Magdeburg - Frog Fountain in the Klosterberge Garden by Thomas Bugdoll

The Klosterbergegarten is a park in the Buckau district and was the first public garden in Germany. The park is located on the western bank of the Elbe and extends over 11 hectares. The park owes its name to the Berge Monastery, which was located on this site from the 10th century until the beginning of the 19th century. The monastery was destroyed by French troops and so the city of Magdeburg acquired the site outside the city gates in 1824. The mayor at the time, August Wilhelm Francke, had a public garden laid out at the suggestion of Commander von Haake. Construction began in 1825. In the same year, Friedrich Wilhelm III visited the park, whereupon it was named Friedrich-Wilhelms-Garten in 1826. In 1828, construction began on the Gesellschaftshaus, which was completed in 1829. In the course of the industrialisation of Germany, a considerable part of the park had to give way to railway lines and roads, so that only 11 hectares of the original 33 hectares remained. In 1896, the park gained another landmark with the completion of the Gruson greenhouses. In 1921, the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Garten was renamed the Klosterbergegarten. In 1922, the painter Wilhelm Höpfner designed the Schinkel Hall of the Gesellschaftshaus in the Expressionist style, and in 1924 the staircase (where the frog fountain is also located) connecting the Klosterbergegarten with the newly created Südbrückenzug was built.