Succulents for Leisure and Pleasure, for Education and Science: The Zurich Succulent Plant Collection—80 years in the service of succulent plant popularization

摘要

The roots of the Zurich Succulent Plant Collection go back to the years around 1920. At that time, Jakob Gasser (1870 - 1932) operated a specialized cactus nursery in Zurich. Due to health reasons, Gasser was forced to give up his business and collection, and he intended to sell the plants individually. Several city officials, including the director of the Botanical Garden at that time, recognized the "great scientific and educational value" of Gasser's private collection, and looked for possibilities to keep it intact and in Zurich. With the World Economic Crisis of 1929 casting its foreshadows, the City of Zurich was unable to purchase the collection itself, but fortunately, a thoughtful patron was found in the person of store-owner Julius Brann.For the sum of 20,000 Swiss Francs, he bought the entire collection from Gasser, and nobly donated it to the City of Zurich, with the condition that it be open to the public. At that time, Gasser's collection consisted of 1516 individual plants of 652 species, the majority cacti. Due to the financial constraints posed by the economic crisis, the original plans to build a whole suite of display greenhouses for the plants had to be abandoned.