The Garden

"At that time the idea became fixed in my mind that I must live near a lake; without water, I thought, nobody could live at all."
Memories, Dreams, Reflections by C.G. Jung

C.G. Jung assumed responsibility not only for the architecture and construction of the new home in Küsnacht, but he was also heavily involved in the design and layout of the surrounding gardens. Together with the renowned horticultural company E. Mertens’ Erbe he created an extraordinary landscape, blending garden and buildings into a unique entity. C. G. Jung’s garden realm remains almost untouched to this day.

Arriving from Seestrasse visitors are offered an impressive view of the residence. A driveway featuring two cobbled ruts and flanked by conical and perspectively arranged box trees leads to the former home of the Jung-Rauschenbach family. The upper part of the garden with its fruit trees and crop plants is different from the lakeside flower garden. The glazed veranda at the side of the house looks on to an oblong, traditional English-style sunken garden with a large stone handle vase planted with flowers at the centre. On sunny days Jung used to enjoy his afternoon tea here under the shady pines. A dainty garden pavilion bounds the property towards the lake on the left. Jung called this place his “little cabinet by the lake”. Beyond a strip of reeds, a magnificent panorama view of the lakeshore unfolds. A stone jetty protrudes into the lake and leads to a little mooring place in front of the boathouse. Here Jung kept the Pelikan, his beloved sailing yacht, and his sailing dinghy. From this side of the shore, a paved path leads to a little stone plaza surrounded by trees and cherry laurel. In this little idyllic hideout – referred to as the “garden room” – Jung sometimes received his patients during the warm summer months.