StadtAcker Garden, Munich, Germany

A cooperative act between city administration and citizens, the StadtAcker is a community garden project located in on the grounds of a former military facility built in the 1930s by the Nazi regime.

Considering the high cost of real estate in Munich, one of the questions posed by the space is “What benefits does such a place bring for people? Should the costly and scarce Munich land be used for gardens?”.

The StadtAcker aims at creating awareness for the environment and ecological connections. There are fields of wild flowers and a colony of bees. One can experiment with old, robust seeds and different ways to compost. School classes and nearby kindergartens have their own patches. Talks, workshops, and communal cooking evenings, one can experience nature close by. 

The StadtAcker makes possible what is often not self-evident in a large city: it enables people to experience community and the connection to nature.

Although of course such projects exist in many places, the project speaks to the universality of the domestic food gardening experience, as well as its role as resistance against isolation and cultural homogenisation, and for/with, communal organisation and knowledge sharing.

https://www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions/ecopolis-munchen-2019/stadtacker