The HeindI Heritage

The Story o f a Hungárián Botanical Garden in the 1 7th Century

Abstract

Ferdinand Heindl’s botanical garden was one of the most prominent works of the gardens of the middle-dass in 17th century Bratislava. l lis gardening achievements have subsisted in a printed catalogue of the plants, now missing.

The botanical garden was established in 1583 by the pharmacist András Heindl, and developed in the middle of the 17th century by Ferdinand Heindl, lawyer and alderman of the town. In 1655, the garden was bought by István Aszalay who denied it to the Bratislavan convent of the Society of Jesus. In the 1730’s, the garden was part of the Pálffy Garden. bút later, in the middle of the 18th century, it belonged to Prince Esterházy, then to the Jeszenák family. A distillery was founded at the end of the 18th century and ran throughout the next century. The garden lay in the suburbs of Bratislava, westwards from the inner town, neighboring the garden of the Provost of Bratislava and the Pálffy Garden, embraced by the Kecske and Torna streets. It was an embanked garden, having two terraces. Its most prominent element was an arbor on the upper terrace, built on a lime tree. This building was a famous sight in the town and was delineated on many engravings of the period. It may have been built already in Heindf's lifetime. Although the garden was a rich and famous one in the 17th century, nothing remained of it fór today. Nevertheless.
The garden area still forms a green space in the town, giving piacé to a playground.