Johann Heinrich Gustav Meyer Landscape designer and municipal director of gardens in Berlin. Date of Birth: 14.01.1816 Country: Germany

1. Landscape Architect and Municipal Director of Berlin Gardens
2. Training and Career
3. Contribution to Berlin's Park Development

Landscape Architect and Municipal Director of Berlin Gardens

Gustav Meyer, a landscape architect and municipal director of the gardens in Berlin, was the first to create urban parks as recreational areas for ordinary residents. His original planning can still be seen today in Friedrichshain People's Park, Humboldthain People's Park, Treptow Park, the small zoo in Moabit district, the arboretum in Baumshulenweg district of Treptow-Köpenick, as well as the green streets and squares in the Wannsee district of Berlin, and numerous other walking areas.

Training and Career

Gustav Meyer initially acquired his gardening skills in the Botanical Garden division in Schöneberg. From 1832 to 1836, Meyer studied at the Royal Garden College in Sanssouci, learning under Peter Joseph Lenné, a Prussian garden artist and landscape architect of German classicism, whose follower Meyer became. In 1843, Lenné entrusted Meyer with full responsibility for technical matters in his office. Additionally, Meyer took on teaching drawing and landscape painting in the design and perspective courses.

On behalf of the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV, Lenné and Meyer were involved in the improvement of existing garden and park areas in Potsdam, as well as the establishment of new ones. Alongside his teaching activities, Meyer held the position of supervisor of gardens.

Contribution to Berlin's Park Development

In 1840, Gustav Meyer won a competition for the creation of the first municipal park in Berlin and developed the layout for Friedrichshain People's Park, which was established from 1846 to 1848.

In 1870, when the Commission for City Gardens and Parks (Berlin Department of Horticulture) was established in Berlin, Gustav Meyer was immediately appointed as its director, becoming the first director of the city gardens. In this role, Meyer planned and created new public recreational areas in Berlin, including Humboldthain and Treptow Park (located in the modern districts of Mitte and Treptow-Köpenick).

In 1874, Meyer returned to Friedrichshain People's Park with a project for its expansion in the northern part to compensate for the loss of space taken by the newly built Friedrichshain hospital complex. Meyer managed to complete the establishment of the majority of squares and parks planned since 1870 before his death in 1977.

In 1995, the Berlin Senate established the Gustav Meyer Prize, which is awarded every two years for outstanding contributions to the development of the art of garden and park design.