The founder of the city of Karlsruhe was born in Durlach. Karl Wilhelm was an enthusiastic plant lover and gardener. He brought back various plants and the expensive tulip bulbs to his pleasure garden (Lustgarten) in Karlsruhe from his travels through Holland. He enabled his court and pleasure gardener Christian Thran to participate in a scientific expedition to North Africa. Thran expanded his knowledge on this journey through Algeria and Tunisia and brought along exotic plants to Karlsruhe. He enriched the newly planted pleasure garden of Margrave Karl Wilhelm in this way.
In order to appropriately express his new title as Grand Duke, Karl Friedrich of Baden-Durlach had the Pleasure Garden and the complex of the Palace Park (Schlosspark) converted to the English style in the early 19th century. The new Botanical Gardens (Botanischer Garten) were laid out in the northwestern section of the palace complex beginning in 1808. Born as the son of the hereditary prince Friedrich of Baden-Durlach and Anna Charlotte Amalie of Nassau-Dietz-Oranien, he ruled from 1746 as Margrave of Baden-Durlach. In 1771 Karl Friedrich inherited the parts of the Margraviate of Baden-Baden ruled by the "Bernhardian line" and unified the two margraviates to form the Margraviate of Baden. In 1803 he rose to the rank of Elector and in 1806 to Grand Duke of Baden.
Born on 11 July 1723 as the daughter of the hereditary Landgrave Ludwig of Hessen-Darmstadt, she married Margrave Karl Friedrich of Baden-Durlach in 1751. Her entire life was marked by a tremendous thirst for knowledge. From the mid-1760's she developed a great interest in botanical questions. Under the influence of the Swedish naturalist Carl von Linné she devoted herself to publishing an illustrated work that was to contain all species of the Linnean System. Due to the costs involved, this "Icones specierum plantarum Linnaei Equitis“ (Illustrations of Plants of the Knight of Linné) was never completed. She was also an enthusiastic collector and began to create her own natural history collection, a collection of graphics and a "Mahlerey Cabinet" (collection of paintings) in Karlsruhe. Another of her hobbies was painting. She began to draw plants at the age of ten, and these drawings indicate that she had remarkable talent.
Unfortunately, she did not live to see the building of the new Botanical Gardens in Karlsruhe.
The Swedish scientist maintained close contact with Margravine Karoline Luise. She was interested in the system he developed and worked on the publication of an illustrated work that was to contain all species of the Linnean System. The close cooperation of the two is also clear from the fact that Linné named a plant found in Mexico and Surinam after the Margravine, i.e. "Carolinea louisa". However, today the plant is called "Pachira insignis".
Born in 1766, the architect worked in Strasbourg, Hanover and Karlsruhe. Beginning in 1801 he held the position of the chief town planner of the Grand Duchy of Baden. As such he tackled the conversion of a Baroque town complex into the residence of the Grand Duke. The new Botanical Gardens were also laid out according to his plans in 1808. Weinbrenner created an Orangery (Orangerie) which no longer exists today and the famous Court Theater (Hoftheater), which burned to the ground in 1847. Today the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) stands on its former location.
The architect and architectural theoretician was born in 1795 in Weinheim. He was a student of Friedrich Weinbrenner and assumed his position as the Chief Architect to the Grand Duke in Karlsruhe beginning in 1827, which he then held until his death. Heinrich Hübsch's main work includes the Art Gallery (Kunsthalle) in Karlsruhe, which is located on the grounds of the Botanical Gardens. The Botanical Gardens in Karlsruhe were completely redesigned and the greenhouses were built from 1853 to 1857 under his direction. This resulted in a building ensemble in the style of the late Romantic period, which included an Orangery (Orangerie), Archway (Torbogen) and Warm Buildings (Warmhäuser). Every room and every building was given an unmistakable design in keeping with its function. As a result, these buildings gave the complex an asymmetrical character. Hübsch also prevailed with the idea of a round water basin, which resulted in the popular carp pond. This is located along the visual axis of the Archway and is intended to form the center of the complex.