About Gartenfreund

Gartenfreund

Gartenfreund is the monthly members' magazine of the German allotment-garden movement – the "Verbandszeitschrift für das Kleingartenwesen" (association journal for the allotment-garden sector). Published for the organized allotment gardeners – the Kleingärtner in their local clubs, district federations and state federations – the magazine delivers monthly association news from the federations, districts and clubs alongside a wealth of practical tips and tricks for the allotment garden: the seasonal tasks, the plant advice, the legal guidance and the ecological know-how. With the 2026 switch to e-paper as the default format – the response to the cost explosion in print production – the magazine is navigating the digital transformation of association publishing while remaining the monthly companion of Germany's allotment gardeners.

Overview

Gartenfreund appears monthly – the members' magazine that the organized allotment gardeners receive as part of their membership, included in the membership contribution. Each issue combines the association's internal communication – news from the state federation, the districts and the local clubs, the policies and decisions that affect the Kleingartenwesen – with the practical gardening journalism that serves the readers' daily work in their plots: the monthly tasks, the plant portraits, the pest-and-disease advice, the legal guidance and the seasonal tips that make the allotment productive and beautiful.

The readership is the organized allotment-garden movement: the members of the Kleingartenvereine – the local allotment-garden clubs that manage Germany's hundreds of thousands of garden plots – organized in district federations (Bezirksverbände) and state federations (Landesverbände), from Berlin's Landesverband der Gartenfreunde to the federations of the other federal states. Germany's allotment-garden movement is Europe's largest – the German associations counting the most members among the 14 national organizations in the Office International du Coin de Terre et des Jardins Familiaux – and the Gartenfreund is their shared monthly medium.

The magazine's content follows the allotment gardener's year: the spring's sowing and planting – "Startschuss für Tomaten," the starting shot for tomatoes – the summer's tending, watering and harvesting, the autumn's storing, pruning and winterizing – "Schnitt für Schnitt, wie Ihre Ziergehölze schön bleiben," cut by cut, how your ornamental shrubs stay beautiful – the winter's planning, ordering and dreaming. The seasonal rhythm structures both the garden and the magazine: each issue arrives with the tasks of its month.

The association news connects the individual plot-holder to the movement: the federation's policies, the districts' activities, the clubs' events, the legal developments affecting allotment gardens – from the Bundeskleingartengesetz to the local lease terms – the "Tag des Gartens" (Day of the Garden, celebrated nationwide since 1984) and the advertising for the Kleingärten – "Zeigen Sie Präsenz," show presence – the public advocacy for the allotment gardens' cause.

The 2026 digital transition marks a turning point in the magazine's history: from 1 January 2026 the magazine is offered principally as e-paper – the response to the cost explosion of recent years, when paper scarcity during the COVID-19 pandemic, soaring energy costs, increased postage and inflation drove the printed magazine's production and distribution costs sharply upward over five years. The associations communicated the change through 2025: the e-paper offers guaranteed availability from the 28th of the previous month, an archive with full-text search covering all issues since 2016, enlarged detail views for images, directly clickable email and internet addresses, optimized display on all mobile devices including a read-aloud function – and the environmental benefit of paper reduction. The printed magazine remains available on request – still included in the membership for those who need it – but the default is now digital, and members were asked to register their email addresses with their clubs by late 2025.

History

Gartenfreund is the voice of one of Germany's oldest civic movements: the allotment-garden movement that began in the 19th century – with the Schreber gardens of Leipzig, named after the physician Moritz Schreber, whose ideas about children's health inspired the first garden colonies – and grew through the Empire, the Weimar Republic and the post-war decades into the mass organization of urban green. Through the Nazi era, the Second World War, the division of Germany – when the East German Kleingärtner cultivated their plots under the GDR's very different conditions – and reunification, the gardeners kept their plots – and their associations kept publishing their journals.

The Berlin Landesverband's Gartenfreund – the edition documented in the sources – has served the capital's allotment gardeners through the recent decades: the post-reunification years when Berlin's eastern garden colonies were integrated into the western association structures, the IGA 2017 international horticultural exhibition, the growing political and media recognition of allotment gardens' urban-ecological and social value – the 2015 federation president's report celebrated the changed perception of the allotment gardeners' achievements by media, politics, administrations and citizens – and the contemporary pressures on the city's green plots: densification, climate change, water management and generational change.

The magazine's recent history is the story of association publishing under economic pressure: the 2023 communications already explained the cost increases – first the paper scarcity during the pandemic, then the soaring energy costs, the increased postage and the inflation – and asked members to join the e-paper transition to keep the beloved members' magazine affordable. The 2026 e-paper default completes the transformation, from the printed members' magazine to the digital-first association medium – while preserving the print option for those who need it.

Content and Sections

The editorial program of Gartenfreund follows the allotment gardener's needs. The association news – "Jeden Monat Wissenswertes aus Landesverband, Bezirken und Vereinen" – reports the movement's internal life: the federations' decisions and policies, the districts' activities, the clubs' events, the volunteer work in the garden colonies and the commissions and working groups – the democratic life of the organized gardeners.

The practical gardening content provides the monthly tips and tricks for the plot: the seasonal tasks – from the tomato season's start to the ornamental shrubs' pruning, from the berry care to the winter preparations – the plant advice, the pest and disease management – from raspberry and blackberry damage ("Genau geschaut: Schäden an Him- und Brombeeren") to the bugs in the garden ("Wanzen im Garten") – and the ecological guidance, like the peat-free gardening that the "Torffrei geht's auch" features address – what the peat phase-out means for the allotment gardeners.

The legal guidance – "Wo steht das denn? Rechtsvorschriften für Kleingärten" – serves the plot-holders' regulatory needs: the allotment-garden law, the lease terms, the building regulations for the garden sheds and the rules that govern the Kleingarten – the dry but essential knowledge of the organized gardener.

The campaign content – "Zeigen Sie Präsenz – Werbung für die Kleingärten" – mobilizes the movement: the advertising for the allotment gardens' public cause, the Tag des Gartens, the political advocacy for the preservation of the garden colonies against development pressure and the ecological argument for the urban green.

Publisher and Organization

Gartenfreund is the members' magazine of the allotment-garden federations – the "Verbandszeitschrift für das Kleingartenwesen," included in the membership contribution. The Berlin edition serves the Landesverband Berlin der Gartenfreunde e.V. The magazine appears monthly. From 2026 the default format is the e-paper, with the printed magazine available on request. Specific editor-in-chief details are not publicly confirmed in the sources consulted.

Digital Presence

The digital home of Gartenfreund is gartenfreund.de, with the e-paper at gartenfreund.de/epaper – the portal that has become the magazine's primary format since the 2026 transition. The e-paper offers guaranteed availability from the 28th of the previous month, a full-text-searchable archive of all issues since 2016, enlarged detail views for images, directly clickable email and internet addresses and optimized display on all mobile devices with a read-aloud function – the digital members' magazine for the smartphone era.

With its monthly rhythm, its role as the allotment-garden movement's association journal and its 2026 digital-first transformation, Gartenfreund remains the monthly companion of Germany's Kleingärtner – from the printed members' magazine to the e-paper, from the association news to the gardening tips, from the tomato seedling to the Tag des Gartens, from the plot to the federation.