Although Philipp Franz von Siebold never actually had an official position at the
Leiden Hortus Botanicus, he was of great influence on the plant collections of this
botanical garden in the 19th century. Not only was the first shipment of living plants
from Japan sent by Von Siebold in 1829 to the Hortus, but also in the following years the
garden was enriched by many species of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants that found
their way to Leiden from East Asia thanks to the activities of this man. Some of the trees
and shrubs from these shipments still grow in the Hortus.
In 1932 a bronze bust of Ph. von Siebold by the artist O. Wenckebach was revealed in de
Hortus by Count Von Brandenstein-Zeppelin, a grandson of Philipp von Siebold, and J. Mater,
a grandson of Von Siebolds chief gardener, Mater. To honour the botanical and horticultural
work of Philipp von Siebold in a suitable manner, the Clusius Foundation decided to create
a ‘Von Siebold Memorial Garden’ or ‘Von Siebold Gedenktuin’ in the Leiden Hortus in
Japanese style.
Prof. M. Nakamura, head of the faculty of landscape architecture at the University of
Kyoto in Japan, was prepared to make a design, in which not only the bust and a part of
the East Asian plant collection would be exhibited, but mainly where Philipp von Siebold,
as the symbol of the unique relations between the Netherlands and Japan, would be honoured.
The heart of the garden is the karesansui or the dry landscape, consisting of compositions
of rock and gravel, which symbolize a cascade that empties into an area of water with
islands. The rocks were donated by the Agricultural university of Uppsala in Sweden and
the Dutch Delta Works. Through an opening in the Japanese wall one may have a view on part
of the garden. Via the main entrance, narrow and winding paths lead the visitor through
the collection of Asian plants, among which an enormous keaki (Zelkova serrata), which was
brought to the Hortus around 1830 by Von Siebold. All paths end in a series of stepping
stones in the ‘water’, which lead to a pavilion. From there one may view the entire dry
landscape and also pay their respects to this great man, who by rights is the symbol of
the more than three hundred and eighty year old relations between the Netherlands and
Japan.
From: Philipp von Siebold, zijn Japanse flora en fauna
Dr. L.A. Tjon Sie Fat & Dr. G.J.C.M. van Vliet
Bloemendaal, 1990
