the Adelaide Botanic Garden gained a spectacular attraction when 'the pride of the city' was opened #OTD 22 Jan 1877.
The Palm House was imported from Germany in pieces (but all the glass shattered en route). A heritage symbol of an economic boom era.
I did some research about it. It was built in 1875, directly inspired by London's Crystal Palace and remains one of the few surviving German-built Victorian era glasshouses in the world. It was prefabricated in Bremen, Germany by Heinrich Bendemir, then shipped and reconstructed in Adelaide.
ReplyDeleteThe Palm House was revolutionary for its time, using advanced glass and iron-frame engineering. It originally housed tropical specimens that couldn't survive Adelaide's climate. After extensive restoration in the 1990s, it now houses a collection of plants from Madagascar, many of which are threatened or endangered in their natural habitat.
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