Rosengarten

The Rosengarten sits on the Adlerbastion, a green corner of the Danube bank beside the Herdbrücke in Ulm. Across 3000 square metres grow 200 varieties and more than 1300 individual rose bushes. English roses share the beds with waterfall roses, rugosa roses and the white Sophie Scholl rose. The beds follow a deliberate colour plan, and lavender and perennials fill the spaces between. For many in Ulm this is the favourite retreat, a quiet place right on the water.

The ground carries a harder history than its flowers suggest. In imperial city times a prison stood close by, and the Danube boats moored at the shore below. The name Elendsgarten, the garden of misery, clung to the spot long afterwards. Gardeners laid out the first roses in 1964, reworked them in 1980 and gave the garden its present shape in 2007. The Ulm rose friends took part in that final redesign, and an old fountain came back to life.

Summer adds a ritual all of its own. Between mid-June and early July, and again in August, fairy-tale evenings draw listeners into the open air. A telling lasts about 45 minutes, and rain cancels the evening. What stays with you is simpler: the fountain beside the roses, and the scent of lavender over the Danube.