During our visit to Rostock, we also came to the so-called Rose Garden, one of the most important garden monuments of the former Hanseatic city of Rostock.

This reflects both the urban development and the historical development of the city, as the "Rose Garden" has been redesigned several times over the centuries.

Rose Garden once part of Rostock's city fortifications

Since the 14th century, the city of Rostock has been surrounded by a three-kilometre-long city wall.

In front of this wall there were earthen ramparts and ditches.

In the 16th and 17th centuries these structures were then expanded into a huge fortress.

Parts of the city wall and its gates are still preserved, which can be seen opposite the Rosengartenallee past the Steintor city gate, of course in the ramparts towards Kröpeliner Tor and at the Heubastion.

We started our tour at the Steintor and first visited the remaining remains of the city wall with the "Kuhtor" gate passage.

At the end of the ramparts, we reached the Kröpeliner Tor city gate, which today also forms the "entrance" to the pedestrian zone.

Later, the pedestrian zone was also to be included in the tour. But more on that in a future article.

The city fortifications lost their military significance at the beginning of the 18th century and fell into disrepair or were demolished.

From 1815 onwards, the city began to completely demolish the fortification walls.

Of the original 22 city gates, four were preserved, including the Steintor in the south of the city.

In 1832, the city wall and the ramparts and ditches between Kröpeliner Straße and Steintor were partially removed and a spacious garden area was created as a public park landscape.

This was done on the initiative of the "Association for the Beautification of the City of Rostock and its Surroundings".

The Rostock Rose Garden is located between the Steintor and Schwaansche Straße and runs parallel to Wallstraße.

Association for the Beautification of the City of Rostock

Around 1860, the garden architect Joachim Wilcken designed today's rose garden - a long, flat area with a linden avenue, rose beds, lawn and fountain.

The peace, the beguiling scent of the roses and the twittering of the birds entice even many Rostock residents to take a relaxing stroll.

The linden avenue, which has been preserved to this day, was planted in 1866/67. Finally, the water-bearing ditch was also filled in.

In March 1871, with the end of the Franco-Prussian War (1870 - 71), the Peace Oak was planted south of the Steintor. It was a symbol of the victory over France.

A green oasis in the heart of Rostock - the rose garden

The bronze fountain figure of the "Drinker" has stood in the adjacent ramparts since 1922. The fountain beauty was created by the Berlin artist Professor Seifert.

Perhaps the drinker is an enchanted princess? A legend tells that a long time ago, not far from here, a castle sank in the Devil's Pit.

Every year on St. John's Day, a bowl from this castle appears on the water of the Devil's Pit.

The water in the Devil's Pit never decreases - just like in the fountain figure. Is it condemned to drink forever until it is redeemed?

By the end of 2023, several new residential buildings were built adjacent to the rose garden. In this context, the rose garden also underwent extensive redesign and the irrigation system was renovated.

It now invites you to linger again with newly created rose and raised beds. Around 4,200 roses, 200 standard roses and over 6,000 early-blooming flower bulbs were planted, among other things.

Please read as well:

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