Lavender to line Ludwigstrasse

Where yew trees, cherry laurels and ivy used to present a rather drab image, raspberries, apricots, lavender – and even a Bavarian kiwi shrub – are now growing and flourishing. In recent months, the inner courtyard that links the Munich School of Management and the Faculties of Economics and Law (at Ludwigstrasse 28) has been redesigned and “greened” step by step. One aim was to create a habitat for bees, bugs and butterflies in the heart of the city. Another was to give students an attractive spot to spend their breaks. The project was made possible by the dedicated efforts of staff at the School of Management, assisted by the facility management team and backed by the LMU Sustainability Fund.

“It didn’t used to be a place where people would stay longer than they had to,” says Professor Yvette Hofmann of the School of Management, “especially in the summer, when it got really hot in here.” The courtyard is at the center of a neoclassical hipped roof. It is surrounded on three sides by massive walls and glass windows and on the fourth side by a series of buildings. “Because of this, the courtyard heats up a lot in the summer,” Hofmann explains. And up to now, there was practically no shade: Seats were exposed to the full glare of the sun. “Meanwhile, the planted beds were taken up mostly by fir trees, cherry laurels and a small beech hedge. They were easy to care for but not very varied,” she continues. Hofmann heads the Higher Education Research and Governance unit – and launched the project last year.

The idea of redesigning the courtyard grew out of several considerations. “One thing was that we wanted to make ecological improvements to it and introduce biodiversity – to lure bees, butterflies and other insects back into Munich’s Maxvorstadt district.” Another was the desire to improve the quality of stay for students and staff – in keeping with the Healthy Campus concept drafted by the School of Management. Accordingly, Hofmann and her colleagues last year set about clearing and replanting the beds on their own initiative.

Wild strawberries in the breaks

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“What emerged was a ‘snack garden’ with a variety of bushes: gooseberries, blackberries, redcurrants, blueberries, wild strawberries and goji berries.” These plants were chosen deliberately because they require little care, attract insects – and produce small, healthy snacks that staff and students can pick straight from the bushes. Redesigning the courtyard was a huge amount of work, Hofmann recalls – “especially digging out the roots.” Everyone involved was tremendously motivated, though. “And the facility management team helped us a lot. Without them, the project would never have been possible in this form.”

In phase two, the planted bed on the other side was redesigned this year – this time with money supplied by the School of Management’s own sustainability budget plus a grant from the LMU Sustainability Fund. The latter is now also clearing the way for a climate-resilient and biodiverse reimagining of the courtyard.

With the aid of the LMU Sustainability Fund, financial support will be made available for a total of 17 other research, teaching, transfer and infrastructure projects that contribute to ecological, societal and business sustainability. Examples include the “AI-Based Biodiversity Monitoring on Campus” project, the “Climate Law School Plus” and the “Sustainability and Nosology” research project. The latter concerns itself with indigenous healing traditions and relationships between humans and the environment in the Amazon region. “The objective of the Sustainability Fund is to generate fresh stimulus for sustainable development at LMU,” explains Sarah Stingl-Ellwein, who is in charge of sustainability management at LMU’s Sustainability Office. “We want the projects we fund to cover a diverse array of topics. In particular, we welcome projects that are shaped by interdisciplinary collaboration and dialogue transcending the boundaries of subject areas and career levels.”

For the School of Management’s inner courtyard project in Ludwigstrasse, a landscape gardening firm was commissioned by the facility managers to remove old woody plants and rootstocks. This freed up room to plant a “small orchard”, as Hofmann puts it: Apricot, apple and pear trees were planted in column shapes and complemented by rock pears and gooseberries. Elsewhere, the dense ivy that had previously created a gloomy ground cover and left little room for flying insects was cut back. A bee-friendly hortensia bed is now growing in its place, with pale pink petals bringing a welcome splash of color and variety to the courtyard. In one final step, the partially sealed concrete rotunda that offers almost no shade will be transformed into a near-natural place of encounter in the coming weeks.

A snail-like fountain and urban gardening

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To this end, flower troughs will be installed and planted with lavender, mostly indigenous shrubs and herbs, and climate-resilient climbers such as roses and the Bavarian kiwi. “We specifically selected plants that get by with little water and can cope with high temperatures,” Hofmann notes. Wood coverings will be placed on the existing concrete benches, and climbing plants will provide shade. Between lectures and meetings, the courtyard will thus become a cool and colorful place to be.

Special attention will be paid to a small spiral fountain that twists and turns snail-like through the soil, but that has long fallen into disuse. “We would like to see running water flowing through it once again – preferably in such a way that the water flows down over a well stone or monolith,” Hofmann says. “Water flowing down from a height of about 1.2 meters would already cool the environment by one or two degrees. Especially in the summer, that would provide welcome refreshment.”

In the longer term, the School of Management team has plans to further develop the inner courtyard – with high beds and a common ‘urban gardening’ project. “We want to care for the garden together, but we also want to design it together as well,” Hofmann insists. “For example, we want high beds where students and staff can work together to sow and harvest useful plants.” Hofmann also hopes that other LMU faculties and institutes will follow the School of Management’s example: “There are so many courtyards at LMU that have the potential to be made much more biodiverse.”

LMU’s Sustainability Fund – Applications for 2026/27 can now be submitted
Requests for funding for 2026 can be submitted until 30 September 2025. Anyone who belongs to any faculty or central university institute is welcome to apply. Students, too, are expressly invited to take part with their own project ideas. Further information can be found on the LMU Sustainability Fund website.