Hasenheide park

Beginning of the gymnastic movement, rabbit warren and the Olympic Games

– © Stadtentwicklung Berlin

Here the German gymnastic movement headed by Friedrich Ludwig Jahn began. On 19 June 1811, the first gymnasium in Prussia was opened by Jahn. A monument located at the northern entrance of the park commemorates him.
And today the park is popular with athletes: across from the Columbiadamm pool there is a sport area, which is home to an obstacle course for skateboarders, a roller hockey court and a basketball courts. Hasenheide is also beloved on account of its large open spaces, which are ideal for playing football.
The park's name comes from the use of the land as a rabbit warren, which goes back to the year 1678. The Great Elector came here to hunt. The park was rebuilt for the Olympic Games in 1936 by the National Socialists. During the renovation phase, the old shooting range that had previously been part of the Tempelhof parade ground field was integrated into the park. Today the Neuköllner Maientage festival is held here in May.
The highest point is a 69 metre high pile of rubble called Rixdorfer Höhe, which consists of about 700.000 cubic metres of rubble from the Second World War. The Memorial to the “debris women” by Katherine Szelinski-Singer from 1955, which is located at the entrance to the park at Graefestrasse, commemorates the cleaning-up work done after the war, which was primarily done by women.