The International Horticultural Exhibition and the German Garden welcomed around 685,000 visitors

The Floriade Expo 2022 in Almere closed on Sunday after being open for six months. In that time, around 685,000 people visited the International Horticultural Exhibition and the German Garden. The latter was one of the highlights, in terms of both architecture and content, and was one of the most popular participants. From the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) which is responsible for world exhibitions, the German Garden received the Gold Award in the category “Official Participants – Outdoor Gardens” for the holistic implementation of the Floriade theme “Growing Green Cities”.

Mr Karl Wessels PhD of the BMEL (German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture), evaluated it in positive terms: “The German Garden made a valuable contribution to the Floriade theme and created a platform for professional exchange that was warmly received. This is substantiated by the roughly 150 international delegations from industry, politics and science that we welcomed here. The successful design of the German Garden and its friendly, professional appeal gave a generally positive and amicable image of Germany.”

Interactive exhibition and insect-friendly plants

The German Garden, with its wooden pavilions surrounding its roughly 2,000 square metres of land, was visually striking. Innovative ideas, up-to-date approaches, citizens’ initiatives and organisations from Germany involved with modern and sustainable urban horticulture were presented in an informal way with the title ‘BIOTOPIA -Growing Community’. The visitors greatly enjoyed the interactive exhibition elements and through their involvement, became a part of the continually growing ‘BIOTOPIA community’.

The German Garden was host to a total of 3,500 plants, mainly insect-friendly, ranging from wild strawberries to primordial sequoias. A peace-loving colony of Buckfast bees diligently gathered nectar and pollen on the roof garden and ducks, frogs and dragonflies frolicked in and around the water garden. During the six months, bumble bees, wasps, butterflies and rabbits also settled there. There were even a couple of foxes signalled at BIOTOPIA.

An appealing cultural programme, culinary delights and warm thanks to the team

The German Garden’s cultural programme was also very well received. In total, 24 acts reflected the diverse German cultural landscape in around 170 performances – from live music of different genres and theatre performances to panel discussions and workshops on the theme of horticulture. The German restaurant EATTOPIA was also well attended, with an average of 250 guests per day.

During the Floriade, around 35 staff members from 18 countries worked in a two-shift system in the German Garden. Director of the German Garden, Christiane Krüger of the implementing company Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH, tells us: “We thoroughly enjoyed the experience in Almere and would like to thank the Netherlands for their hospitality. The collaboration with all partners was excellent. But above all, a huge thank you to the entire team present at the German Garden, for the fantastic job they did.”

About the International Horticultural Exhibition Floriade Expo 2022

Floriade Expo is a themed variant of the international horticultural exhibitions and has been held in the Netherlands every ten years for the last 60 years. Taking as its theme ‘Growing Green Cities’ and with the sub-themes ‘Green’, ‘Food’, ‘Health’ and ‘Energy’ the Floriade Expo, which takes place from 2022 April through 14 October, aims to increase awareness of sustainability in cities and put forward appropriate solutions.

Organisation behind implementation of the German Garden

The German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture is responsible for the German Garden at Floriade Expo 2022 in Almere. The Ministry commissioned the Hamburg Messe and Congress GmbH to carry out the implementation. The design and concept of the German Garden is in the hands of a collaborative partnership between ARGE insglück Gesellschaft für Markeninszenierung mbH, gtp2 Architects and Studio Grüngrau Landschaftsarchitektur GmbH.