Notes from East Berlin: Volkspark Friedrichshain

Notes from East Berlin: Volkspark

It’s possible to understand Berlin as a great green town. The big number of parks is a result of a planning designed for such as the great European cities, as well as the remnant of parts of the city that remained after the second war and the obsolete spaces after the fall of the wall.

A very interesting question to realize is the typological difference of the parks that are located on the different sides that composed the divided Berlin. After the second war and the division of the city into four sectors, each one was responsible for the reconstruction of their areas, so it is possible to perceive the different spatial dispositions and proposals within the different forms of government and politics.

The Volkspark Friedrichshain was first conceived in the year 1868, as well as the construction of the first urban hospital in Berlin, Krankenhaus im Friedrichshain, which began to recharacterize the park.

Within the logic of the 3. Reich, the Nazi military made use of the building towers and bunkers. In the war the park did not escape the fate of a big part of the city that was destructed and bombarded.

After the war and the different occupations, the park was then located in the Soviet sector, thus the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in charge of its reconstruction and resignification.

The wreckage of the War and the buildings there were reused for the construction of mountains that have more than two million cubic meters of debris and ruins, they are: Mont Klamott, Großer Bunkerberg and Kleiner Bunkerberg. Besides the different landscape proposal, the park has sculptures and memorials different from the other parks of the city. Nowadays with the nature and vegetation the history is almost imperceptible behind the hills and the park setting.

From there you can see the TV Tower, which also indicates the proximity to our Kapitel Zwei school. A very good part of it is being able to enjoy free time after German classes to take a walk in this park. In the hot days everyone is there, you can have a barbecue, do sports and many leisure activities.

It’s also a great place to promote class gatherings with our classmates!

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