Tucked away on the 1.4-hectare grounds of the Evangelisches Diakonissenhaus at Osdorfer Weg in Teltow Seehof, this working herb and vegetable garden is part of the Teltower Diakonische Werkstätten — a workshop employing around 250 people with disabilities since 1972. About one hectare is devoted to growing vegetables and herbs, with two large greenhouses once housing over 200 exotic herb and vegetable species from around the world, including African Blue basil from Kilimanjaro, pineapple-scented Mexican sage, and anti-malarial Chinese wormwood. The garden's creator, a pharmacologist from Shiraz, Persia, abandoned pharma management to pursue herb cultivation, and the greenhouses double as seminar spaces for his courses. It's a quiet, purposeful place — more working nursery than manicured park — and a rewarding detour for anyone curious about rare plants and the social project behind them.
Over 200 exotic herbs from Kilimanjaro basil to pineapple-scented Mexican sage, grown by people with disabilities in a quiet Teltow greenhouse complex.
Call ahead or check the Diakonissenhaus website before visiting — opening hours are limited and the exotic collection may have partially relocated to Charlottenburg.
A working herb nursery with a social mission and a global plant collection
If you're the type who gets excited browsing a seed catalogue, the Kräutergarten at Teltow Seehof is worth the trip. Run by the Teltower Diakonische Werkstätten as part of the Evangelisches Diakonissenhaus, this isn't a polished botanical garden — it's a working nursery where people with disabilities grow vegetables and herbs on about a hectare of land. What makes it special is the sheer variety: the greenhouses once held over 200 species from around the globe, including an African Blue basil from the slopes of Kilimanjaro, a 2-metre-tall East Indian tree basil, a dark-flowered sage from Peru, and a Mexican plant whose leaves smell intensely of pineapple. The garden's creator, a pharmacologist from Shiraz, left the pharma industry to dedicate himself to herb cultivation, and his passion shows in every corner.
One greenhouse houses the mother plants; the other is laid out as a formal garden that, if it had a wall around it, could transport you to an Oriental courtyard or a medieval monastery cloister. The greenhouses also serve as seminar rooms for courses on herb cultivation — check ahead if you want to join one. Note that some sources suggest the exotic herb collection may have partially relocated to Charlottenburg, so the current scope of the collection at Seehof may vary. Either way, the broader garden operation at Osdorfer Weg continues as a living social project.
This is not a place for a grand day out — there's no café, no gift shop, no playground. Come if you genuinely love plants, if you're curious about the social workshop model, or if you're in the area and want a peaceful half-hour among greenhouses. It's quiet, it's purposeful, and it's one of those places that rewards you exactly in proportion to your interest.