Tiergarten is the largest park in Berlin and a poppular outdoor oasis for Berliners.
It originally served as hunting grounds for the Prussian princes until it was made into a park in the 18^th century. From 1818, the landscape architect Peter Joseph Lenné laid out the site in the English landscape style, and statues were added from 1850. On the former Siegesallee (Avenue of Victory), Wilhelm II. set out 32 marble sculpture groups which were supposed to depict the royal ancestors but which the Berliners jokingly dismissed to as "puppets". The Siegesallee was relocated by Hitler, and the remains were dismantled after the war.
Because the grounds border directly onto the Reichstag, many embassies were found here before the war. Today, several embassies are being restored or newly built in Tiergarten, lending renewed splendor to the former "Diplomatic quarter". The park was badly damaged in the Second World War, and in 1945/46 many trees were cut down for firewood. Reforestation began in 1949.
Today, the park is used by many Berliners for relaxation. The very centre is the Siegessäule. Schloss Bellevue, seat of the federal president, is also in the Tiergarten, as is the former Hall of Congress, now the House of World Cultures. The Kulturforum and Potsdamer Platz lie at the borders of the Tiergarten. On the western side, the park borders onto the Zoologic Garden.