German Allotment Gardens

German Allotment Gardens

 What are allotment gardens?

Allotment Gardens are rented pieces of land in a garden community on which each tenant can grow things like Vegetables, Fruit and Flowers. They're there for people with a passion for gardening. Be it just to relax, get your mind off of things or to take a break from your daily obligations which can tire you, gardening can be a great escape. Most gardens include a shed or a little hut, which is usually provided with electricity, be it to mow the lawn or to make some coffee or tea. A lot of people also decide to spend their summer evenings in the gardens and invite friends for a drink or barbecue. All in all, the allotment gardens are small personal and local getaways.

 History of Allotment Gardens in Germany

When hunger and poverty were all over Germany and Europe almost 200 years ago, the poor citizens took it upon themselves to have their own „gardens for the poor“ which helped them survive. After WWII, Berlin contained about 200,000 allotment gardens, which helped the people to get around in the post-war time. After some time, small associations of gardeners were founded, which had councils that cared for water systems and fenced the areas of the gardens. The gardeners starting to use the Gardens independently, said gardeners pay a small rent for their garden, and said rent goes into the costs, which the council handles. The Gardeners have certain duties that they need to attend to, and their organization was proven to help learn democratic rules as well. After the Hunger and Poverty Period was over, people also used their garden to get their children away from the streets, and to ensure them a good childhood. There is over 1.4 Mio. allotment gardens in Germany nowadays.

 Where you can find Allotment Gardens

To find Allotment gardens i Germany is quite easy since they're existent in almost every village. Allotment gardens make out 47,000 ha of Germany. So if you're ever in any German city, ask around, they're everywhere.

 How to get an Allotment Garden

 To rent a garden, a person needs to be a Member of the association which happens by signing a Contract. The Associations are democratic Groups which will also democratically deal with problems of the Gardeners. If there's no solution or the discussions are invalid, the issues of the gardens can be turned into a case for the city to discuss.

 Advantages of the German Atonement System are:

•       Production of fresh food for household consumption

•       Promotion of organic farming

•       gaining gardening experience

•       Children learn gardening

•       Learning democratic rules, decision-making and conflict management

 Mia