The Klingenberg Garden Day-Book 1659-1722

Paul Klingenberg was the trusted confidant of King Frederik III of Denmark, whom he served both as Postmaster general and by laying out the maze in the royal garden at Rosenborg. He had begun his working career with a trading company in Hamburg, where he was to become the driving force. He married the granddaughter of the founder, Elisabeth Berns, whose grandfather, father, and uncles and the Marselis family all had outstanding gardens, and it was in this circle that Paul Klingenberg’s love of gardening developed. In 1639 he began to keep a day-book of work undertaken in his garden at Hanerau in Holstein. Writing in German, he entered details of the plants and seeds he purchased, the names of the suppliers and the prices paid, the dates of planting and sowing, the weather conditions and the subsequent successes and failures. There are impressive lists of varieties, particularly of tulips,