The Linnaeus Garden – with more than a thousand plant species and a museum

The Linnaeus Garden on Svartbäcksgatan in Uppsala is the site of not just the garden of Carl Linnaeus, but also his former home, which is now the Linnaeus Museum. Photo: Tobias Sterner, Bildbyrån
The Linnaeus Garden in central Uppsala is the site of Carl Linnaeus’s former home, now a museum, and his garden. Carl Linnaeus lived there with his family during the latter half of the 1700s.
A green wooden fence frames the Linnaeus Garden, located on Svartbäcksgatan in central Uppsala. The Garden is open to visitors from May to September, where they can enjoy more than 1,000 plant species.
Today’s Linnaeus Garden is a reconstruction of Uppsala University’s botanical gardens as they looked in the 1700s. The Garden’s design was based on sketches from 1745 and 1769. Only plants that were originally in the garden are grown here. The Garden highlights Carl Linnaeus’ “sexual system” of classification of plants (based on the number and arrangement of their stamens and pistils), spring and autumn flowering, and various aquatic ecosystems.
The Linnaeus Garden also has a café and a museum shop.
A robber’s den and a haunt for owls
The Linnaeus Museum exhibits furniture, objects – also from his travels – and paintings as a narrative of Carl Linnaeus’ life as a scientist but also his private life. The building was constructed in 1693 by Olof Rudbeck the Elder as an official residence.
When Carl Linnaeus took office as professor of medicine and botany in 1741, the house was in such disrepair that he refused to live there with his wife Sara Lisa and their son. Expressing his disdain, he likened it to both a robber’s den and a haunt for owls. The house was renovated, and in 1743 the family moved in – a family that eventually grew.
Carl Linnaeus and Sara Lisa had seven children, but not all survived to adulthood. Right up until 1935, the building served as a residence for Uppsala University officials. The last person to live there was composer Hugo Alfvén, Director musices at the University.
Carl Linnaeus was also Vice-Chancellor of Uppsala University three times – in 1750, 1759 and 1772. In 1757 he was ennobled and then became known as Carl von Linné. In English, he is generally known today by his original name of Carl Linnaeus.
Hammarby in the summer
Uppsala was too noisy and unhealthy, according to Carl von Linné. So he purchased two farms, Hammarby and Sävja in 1758, and the following year another farm, Edeby. The family spent their summers at the Hammarby farm.
Linnaeus’ Hammarby farm is located 15 kilometres south-east of Uppsala and is surrounded by a cultural conservation area. The park, its garden and the historical buildings are operated as a museum by Uppsala University, while the Uppsala County Administrative Board is responsible for the cultural conservation area.
Ulrika Hurtig
- Visits to the Linnaeus Garden and the Linnaeus Museum are free for staff and students at Uppsala University, and for children. For others, the admission price is SEK 120, and SEK 100 for pensioners and students.
- The opening hours for the Linnaeus Garden and Museum from May to September are 11 am to 5 pm. From 5 pm to 8 pm, only the Garden is open. Entry is free for everyone to the Garden during these evening hours. You can also take a guided tour.