Science Barn (WissenschaftsScheune)

Keeping in touch with plant research

Millet, spelt and buckwheat: three plants that featured prominently on the central European menu down through the centuries. Along with hundreds of other agricultural crops and old fruit varieties, these will be available for viewing in the “teaching and display garden” of the Max Planck Institute for Plant Research in the Vogelsang area of Cologne. The adjacent WissenschaftsScheune (Science Shed) will also open its doors for scientific experiments. The opportunities for in-depth observation and 17 interactive stations are intended promote understanding and appreciation of the natural basis of human life, and foster interest in the scientific issues researched by the Institute: How do plants defend themselves against disease? How did our modern crop varieties arise? How are plant characteristics inherited? The answers to these questions take visitors to the very heart of modern plant breeding research.