After the destruction of Hamburg's old city fortifications in the early 1800s, a green belt was established in their place; part of this makes up the modern Planten un Blomen. The first plant was a
Platanus, planted by
Johann Georg Christian Lehmann in November 1821. It can be seen next to the
Hamburg Dammtor station entrance of the park. The area was previously home to a zoo and a cemetery, the latter of which had to be dismantled for its construction. The modern park was established in 1933; in accordance with Nazi ideology, only German plants were included at the time. In 1953 and 1973 the
Internationale Gartenbauausstellung (International Horticulture Show, IGA) were held at the park. == Overview ==