Nikolauskirche, Pharmacist Garden

Still within the city walls lies the former Greek Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas and below it the pharmacist's garden designed in the style of an old monastery garden.

St. Nicholas Church 'St. Constantinos and Helena' (Kurze Straße 39)

The Small or Inner Church was first mentioned in 1269 as "Chapel of St. Nicholas in the Mura". It was rebuilt in 1488 in Gothic style, heavily destroyed during the town fire of 1634 and rededicated after reconstruction in 1682. Renovated in 1779 and decorated with ceiling paintings, the church was redesigned in 1904/05 with Art Nouveau influences. The single nave with choir also served as the "Winter Church" and was used for weekly services from 1866 and as a baptismal and wedding church from 1905. The church has been owned by the Greek Orthodox community of St. Constantinos and Helena Waiblingen since 2001. Worthy of note is the baroque stucco pulpit by Heinrich Waibel. The sundial towards the pharmacist's garden was installed in 1752 so that all clocks in the town could be aligned with it.

Pharmacist Garden

The pharmacist's garden was first mentioned in a document in 1685 and thus has a more than 300-year-old tradition. Few medicinal herb gardens have such a long tradition. The mayor's son Abraham Steeb (1624 - 1673) founded the Obere Apotheke (Kurze Straße 28) in 1650. According to a City of Waiblingen accounts book dated from 1685, his son, Abraham Steeb II. (1656 - 1707) acquired a "Wurtz- und Krauthgardt hinter der CappelKirch" (Herb and Spice Garden behind the Chapel) from the city, for the cultivation of various medicinal plants for his pharmacy as a basis for the production of medicines. From 1685 up until 1999, the Apothekergarten was still in the possession of the owner of the former Oberer Apotheke, later Rathausapotheke (Town Hall Chemist)(Kurze Straße 28), until the city acquired it in 1999. In 2001, according to a planting concept developed by Waiblingen pharmacists, it was replanted by the municipal green space department, mainly with native medicinal plants that can be found everywhere in nature. The geometric gardens with natural stone walls, box hedges, gravel paths and a fountain follow the tradition of herb gardens as they were laid out in monasteries and universities. The existing beds are assigned to different areas of malady. A bed with spices and one with starch-supplying plants can also be seen. (Information sign in the entrance area). The pharmacist's garden with its numerous medicinal herbs invites you to rest and observe, and to sniff and touch. It is open during the day from the beginning of April until the end of October.