Rapperswil Rose Gardens

Geschichte

The Rapperswil Rose Gardens are privately established small rose gardens probably dating back to the early years of the former independent town of Rapperswil. They are located in the present city of Rapperswil-Jona, Canton of St. Gallen, in Switzerland.HistoryThe coat of arms of the House of Rapperswil shows three roses, medieval and present Rapperswil has two roses in its coats of arms, as well as the present municipality of Rapperswil-Jona, and the former independent city and present locality of Jona. That is why we may assume that the first rose gardens date back to the early historical town, established at the Rapperswil Castle on the Lindenhof hill, and the historical Rapperswil Castle#Hintergasse lane where the ministeriales (knights) of the Rapperswil family built their homes around 1220 AD. The first documented rose gardens date back to the 1820s, shown on the map as the area of the privately owned gardens that still exist, and the present Duftrosengarten at the former moat, the present Obere Bahnhofstrasse road.In modern times, the rose gardens in Rapperswil for the first time are documented from 1913 onwards. The Stadtverschönerungsverein (literal Association for Tourism and the Beautification of Rapperswil) adorned the harbour area by planting the first 'official' rose bed. It was located opposite to the present Bahnhof Rapperswil building, at the southern terminus of the so-called Seedamm isthmus, where the present Fischmarktplatz plaza is situated. This was followed by the creation of other gardens by the town's administration at the Zürichsee harbour in the 1920s, and finally on streets and squares mainly on the initiative of the women of Rapperswil. Dietrich Wössener single-handedly selected the rose varieties and planted most of the roses of the present city rose gardens in 1959.