Green, greener

Oh, great: summer is here! Sun! Heat! Yes, how good that feels! And what better than a trip into nature for the weekend? Exactly, nothing at all! So just get in the U-Bahn or S-Bahn – and a few stations later you’re already there. Sorry, you don’t believe it? Yes, it’s really true. In Berlin it’s possible: You’re in the middle of the city but still completely in nature. After all, what’s the point of the Tiergarten right in the middle of the district of Tiergarten?

Back to nature: Rousseau island

Let’s start the stroll with a French philosopher: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, to be precise. Or even more precise: with the island in the Tiergarten named after him. Admittedly, there are only a few trees here, some bushes along its banks and a somewhat weather-beaten memorial statue – and nothing else. But this is exactly what many trippers in the Tiergarten are looking for: a green nothing. “Back to nature” is what Rousseau demanded in his famous proclamation. And here in the Tiergarten it’s a pleasure to meet that challenge.

The green heart in Germany’s greenest city

If you follow the “Großer Weg” (Great Path) through the southern part of the park, past the popular “Café am Neuen See” (New Lake Café) so favoured by day-trippers, you’ll soon notice it: Berlin really is the greenest city in Germany – and the Tiergarten is its green heart. The park stretches from Zoo station to the Brandenburg Gate. The park was first laid out during the reign of King Friedrich I of Prussia – with paths that can still be seen today. In 1742 King Friedrich II commissioned his court architect, Baron von Knobelsdorf, to create a “pleasure park” for Berliners. The Zoological Garden emerged from the Pheasant House that was created the same year. The great Prussian gardener and landscape architect, Peter Joseph Lenné, then redesigned the park in the English style.

Like a moonscape after the war

The Second World War – and even more so the years immediately following – were not kind to the park: the bitterly cold post-war winters caused a great demand for wood for burning, and the Tiergarten soon resembled a desert and crater landscape. Until, that is, a certain English city commander came along, who not only took care of his soldiers, but also had a heart for civilian affairs in life as well. His name was Sir Geoffrey Bourne, and it is thanks to him that the English Garden not far from the Hansa district was created. The garden was inaugurated in 1952 in the presence of the then Ruling Mayor of Berlin, Ernst Reuter, as a “monument to peace and understanding between peoples”.

Summer concerts in the English Garden: free and outdoors

Since then, of course, a lot has changed. The English soldiers (along with the American, French and Russians) have left the city, Berlin has been reunited. But the English Garden has remained – and has looked like new since a few years ago. As compensation for the new construction of the Office of the Federal President next to Bellevue Palace, the German Government was obliged to restore the grounds of the English garden. In summer, concerts are traditionally held in the English Garden, the principle here being “free and outdoors”. And even when there are no concerts taking place, it’s still worth a visit: the cakes here are delicious!

Barbeque areas: after-work steaks and whole-day picnics

Whether coffee and cakes, sunbathing on the large grassy spaces, strolling, jogging or just sitting on a park bench day-dreaming the time away – it really doesn’t matter. The Tiergarten acts like a magnet in attracting people into nature for the most different reasons. One of these reasons can be smelled from miles away, especially from the part of the park in front of Bellevue Palace, the official residence of the German President. Here the aroma of bratwurst (German fried sausage speciality) and grilled meat is in the air. Yes indeed, the Tiergarten is and remains the most popular spot for barbeques in Berlin. This is where both white-collar workers in suits meet for an after-work steak and extended Turkish families come on Sundays for a whole-day picnic.

Berlin’s Huguenots celebrating “In den Zelten”

If you go along John Foster Dulles Allee past the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of World Cultures), you soon get to the Bundeskanzleramt (German Federal Chancellery). For several years this has been the home of the “Tipi am Kanzleramt” (theatre tent), which offers a mixed programme of chanson, cabaret and variety. Before the Tipi was set up here, this used to be the home of the old Tempodrome, which then moved on to Anhalter station some years ago. But much earlier, in 1745 in fact, this was the place where the Huguenots (persecuted French Calvinists who had emigrated to Berlin) set up the first summer beer gardens in the city which had to be accommodated in canvas tents. This is the origin of the street name “In den Zelten” (in the tents), which just goes to show that Berliners have always preferred to spend their leisure periods in the Tiergarten – just as much in those days as now.