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The Schachen Alpine Garden was opened in 1901 as an outstation of the Munich Botanic Garden and and is one of the oldest alpine gardens in the Alps.  Situated on the northern flanks of the Wetterstein Range, above the Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the garden has the ideal combination of a cool, moist summer and snow-covered winter for the cultivation of Meconopsis, Himalayan Primulas, many European alpines, plants from the Lesotho Drakensburg and many more Alpine plants.  The Schachen garden has over 1,000 species of high-altitude plants from Europe to the Carpathians, the Caucasus, Himalayas, the Arctic and North America.

Head Gardener, Jenny Wainwright-Klein maintains the three acre Alpine Garden at Schachen with the help of two to three gardeners from its sister garden in Munich.  Jenny is a Zambian-born horticulturist who has been coming to work at the Schachen Garden for nearly thirty years during the 12 weeks the garden is open.  She has previously  worked at Kirstenbosch Botanic Garden and Kew Botanic Garden.  For those who would like to visit – beware!  It is open to visitors from mid-June to the end of August and is accessible only after a four-hour climb by foot up a mountain road.