The interest in horticulture started in England with the ideas of Robinson in 1870. He started with a wild range and mixture of plants. Also in Sweden and Germany similar changes in garden culture occurred, with a mixture of culture and natural plants.

At the beginning of the 20th century the German Willy Lange was the first one who preferred the national flora instead of the normal cultural plants. In the Netherlands this was taken over by several writers and gardeners. Among others this resulted in the Thijsse’s Hof situated in Bloemendaal.

Chris Broerse was a big lover of the Dutch flora! As chef and director of the city gardens he, together with Koos Landwehr, wanted to convert the old peat lake called De Braak into a park. The ground was and is pure peat; poor and acid.

Under the influence of the plant sociological studies of professor doctor V. Westhof, he started to create a number of landscapes, which would give him the feeling of being at home. He exclusively used plants from the Dutch flora.

Because there did not exist a Dutch name for that type of park, he considered the term Heempark. Some years later he would build the Jac. P. Thijssepark, with gained experience.

Although the De Braak was the first horticulture park of Amstelveen and constructed by the end of the year 1930, it did not stand apart from other garden developments in Europe.

Despite of the German predominance Chris Broerse wanted to build a park at the border of the Hoornsloot, which later on would be a synonym for beautiful surroundings and villas.

The creation of mini landscapes was not such a big success, therefore he changed the design of the Thijssepark and put the idea partly aside.

Instead he devised a park with greenhouses and garden chambers, with every chamber having its own atmosphere. The plants in every chamber cater for the wallpapers and furniture. It was most important for him that the plants form one composition regarding colour, altitude and structure.

When the design was finished he started constructing the hillock in the middle of the park and even a considerable part of earthwork was done, until Amstelveen was occupied by the Germans (1940 – 1945) and the construction paused.

Koos LandWehr was by then already known as the right hand of Chris Broerse. During the occupation they used the inaccessibility of the hillock as an ambush. He also kept a goat over there and used it in terms of self-supply.

After World War II the part towards the Bernhardlaan was moored first. The centre of the park was constructed in the fifties and sixties. The area, which runs parallel to the Nieuwe Kasselaan and ends up at the Amsterdamse Weg became levelled in the years 70.