** KAKTEEN HAAGE: HISTORY OF THE COMPANY **

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Cacti, (as chocolate or oranges), were, some centuries ago, completely unknown in Europe (since they are almost all native from America). In Europe, only some rich people had got them by the way of the Spanish navigators. The Haage nursery decided to allow a wide public to possess cacti.

Since 1685, members of the Haage family have been working as gardeners in Erfurt.

The nursery was created in 1822 by Friedrich Adolph Haage who was already working at the maintenance of King Frederic Auguste of Saxony's collection, and who also built up an important personal cacti collection.

The Haage collection received, throughout its existence, prestigious visitors among whom Goethe, Liszt, and the Humboldt brothers.

The nursery and the collection, at its beginning.

The first epiphyte was already there, since the King showed his collection to the Poland King and let him admire 'Queen of Night', Selenicereus grandiflorus bloom. To thank Friedrich Adolph Haage for his good services, the king gave him one cutting of this plant, which was grown in Haage's nursery in Erfurt.

This nursery has been maintained until today, from father to son, by the Haage family. It currently has a surface area of more than 1200 m².

The nursery was moved several times, due to Erfurt urbanization. It was damaged by the two successive world wars, and each time rebuilt and extended. Its successive managers always maintained close links with foreign countries, in particular Eastern Europe, England and American countries.

Gustav Ferdinand Haage, then Ferdinand Friedrich Haage took the succession of the founder.

Then the famous Walther Haage (1899-1992), succeeded to his predecessors.

He's the one who came up with the idea of expeditions to Central and South America, and he financed them.
The purpose of these expeditions were cacti research and collecting. Fric, Buxbaumm and Backeberg among others, took part in them.

W. Haage was also a famous Epiphyllum hybridizer, which also explains the wide part of epiphytic cacti in Haage's catalogue.

W. Haage also wrote books about cacti, among which the famous 'Cacti from A to Z'. In 1990 he was awarded the prestigious "Golden cactus" by the I.O.S.

Walther Haage, admiring his trophy

Hans Friedrich Haage took over from him, during the German reunification. He took back possession of the nursery which had been nationalized. He extended production to caudiciform plants, bonsais and tillandsias.

At last, after his training in Erfurt and in the Royal Botanical Garden of Kew, and a job in Zurich and Guatemala, Ulrich Haage became the owner of the family firm in 1996, i.e. 175 years after its creation.

Ulrich is still creating hybrids.

He is the person I had the pleasure to meet ; he warmly showed me all his greenhouses ; he also provided me with this article material and allowed me to use it in order to publish these pages on my website.

Souvenir photo of my meeting with Ulrich Haage

Now, I suggest you to visit the nursery and the greenhouses.

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