Noorderplantsoen - Groningen

It took a lot of work before this beautiful city park was opened in 1880. Several renowned landscape architects have been involved in the design over the years.

The first plan was by Ingenieur der domeinen Frits van Gendt and surrounded the four , now dismantled, Groningen bastions, and part of the old city wall. The city council did not agree with the plans and asked architect Bert Brouwer from The Hague to make a new design. He designed the central path and pond. When discussion about that plan also arose, city architect Johannes Godfried van Beusekom was eventually brought in to create a new design for the fortification grounds.

Four ponds were created and an English landscape-style park with asymmetrical shapes, height differences and winding paths was laid out on the site of the ramparts. Superintendent Philippus van Harreveld was responsible for the planting and in 1881 designed the plan to extend the park on the north side. Utrecht landscape architect Hendrik Copijn was responsible for the plans to extend the southern part in the same year.

The carefully designed park features more than 40 species of trees, including: red beeches, chestnuts, poplars, hawthorns, lilacs, wingnuts and the Japanese walnut tree. The urinals are by municipal architect Siebe Jan Bouma, the 1905 music dome is a design by Mulock Houwer, as is the architectural pond with fountains and the milk parlour.