Moeslepark

Planning the conservation and management of the Moeslepark garden monument
and the Waldsee District in Freiburg

An assessment of the conservation and management requirements is to be carried out for the Moeslepark historic garden in Freiburg, on behalf of the Garten- und Tiefbauamt of the City of Freiburg, incorporating concepts for the conservation, development and management of the park.

The Moeslepark is one of the oldest parks in the city of Freiburg. Its creation stems from the process of systematic greening of European cities that took place in the second half of the 19 th century and the blooming concept of the public park. Whereas the recreational use of parks was largely denied the general public during the Renaissance and the Baroque periods, during the Age of Enlightenment the nobles increasingly opened the gates of their English landscape gardens to the intellectual middle classes. 

Arising from the need of the whole population for more green spaces in the cities, and from the driving forces of aesthetic improvement of the land, the numbers of public parks in European cities grew steadily. The idea of merging city and garden in a single entity is a common theme throughout 17 th century town planning. The 18 th and 19 th centuries where the great epoch of the city green. This reached its apex in the second half of the 19 th century. All across Europe promenades, avenues, boulevards, tree-stocked spaces, city parks and gardens sprang up.

The name ‘Moesle’ stems from the water-rich soil. The oldest water sources in the city of Freiburg are to be found under the park landscape. The adjacent Waldsee (‘forest lake’) was created artificially by the district forest service in 1877. The park came into being after 1879 on the initiative of the association for the adornment of the city of Freiburg, growing out of the facilities of the Waldsee. Since this time, a number of remodelling measures have been undertaken in the Moeslepark. As in the past, the park is a public open space, and not only for the benefit of local residents. A new concept for the conservation, development and management should do justice to this 11.5 ha large garden monument.

November 2008 - August 2009

Patrick Pauli, Katharina Glaum

Garten- und Tiefbauamt, Stadt Freiburg; Umweltamt, Stadt Freiburg