Historicism and Building Greening

Facade Greening as a Decorative Element

In the second half of the 19th century, buildings were decorated with greenery when the emperor or king came to a town or village. This was based on the old practice of not throwing anything away and using everything at hand, including the cuttings from evergreen plants (ivy, boxwood, holly). The shoots were braided into garlands and attached to the facades, as the leathery, waxy leaves lasted a long time. But, after so many new climbing plants were becoming available, attempts were made in many places to replace these green garlands with permanent greenery on wires for plants to climb. From England came the fashion for lush greenings primarily for ornamental value, both for country and town houses. Roses and clematis have become indispensable ever since! From time to time, treillages -- ornamental trellises without any plants were placed on facades.

Ornamental greening based on an old tradition, braided garlands

Trellis with akebia (Akebia quinata) on a Wilhelminian-style building, probably dating from the time of construction. Dresden / Saxony

Buildings from the German ‘Gründerzeit’ period

After winning the war against France, money began to flow into Germany in 1871, and construction boomed. In rural areas and small towns, the old tradition of greening buildings continued, with grapevines and espalier fruit trees being the most practical choices. In urban areas, however, greening buildings played hardly any role. This was true for both industrial architecture and residential construction. Due to climate change and the declining attractiveness of city centres, there is now strong pressure to retrofit buildings with greenery in Gründerzeit neighbourhoods. This is also due, not least, to the general problem of graffiti. Here, it is often important to win over the monument protection authorities as partners!

New Climbing Plants

The new climbing plants which broadened the design pallet usually came from Asia, often via England: akebia (1845), bittersweet (1860), Boston ivy (1862), kiwi (1874) and silver lace vine (1899). In 1858 came the still famous "clematis jackmannii" from English breeding. Soon hundreds of rose and clematis cultivars from England and France followed, and around 1900, virtually all of the climbing plants that we use today were established.

After reviewing the extensive image archives of the Swiss National Library, it can be assumed that the era of large, multi-story spalier fruit trees on houses began in 1850. The discovery or targeted cultivation of many new fruit varieties, especially pears, may have contributed to this. The associated science, ‘pomology’, was held in high regard at the time. Before 1850, fruit trees were sometimes planted close to house walls, but there are no depictions of fruit trees attached to wooden trellises.

Two different types of boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata - “Dark Green” and “Veitchii”) at a former factory in Leipzig, Saxony.

Garden arbour with greenery, probably in Berlin, around 1890

Tens of thousands of allotment gardens were created...

Of course, the arbours of the ever-increasing number of allotments were also often planted with greenery. At the same time, the garden city movement emerged in 1900, but this is described separately.