The initial vision was to create a green oasis and event park at the foot of the Löbauer Berg on a former industrial wasteland as part of the city's development. However, what emerged during the preparation and realization of the Horticultural Exhibition in some ways exceeded expectations.
The establishment of the Saxon State Horticultural Exhibition in the Löbauer Wasser valley provided an opportunity to correct undesirable urban development patterns and redesign a former industrial site, incorporating the grounds of the sugar factory. By unsealing the valley, the project not only created an inner-city green corridor for recreation, sports, and leisure but also established a spatial and functional link between the old town and the residential area. This connection extended to Löbauer Berg via the Friedenshain park. A green network was formed, stretching from the city center to the open countryside, accompanied by the renaturation of the Löbauer Wasser and the creation of retention areas in the floodplain. The former sugar factory site was transformed into an exhibition, trade fair, cultural, and sports area with the necessary infrastructure, ensuring its long-term use.
The plateau, with its distinctive topography, offers wide views of the surrounding landscape and was designed as a northern gateway to the local recreational axis in the valley.
A map of the Saxon State Horticultural Exhibition area in Löbau
The organization of the Saxon State Horticultural Exhibition in 2012 offered Löbau a unique opportunity to turn the painful decline of industry into a new chance for urban development. Places formerly used for industrial purposes were to be transformed into landscapes and take on tasks of urban design, district linking and recreation. The sixth Saxon Horticultural Exhibition Löbau in 2012 took place from April 28 to October 14, 2012 and was open to the public for 170 days, attracting more than 480,000 visitors.
The horticultural exhibition area in Löbau. Photo: Landesgartenschau Löbau
The willow church. Photo: Landesgartenschau Löbau
In the process of preparing and implementing the 6th Saxon Horticultural Exhibition, investments of around EUR 16 million were made, with over EUR 9.5 million coming from various types of subsidies.
The park created at the Löbauer Wasser was awarded the German Landscape Architecture Prize (Deutsche Landschaftsarchitekturpreis) in 2013. The horticultural exhibition area in Löbau was recognized as an exemplary project in socially and ecologically oriented settlement and landscape development as well as contemporary open-space planning.
"A small town in a structurally weak region has achieved great things with the Park am Löbauer Wasser," was the jury's verdict. The jury was also appreciated the consideration of history and the consistency with which the new elements were integrated into the context of the old buildings and grounds.
The renovated sugar warehouse. Photo: Landesgartenschau Löbau.
The sugar mounds. Photo: Landesgartenschau Löbau.
Footbridge in the setting gardens. Photo: Landesgartenschau Löbau
Article written by Anna Gumbert on 17/02/2025
