Hesperidengärten

Hesperidengärten occupies a group of baroque gardens in Nuremberg’s St. Johannis district. Ornamental paths, fountains, sandstone figures and citrus plants shape the view. The gardens once formed part of a green belt beside the city walls.

Patrician families and merchants developed these plots from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries. Earlier, expanding construction had displaced fruit, vegetable and herb gardens inside the old town. Italian Renaissance models and Dutch baroque designs influenced the gardens, while bitter oranges brought southern character to St. Johannis.

Johann Christoph Volkamer documented Nuremberg’s citrus culture in Nürnbergische Hesperides during the early eighteenth century. His work connected these gardens with the Greek Hesperides and their guarded golden fruits. A reconstructed baroque garden near house thirteen contains a historic masonry garden house.