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The Volkspark am Weinberg (also Weinbergspark) is the only Volkspark (public park) in Berlin's Mitte district. It has an area of 4.3 hectars and is bordered by Weinbergsweg to the southeast, Brunnenstraße to the southwest, Veteranenstraße to the northwest and Fehrbelliner Straße to the northeast. The name Weinberg (vineyard) come from the vineyards that formerly occupied the hill on which the park is now situated. Since the late 1970s, the park has been assigned as a garden monument (Gartendenkmal).
History Bearbeiten
A Gründerzeit (founders' period) development existed on the current park's location since the middle of the 18th century. The area along the Invaliden- and Brunnenstraße roads, and from Fehrbelliner Straße up to Zehdenicker Straße, was used as Mullberry plantation and housed a villa (Villa Wollank).[1] Later, the space was used as an outdoor restaurant and recreation area. From 1936, a part of the villa belonging to the park was leased to the city of Berlin and opened to the public. Several theatres opened on either side of the park, including the Walhalla-Theater with Carows Lachbühne. During the Second World War, Allied Air Raids from 1943 onwards destroyed the buildings and developments around the current Weinberg park, with the area being cleared of rubble after the war. In the years 1954-1956, the park was constructed according to the plans of landscape architect Helmut Kruse. Between 1957/1958, the Café am Weinberg building was constructed on the elevated plateau, offering visitors a panoramic view of the park.[2] The building was designed by Hans Jahrig and Max Kowohl. At the southwesterly Brunnenstraße-side of the park, a kidney-shaped pond was created, surrounded by a central sunbathing lawn. The park occupied a special position in Berlin's green planning of the 1950s, as it is the only park of its size and new formal design in a time when the restoration or renewal of war-damaged parks was the city's main focus.
Description Bearbeiten
Between Invalidenstraße and Weinbergsweg on the north side of the park is a rose garden with a fountain, a playground and a sports complex containing a football pitch and table tennis tables.
Other themed gardens, such as the Heidegarten, Schau- und Sichtungsgarten and the Alpinum, designed to introduce Berliners to a wide variety of plant types, are located along the main access paths surrounding the central lawn. In the northwest of the park stands Waldemar Grzimek’s 1955 monument to poet Heinrich Heine, which was originally planned to be displayed in Kastanienwäldchen (Unter den Linden) in 1956. However, the sculpture was instead erected in Volkspark am Weinberg in 1958.
On the base of the statue is a quote from Heinrich Heine zu lesen: 'We grip no ideas, instead they grip us and enslave us and lash us in the arena like a gladiators forced to fight.'
Usage Bearbeiten
The lawn on the southwest slope is a popular summer sunbathing spot for locals. Below the lawn is an artificially created pond; above it are a Swiss restaurant and café, the rose garden, a playground and a sports complex with a football pitch and table tennis tables.
Although the park’s surrounding residential area is one of the most populous areas in Berlin, the park had not been well maintained for years. Only through the efforts of local residents and associations collecting signatures to counteract the establishing drug scene did the Senate allocate funds for the upkeep of the park. This, along with the work of tabloid newspaper reports, lit a debate in which residents spoke out in condemnation of the drug dealers A police station adjacent to the park regularly makes inspections and patrols of the park.[3][4] Soon thereafter, in August 2007, the district council provided funds for the repair and extension of the park’s lighting.[5]
Since the end of 2005, Volkspark am Weinberg has been renovated with a budget of around one million euros.
Suburban Theatre at Weinbergsweg Bearbeiten
Julie Gräbert (1803–1871), better known as Mutter Gräbert (Mother Gräbert), was in charge of the Suburban Theatre at the Weinbergsweg from 1854 onwards. The theatre quickly became known in the city because of its „urwüchsigen Berlinismus“ (original Berlinism, a reference to its use of Berlin dialect). Here the 'Berliner Posse' found a homenext to the established Wallner-Theater.
The Suburban Theatre was ultimately a victim of the Gründerzeit period - after Gräbert's death in 1871, it was demolished in 1873 and Zehdenicker Straße was bilt in its place. Julie Gräbert was burried in the nearby Elisabeth-Kirchhof cemetery.[6]
Weblinks Bearbeiten
Entries into the Berlin list of monuments: Volkspark am Weinberg, Café Weinberg
Weinbergspark at brunnenstrasse.de
References Bearbeiten
- ↑ Berliner Adreßbuch : für d. Jahr ... ; unter Benutzung amtl. Quellen: Berliner Adreßbuch : für d. Jahr ... 1932. Jahrgang, 1932 (zlb.de).
- ↑ Die Bau- und Kunstdenkmale der DDR. Hauptstadt Berlin-I. Henschelverlag, Berlin 1984.
- ↑ Martin Klesmann: In Mitte gehen Anwohner gemeinsam gegen aggressiven Drogenhandel vor: Licht für den Weinbergspark In: Berliner Zeitung. Abgerufen am 5. Juli 2018 (de-DE).
- ↑ Veranstaltung im Dezember 2007 über offene Drogenszenen wie diejenige am Weinbergspark bei paeris.net.
- ↑ Claudia Fuchs: Der Weinbergspark wird noch dieses Jahr beleuchtet In: Berliner Zeitung. Abgerufen am 5. Juli 2018 (de-DE).
- ↑ Statement by Willi Wohlberedt