About the garden

The Uppsala University Botanical Garden is the oldest botanical garden in Sweden. It attained worldwide fame in the days of Olof Rudbeck and Carl Linnaeus. The old garden is today known as The Linnaeus Garden. The modern botanical garden is situated by Uppsala Castle and house more than 7,000 plant species.

Linnaeus' Hammarby was the summer house and praivate estate of Carl Linnaeus. It is now a lush destination south of Uppsala, and preserves an authentic 18th century milieu which few other Swedish manor-houses do.

Welcome to our three gardens - the research centers for Olof Rudbeck, Carl von Linné and Carl Peter Thunberg - where we successfully have combined botany and horticulture during more than 350 years!

Our mission

The Linnaean Gardens’ role includes exhibiting a well-cared for and clearly labelled plant collection that is documented in a globally accessible database. At Linnaeus’ Hammarby and the Linnaeus Garden, the plants are an important part of the historic value of the sites. The gardens are also places for inspiration and recreation: they are popular destinations for both Uppsala residents and visiting tourists.

In the Botanical Garden, plant are grown primarily to be used for research and education at the University, and for activities aimed at preschools and schools. The Garden also contributes to preserving biological diversity.

Sweden's oldest botanic garden

Uppsala University’s Botanical Garden is the oldest in Sweden. It was founded in 1655 by the polymath Olof Rudbeck the elder, professor of medicine, on the site currently occupied by the Linnaeus Garden. In the middle of the 17th century Olof Rudbeck also founded the Uppsala Castle garden, which became the current Botanical Garden at the end of the 18th century.

The gardens had two periods of greatness, the first under Olof Rudbeck the elder and the second under Carl Linnaeus, whose summer residence with surrounding garden and parkland is now also part of the Linnean heritage cared for by Uppsala University.