boerhaave, who was director of this garden in the early eighteenth century. On May 10, 1592, he was appointed full professor. In 1596 or 1597, Pauw had the first anatomical theater in the Netherlands, named Anatomical Theater, build. Ten years earlier, De Bondt had started anatomy lectures in Leiden, but Pauw was the first to publicly dissect corpses for his lessons. These dissections attracted much attention and were attended not only by students. Non-students had to pay an entrance fee of fifteen stuivers. No teaching took place at the medical faculty during these lectures. In 1613, the faculty considered providing them with music by having the flute players who also performed at graduation ceremonies play. Pauw and his colleagues used the bodies of executed criminals for these lectures.  

  To be continued…… With thanks to Frans Hemelop for his beautiful designs of Leiden personal stamps, which pass for works of art: https://hemelop.nl/  

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Exhibition 'The Eternal Student': a journey through 450 years of studying in the Hortus, until October 26, 2025: https://hortusleiden.nl/zien-en-doen/agenda/activiteiten/lustrumtentoonstelling-de-eeuwige-student https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/dossiers/450-jaar/lustrumactiviteiten/expositie-de-eeuwige-student Plants & Planets at the Old Observatory, through December 24, 2029: https://hortusleiden.nl/zien-en-doen/agenda/activiteiten/planten-planeten 450 years of Leiden University: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/dossiers/450-jaar Leiden University Top 450: https://top450.universiteitleiden.nl/ Alumni (including Guide, 45 milestones from 450 years) of Leiden University: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/alumni 450th anniversary edition of Mare, number 17/452025: https://www.mareonline.nl/assets/Uploads/Documenten/eff31e6eaf/Mare-17-48_Special.pdf Dies Natalis Celebration (program and report) on February 7, 2025: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/agenda/extra/2025/02/dies-natalis-2025# https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/nieuws/2025/02/dies-natalis-2025 Leiden celebrates – 450 years of parades, through March 2, 2025: https://www.lakenhal.nl/nl/verhaal/450-jaar-optochten VVV Leiden: https://www.visitleiden.nl/nl Rapenburg Loop: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/dossiers/450-jaar/rondje-rapenburg Hortus Botanicus: https://hortusleiden.nl/ Hortus Botanicus Magazine 2018 – 2025: https://hortusleiden.nl/vrienden/hortusmagazine#: Four people from Leiden on Indonesian stamps (in connection with 200 years of Bogor Botanic Gardens): https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/nieuws/2018/04/leidse-wetenschappers-op-indonesische-postzegels Previous blogs 450 years of Leiden University: https://www.postzegelblog.nl/tag/450-jaar-universiteit-leiden/