Category: Room 5

How can a city that is constantly growing remain healthy? The answer is simple: street trees and lots of lots of greenery! The Permanent Forest Agreement of 1915 was the first important step taken in efforts to protect green spaces. It reserved extensive areas of forest for local recreation. The formation of Greater Berlin made it possible to open up additional public parks for recreation, culture and sport. This was often thanks to private financial support. The Strandbad Wannsee lido became well known far beyond the borders of Berlin. The Nazis created the enormous Reich Sports Field sports complex, while later on, other parks were expanded and created during the German Democratic Republic. In the later years of West Berlin, the long tradition of preserving historic gardens and parks reached a new high. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, new large parks were created in Berlin and plans were made for regional parks in the city’s surrounding area. Berlin’s most important historic park landscape has also been carefully restored: the Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin, which are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Gustav Böß,
mayor of Greater Berlin from 1921 to 1929
Berlin Today, Berlin 1929

A Ward of the Big City:
The Ordinary Street Tree

There were rarely any trees in the streets of early towns and villages. It was not until the era of absolutism that some urban avenues were created, such as Unter den Linden. Tree-lined city streets came to the fore in Paris in the nineteenth century and this became a model for other cities and indeed the greater Berlin area. The large radial and ring roads gained their characteristic trees, particularly lindens, maples, oaks, sycamores and chestnuts. The photo below shows street trees along Frankfurter Allee and Ruschestrasse in 1928. Once decimated by car-oriented urban redevelopment, the street tree can once again look ahead to a bright future. The humble street tree is an ambassador for the shift towards sustainable transport, makes a positive contribution to address climate change and brings joy to pedestrians.

Volkspark Rehberge Public Park

Public parks are a social achievement and should primarily provide residents of densely populated neighbourhoods with space for recreation, play and sport. Volkspark Rehberge public park is a prime example of a public park in the working class district of Wedding.

Strandbad Wannsee Lido

The Strandbad Wannsee lido is one of Greater Berlin’s most renowned achievements. The large lido was designed in 1927 by urban development councillor Martin ­Wagner, who wanted to build a modern, world-class swimming bath.

The Reich Sports Field

The Nazi-era sports complex presented itself as an enormous public park, with different sports facilities, recreational areas and a cultural centre. However, it was a detailed propaganda manifesto by the state, not the municipality.

The New Grunewald Forest

Transforming Grunewald Forest was a key part of General Building Inspector Albert Speer’s plans to redesign Berlin. His plans were based on those designed by Willi Schelkes. Work began in 1938.

Wuhlheide Park

Wuhlheide Park has been redesigned several times since 1924 according to plans designed by Treptow public gardens director Ernst Harrich. The popular Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Park was built further to the east in 1950 during the German Democratic Republic, while the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Palace designed by Günter Stahn opened in 1979.

Allotments for Greater Berlin

The allotment gardener is a common urban species, particularly in Greater Berlin. Berlin’s allotments cover an area of around 2,900 hectares, which amounts to three per cent of the entire city area. About three quarters of this area is the property of the state of Berlin. Allotments can contribute to the urban climate, but more importantly, they have a social function. They also provide gardens and green spaces for those who are less well off. In times of crisis, they can even be used as (unauthorised) permanent living spaces and as sources for food. Nevertheless, property developers are always eyeing them up, especially when there is a housing shortage as is the case at the moment.

Plans for Green Squares by
Erwin Barth

During the 1920s, many squares
across Greater Berlin were redesigned
to meet the needs of residents
rather than cars. Playgrounds were
added and the spaces were enhanced
with decorative adornments. Erwin
Barth, city public gardens director
of Greater Berlin from 1926 to 1929,
along with municipal landscape
gardeners, were responsible for the
redesigns.

Green Spaces in the Carstenn Figure Designed by Richard Thieme

The almost symmetrical street and square design known as the Carstenn Figure is one of the most striking geometric spatial designs in Greater Berlin. It unfolds over almost four kilometres on both sides of Bundesallee, formerly Kaiserallee, from Schaperstrasse to Stubenrauchstrasse. It is crossed by Volkspark Wilmersdorf public park, and Bundesplatz, formerly Kaiserplatz, sits at the centre.

Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin

The Prussian palaces and gardens of the greater Berlin area – the crown jewels of the region – were awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 1990. The UNESCO designation also covers palace complexes in Potsdam and Glienicke.

Preservation of Historic Gardens and Parks: Squares

Following on from the car-oriented transformation of the city in the 1950s and 1960s, some squares were restored to become more pedestrian-friendly in the 1980s and 1990s as part of the city’s efforts to preserve historic gardens and parks. There have been no large programmes focused on squares since then.

The Green Belt

The Green Belt is an impressive new park under development for pedestrians and cyclists. Once completed, it will run over 13 kilometres along the path of the former Berlin Wall from Nordbahnhof train station to the northern outskirts of the city.