Playful geometry
Dornbirn City Garden
Where can you find a garden you can both admire and play in? Just a short walk from the lively centre of Dornbirn!
This garden has it all: Meadows, an arboretum with trees from all over the world, the Sleeping Beauty Garden, a playground and a water garden. If you’re keen to refresh, relax, observe or play, a visit to the Dornbirn City Garden is well worth your while. Best of all it’s just a short distance from the lively centre.
Industrial history
Vorarlberg, and Dornbirn in particular, was a stronghold of the textile industry in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Dornbirn was also the headquarters for numerous other industrial companies. In fact, the Rüsch-Werke factory used to be located on the same site as the green spaces and the inatura, which features a Science Center that attracts visitors all year round. This erstwhile company produced water turbines that were used all over the world. The Rüsch-Werke closed its doors in the 1980s, however, at which time the inatura and its science centre took up residence after renovating and modernising the buildings.
Have a look around and rest
The area around the former industrial buildings got a facelift with the opening of the inatura. Formally speaking, the Dornbirn City Garden is oriented towards the geometry of water power. Playful elements are also included as well and its worth fully exploring the different areas.
The path leads past meadows and through the arboretum to the centrally located Rüschhof farm and to inatura’s entrance, where the rust-brown gravel surface is reminiscent of the area’s industrial heritage. In summer, the inatura café is a great place to sit outside and relax.
Those that walk through the city garden will pass by meadows with trees and bushes. Meanwhile, the always charming “Dornröschengarten” (“Sleeping Beauty Garden”) is hedged by shrub roses. Those in need of a quick break can make use of the many benches or sit down in the meadow. With its water lilies and rushes, the water garden is also pretty. The rust-coloured modern buildings are reflected in its waters.
A place to play and meet up
The playground with a life-size chess board and playground equipment is a popular meeting place for adults and children alike. Enjoy the gurgling sound of the Müllerbach stream flowing underground through various steel pipes of different heights. Marvel at the water wheel or quench your thirst at the drinking fountain with its bubbles.
