Internationale Gärten Göttingen (intercultural gardens)

A garden started in 1996 in the Geismar district of Göttingen, Germany, by immigrant non-German families, and constituted in 1998 as the association Internationale Gärten e.V. Göttingen. Its distinguishing move was to translate the ideas of intercultural learning, international understanding and integration into a place where people work the soil and grow vegetables together, and it became the starting point for the form known in German-speaking countries as interkulturelle Gärten.

The layout combines individual plots where each household grows vegetables with communal areas used for events and children's activities. It was started by immigrant non-German families, and migrants, refugees and local residents cultivate the same site together.

Run as a non-profit registered association (e.V.). The Munich-based Stiftung Interkultur provides intercultural gardens across the country with networking, consulting, start-up assistance and fundraising guidance.

The form spread widely inside Germany, with more than 400 intercultural garden projects reported as of 2025 and further ones in preparation, and it also travelled abroad to Italy (Bolzano since 2010), Switzerland (near Zürich, Bern and Basel) and Austria. The three Göttingen gardens are worked by around 70 families from 25 countries. The source consulted, however, gives no measured results on how participation affected migrants' and refugees' employment or social isolation, so the breadth that earns it the description of 'almost a new social movement' should be read separately from the effect on individual participants. Operationally the model leans on support from Stiftung Interkultur rather than each garden standing alone.

Web articles and features that cover this case.

• ArticleInternationale Gärten — Wikipedia (Deutsch) ↗de.wikipedia.org