On a chilly Saturday morning, the garden group from the Gardener and Hecker Museum and many volunteer members of the association gathered in the outdoor area of the small museum in Gärtnerstadt to prepare the garden for the coming winter. They harvested, dug, and tilled the soil—essentially “clearing out” the garden—so that it could weather the cold season as well as possible. With this final gardening effort, the museum is now officially on its well-deserved winter break and can look back on a successful year.

The museum welcomed over 12,500 guests in 2023. Given the museum’s size and the fact that it is not open year-round, this is an outstanding result. “We are very pleased with the steadily rising visitor numbers, especially after the slump caused by the pandemic. Our special thanks go to the museum staff, who, with their consistently friendly and helpful manner, offer guests such a warm and welcoming experience,” said Andreas Dechant, chairman of the Gärtner- und Häckermuseum Association.

Advent Service on December 6 in the Renovated Chapel
The association has also achieved further successes this year, as in addition to the successful operation of the museum, the five outdoor benches in the open-air area were also restored. This was made possible by a grant from the Cultural Promotion Fund of the Bamberg World Heritage Foundation. With the return of the facade figure of St. Sebastian, the urgently needed renovations to the Sebastian Chapel, which is maintained by the association, were successfully completed. “The implementation of the necessary measures was made possible with the help of the City of Bamberg, and we would like to extend special thanks to the City Treasury for its support,” said Andreas Dechant. The Advent service, which annually concludes the association’s year, will take place on December 6, 2023, at 7 p.m. in the renovated chapel. All interested parties are cordially invited to attend.

Starting April 19, 2024, the Bamberg Gardeners’ and Winegrowers’ Museum will once again open its large wooden gate to visitors and begin a new season.

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The Bamberg Gardeners’ and Winegrowers’ Museum is the only museum in southern Germany dedicated to providing information about the commercial work and daily life of vegetable and winegrowers in the city center, as well as their culture and history. Bamberg’s Old Town has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993. The settlement area of the Gärtnerstadt (Gardeners’ Town) forms part of the World Heritage site. Typical medieval gardeners’ houses, complete with their cultivated plots, are still preserved there today. In addition, inner-city commercial horticulture was added to the German List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2016.

Photo credit: Andreas Dechant, Gardeners’ and Winegrowers’ Museum

Caption: The urgently needed renovations to the Sebastian Chapel, which is maintained by the association, have been successfully completed.