The Kagran School Gardens

Walking towards Schulgarten Kagran on a Thursday afternoon and wondering if third time is the charm (somehow I never got the opening hours right the first two times), I was thinking that this garden gives a lot of mixed signals - just like modern relationships. And if I allow myself to continue the analogy, I must admit that one cannot help but fall in love with it.

Alas! It was open!

I went through the main entrance, equipped with not one, but two brochures, and started looking around. In the past year, I had two failed attempts to get to that point: once when I had not remembered that it was open only one Thursday in the month and twice, when I trusted the opening hours printed on the leaflets that I had (Mon-Wed, but in reality it is Wed-Fri in the months of July and August). This time I doubl-checked and finally made it. It will be an understatement to say that I am so happy I did - I am in awe.

The grounds of the gardens are used by the professional school for gardeners that is located at the same address and are open for visitors, as I detailed in the previous paragraph, under very specific circumstances. Basically, if you have a daytime job, you will never be able to go there, but it is so worth taking a day off work to do so.

I don't know what I loved the most: the fairy-tale little gardens, sprinkled here and there; the green grass that was inviting me to go barefoot and feel the sprinkled water and soft earth beneath my feet; the many hidden spots and corners that invite you to take a seat and read for hours under the shade of the trees or the small and intimate Orangerie that leads you in full circle and feels like a temple.

I spent two and a half hours just walking around the grounds, taking pictures. It was an overwhelming experience, because I was finding new beautiful spots on every corner. Those gardens, for there are many there and all are a different theme, have one thing in common: they were meant to ignite slow burning intimacy and make you calmer and peaceful. Buzzing sounds of bees and rhythmic tones of the water sprinklers are your constant companions. The paths are leading you through the deep green and brown of the wooden forest, the bright, almost vanished colours of the fruit trees under the August sun, to the bright and proud late summer flowers in their colourful beds. An absolute masterpiece!

After this a little too poetic overview of the garden, you could read some official description, taken from their official page here:

Stadt Wien says:

The Kagran School Gardens, located around the Vocational School for Horticulture and Floristry, are part of the horticultural gardens of Vienna's Municipal Department Parks and Gardens (MA 42). They serve as a training facility for apprentice gardeners and provide plants and teaching aids for prospective gardeners or florists.

History

The former school building was completed in 1912, though it was originally used for storing plants during the winter. It was not until 1928 that additional ceilings and walls were inserted to convert the building into the Vocational School for Gardeners in Kagran. The School Gardens were refurbished and modernised in the 1960s after responsibility had been transferred to the Municipal Department Parks and Gardens. The forecourt with its ornate floor design and sundial, the rose garden, a pergola featuring a mosaic designed by Maître Leherb and other novelties were introduced. Further changes were made in 1977, and the seven-hectare premises had to be reduced by one hectare to make way for a new underground line.

Polytunnel number five was set up as a practice area for trainee gardeners in 2000. In the same year, construction works started on a new, modern school building on site. It was opened in 2002, ending a 74-year-old provisional solution and finally providing optimum training conditions for the students. In 2003 the Austrian Museum of Gardening was established in the former school building. Since 2005 the orangery has also accommodated the offices of the Austrian Society of Horticulture and the City of Vienna Plant Protection Service.

On the grounds you can also find the Museum, which I have previously explored but could not make myself visit again, when the weather outside was so inviting. In case it sparks interest in you, the opening hours of that facility are way more welcoming and agreeable. ;)

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I hope you enjoy this quick walk through the garden. If you'd like to return for more insights from Vienna, feel free to subscribe for new blog posts and also follow me on Instagram: @nib_and_ember .