The exhibition “A Garden of Beauty from Sheets of Paper. On a Book about Garden and Park Design from the Library of Tallinn Merchant Martin Heinrich Gebauer and Related Themes” by the Tallinn City Museum is now open at the National Archives’ Noora building in Tartu.

In the late 18th century, in 1797, a wealthy merchant named Martin Heinrich Gebauer passed away in Tallinn. Among the possessions he left behind was a remarkably extensive library for his time. A detailed inventory of this collection, compiled after his death, is also displayed as part of the exhibition.

The inventory includes a note referencing “Hirschfelds Winter und deβelben Garten-Kunst”, which is believed to refer to “Theorie der Gartenkunst” by Christian Cay Lorenz Hirschfeld (1742–1792). This five-volume treatise, published between 1779 and 1785, was preceded by a shorter, single-volume edition in 1775. The exhibition explores the question of why a merchant in Tallinn would have owned such a work.

On display are original volumes of Hirschfeld’s seminal work, as well as a garden business catalogue from late 18th-century Tallinn. The exhibition is further enriched by an 18th-century limestone sundial from the Tallinn City Museum’s stone collection, and living plants bearing names most frequently mentioned in the property inventories of Tallinn’s historical citizens.

The exhibition is curated by Risto Paju, with exhibition design by Rein Seppius.
The Tallinn City Museum’s exhibition at the National Archives’ Noora building in Tartu will remain open until 19 June 2025.

Photos: Andres Kiho