Allotment garden ceremony: Brandenburgers celebrate their green oases!

Allotment garden ceremony: Brandenburgers celebrate their green oases!

In Brandenburg an der Havel, the Rolandsaal in the town hall was a place of meeting and celebration on July 1, 2025: The Brandenburg State Association of Garden Friends invited people to the ceremony, which was all about commitment to allotment gardening. Mayor Steffen Scheller warmly welcomed the guests and emphasized that Brandenburg an der Havel, with its 5,232 allotment gardens, not only offers green oases, but also makes an important contribution to climate protection and the preservation of biodiversity. These small gardens are not only habitats for plants and animals, but also places for community encounters and exchange.

The festival was also organized on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the Brandenburg district association. In his speech, Steffen Scheller emphasized the importance of socially acceptable lease terms and the creation of good framework conditions for allotment gardeners. A general lease agreement was signed in 2018, which optimizes the management of over 75 individual contracts. There are currently 226 interim lease agreements with private property owners, which underlines the good cooperation between the city and garden enthusiasts. The total area of ​​the allotment plots amounts to an impressive 2.82 million square meters.

Award for commitment to allotment gardening

A special highlight of the ceremony was the awarding of the Wilhelm Naulin plaque. This is traditionally awarded for special services in the allotment garden sector. This year, Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke and the District Association of Garden Friends Berlin-Hellersdorf e.V. received the award. Gert Schoppa, President of the Berlin Regional Association of Garden Friends, praised the commitment of the Hellersdorf allotment gardeners, who contribute to strengthening social cohesion in the community through their activities.

Last year, after a seven-year break, the Wilhelm Naulin Foundation, which has been giving out this award since 1984, honored AWO Potsdam's “Outpatient Group Living” garden project, which puts a lot of passion into helping young adults between the ages of 18 and 27. The participants have been cultivating an allotment plot for over three years, with gardening having a therapeutic component that strengthens self-confidence. Project manager Annekathrin Hinsche also highlighted the major positive effects of the award on the residents and their abilities.

Allotment gardens as part of the urban living space

However, the significance of the allotment gardens extends beyond the individual projects and awards. According to the Federal Institute for Building, Urban and Spatial Research, almost 910,000 tenants in Germany have an allotment garden, and the majority are organized in the BDG e.V. These gardens are not only refuges for amateur gardeners, but also important elements of urban infrastructure. The demand for allotment gardens is increasing, particularly in large cities, while the need for allotment gardens is often decreasing in rural regions. The demographic change, which is leading to an increase in single-person households, shows how important smaller garden areas are becoming.

Ecological gardening also plays a major role: allotment gardens can contribute to biodiversity and climate protection. We are also working on innovative concepts that will make it possible to create new allotment gardens or to use existing areas jointly. Collaboration between allotment gardening organizations and municipalities is essential in order to secure the valuable green infrastructure in the long term. The city's support for garden lovers couldn't be more important - after all, it's about maintaining the allotment gardens as social meeting places and green retreats for everyone.