Stadtpark (City Park), Mainz

The City Park (Stadtpark) in Mainz is one of the city's larger green spaces, nestled between the old town and the upper town. Originally outside the city gates near Neutor, the area once housed the Mainz pleasure palace, Favorite, before its destruction in the 1793 Siege of Mainz. Afterward, the grounds were left in ruins, with stones repurposed during the French occupation. In 1803, it became the execution site of the infamous Schinderhannes and his gang.

Between 1819 and 1825, landscape architect Peter Wolf transformed the neglected grounds into an English-style landscape park. Although some of Wolf's original designs were lost to development, including railway expansions and the construction of a gasworks, the park gained its current look in 1888, thanks to the Siesmayer brothers, who also designed the Palmengarten in Frankfurt.

In 1962, to mark Mainz's 2000th anniversary, the park was redesigned with flower houses, a birdhouse, and a reading yard. Baroque elements like the Hercules statue and the Rhenus torso were reinstated. Today, it features lawns, mature trees, fountains, and winding pathways. A copy of the Father Rhine statue also stands nearby.

The City Park's rose garden, designed in 1925 by August Waltenberg for the Rhineland's millennium, covers 9,500 square meters with about 7,500 roses. It hosts events like the Mainz Wine Market and Sparkling Wine Festival, along with an Artists’ Market and Book Fair. Trees in the garden honor those executed here in 1803. Protected as a monument since 2006, the park blends history, nature, and community gatherings.