I 1, The last 'Gazebo' article touched briefly on the Garden History Society's approach to statutory protection for historic parks and gardens. Earlier articles have dealt with methods of researching and recording individual sites and, briefly, with the problems of funding. In this article I would like pull some of these issues together in a European perspective by reporting on the management of historic park and garden conservation in Berlin. The details of legislation and administration are, of course, very different and the context for conservation was, until the fall of the Wall, quite extraordinary. Yet there are common strands even though, as a result of the unique situation which existed in West Berlin, the infrastructure to aid conservation of historic parks, gardens and urban spaces is better funded and considerably more advanced than in this country. The idea of garden conservation is not new in Germany; it was accepted in principle as early as the beginning of the 19th century but, as in this country, the implementation of legislative protection lagged far behind that developed to support the protection of other elements of the built environment. The key development in West Germany was the Monument Protection Law of December 1977 which set the legal foundation for the protection of parks and gardens. This law established a much wider interpretation of 'Monument' and for the first time recognised that historic parks and gardens ranked equally and CONTEXT49 STATUTORY PROTECTION, CONSERVATION & STRATEGIC PLANNING - TIIE BERUN EXPERIENCE by Judith Roberts independently with buildings as artistic and cultural monuments. The Monument Protection Law uses 'historic park and garden' as a generic term to include aristocratic gardens and landscapes, municipal parks or squares, cemeteries, private parks and the gardens of urban villas or country houses; indeed a grouping and terminology not unlike that adopted in this country by the Garden History Society. The Law applied, at that time, throughout West Germany and now similar laws apply throughout the whole of united Germany. However, right up until the present decade, Berlin was exceptional in allocating public funds not only to garden conservation projects but also to a specialist department with trained staff whose job it is to promote acceptance of the idea that parks and gardens should be actively conserved and, if necessary, historic garden layouts should be restored. The focus of garden conservation in Berlin is the 'Landesdenkmalamt' under the direction of Herr Klaus von Krosigk. This is a state funded Department with a staff of experts specialising in garden conservation and undertaking a broad The reconstructed promenade of the Luisenstdtdischer Kanai completed in 1995 and following the designs of Erwin Bath to create a planting scheme of 'harmonious contrasts'. 25
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