Wuhlheide
The Wuhlheide is an urban forest area located in the Berlin districts of Oberschöneweide and Köpenick . In addition to the former Volkspark Wuhlheide, it also includes the leisure and recreation center (FEZ), the Innovation Park Wuhlheide (IPW) industrial area, the Oberschöneweide forest cemetery and other large forest areas east and west of the two parks. The Wuhlheide was bought by the city of Berlin in 1911 for drinking water production and at that time it had an area of 525 hectares . The still contiguous undeveloped forest area is 370 hectares. Since the incorporation of the independent rural community Oberschöneweide into Greater Berlin in 1920, the Wuhlheide has been located within the Berlin urban area. As a result of later municipal border corrections, the part of the Wuhlheide east of Rudolf-Rühl-Allee with the stadium An der Alten Försterei now belongs to the district of Köpenick.
The Wuhlheide is predominantly a deciduous forest with a very high proportion of oaks . The Hohe Wallgraben and Rohrlake once flowed through the Wuhlheide . Both streams are now mostly dry or are partly drained underground in pipes. The Wuhlheide is named after the river Wuhle which flows into the Spree and which once formed the eastern tree line.
Volkspark Wuhlheide
The park was laid out as a folk and forest garden according to plans by the Treptower gardening director Ernst Harrich in the years 1919–1931 in the western part of the Wuhlheide. The main idea was the so-called "forest park" with near-natural forest areas, which should serve the recreation of the urban population.
During the Second World War , anti-aircraft guns were set up in the park and a bunker was built. The park was largely destroyed by the effects of the war. Areas of the park were occupied by the Red Army and barracks were built on them. Only the open-air and air bath Wuhlheide remained in its original form and will continue to be used after an extensive renovation. A reconstruction of the below listed stationary public park is gradually planned.
Leisure and recreation center
In the eastern part of the Wuhlheide there was a pioneer camp for the first German meeting of young people and students in 1950, the Pioneering Republic of Ernst Thälmann . The landscape architect was subsequently according to plans Reinhold Lingner the pioneer park Ernst Thalmann with an outdoor stage in the form of an amphitheater , a stadium and an artificial lake with a beach and lawn decorated and on 27 July 1951 at the third World Festival of Youth and Students ceremony in Berlin opened. In 1955 the pioneer railway ( narrow-gauge railway ) operated by children and young people and the Nature and Environment House were added, and in 1964 an indoor swimming pool.
Shortly before the 30th anniversary of the GDR on October 7, 1979, the "Ernst Thälmann" pioneer palace opened on October 3, 1979 . After the laying of the foundation stone on June 2, 1976, the building complex was created according to a design by the architect Günter Stahn . The topping-out ceremony was celebrated on October 21, 1977. The materials used included larch wood and sand-lime brick. The total cost was around 180 million marks .
The Pioneer Palace was given event rooms, rooms for working groups (for example a computer company, the Young Typesetters Working Group ), a cosmonaut training center, a restaurant, a theater, a sports hall and a swimming pool with eight 50-meter lanes on a total area of 13,000 m². The former new forester's house was built over and a large children's playground was created; Then in 1984 the tent camp in the forest. The Pioneer Palace was one of the largest of its kind in the GDR.
After the political change , the Landesmusikakademie Berlin was housed in the building of the Pioneer Palace and a non-profit operating company of the State of Berlin was founded for both of them, the area was given the name FEZ Wuhlheide (pronounced: feːts , leisure and recreation center). For some years now, the name has been FEZ-Berlin , with the official title being renamed to Children's, Youth and Family Center . Other locations, such as the Haus Natur und Umwelt, went to independent organizations and have been run by them since then (Naturfreundejugend, JAO etc.). The former pioneer railway was taken over by a GmbH , founded by several associations of narrow-gauge railroaders and is now called Berliner Parkeisenbahn . The open-air stage with 17,000 seats was restored in accordance with the monument and sold to an event company; it is operated as the Parkbühne Wuhlheide , for rock and pop concerts, among other things.
The facilities of the former pioneer park have been gradually restored since the late 1990s. In the 1990s, a collection of light railways (500 mm gauge) was built with regular traffic. The FEZ is the venue for major events such as the United Nations Weeks , the annual puppet theater festival , the Samba Syndrome as well as events such as the festivals for young politics , the Harry Potter event Zauberschloss , the FEZitty city game and others designed and created by young people and children especially visited during the holidays. But even in normal daily operations, it is the largest non-profit children's and youth leisure facility in Europe.
Despite some restrictions due to the poor budget situation in Berlin, the FEZ still offers a large number of leisure activities, work groups and sporting activities for children and young people. In addition to Berlin's largest children's theater, the facility also houses a space center, a children's museum , a swimming pool, a cinema, several playgrounds and a swimming lake with a sandy beach.
Model park Berlin-Brandenburg
In June 2007, the Berlin-Brandenburg model park, a 3D miniature map of the two states of Berlin and Brandenburg on an area of around 15,000 square meters, opened on the site of the former Ernst Thälmann Stadium in the Volkspark . Embedded in a landscape garden that recreates the characteristics of the region, visitors can see more than 82 models of well-known Berlin and Brandenburg sights, such as those of the Reichstag building and the Pergamon Museum, each with a floor area of around 30 square meters, which are faithfully made on a scale of 1:25 the two largest exhibits in the park and models of Friedrichsfelde Castle, Köpenick Castle and Spandau Town Hall.
The model park is constantly being expanded with new miniatures. On Sundays, handicrafts and games are offered here for children.
education for Sustainable Development
overview
Long-established environmental education offers in the EPZ, such as that of the Haus (es) Natur und Umwelt since 1955, are further developed and the ecological education and experience programs expanded. In June 2012, the Education for Sustainable Development section organized the first school project week in this area: Sustainably strong and smart!
The investigations regarding the effects of the EPZ on the environment ( eco-audit ), the planning and implementation of the optimization of the use of heat and electricity in the house as well as the energetic renovation of the building (as part of the 2nd environmental relief program UEP II) are supported pedagogically and with Linked climate protection policy.
Eco island
description
The eco-island as a teaching and theme garden was created by opening up an open space and converting the existing greenhouses into utility and show greenhouses (e.g. a succulent house , a mini rainforest with a pond). In cooperation with the beekeeper federation was a beehive built and populated with several bee colonies. In the eco-garden you will find mixed-culture flower beds , a spice and medicinal herb area, a pond , a clay oven, the happy amaranth children's bakery , an apiary with showcases and a work room and a garden house that illustrates the use of regenerative energy sources: electrical energy is generated using photovoltaics and Wind generator obtained, the water is heated by solar flat collectors .
Tomato fish
In a greenhouse on the eco island there is a demonstration system of the Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries Berlin, in which fish and tomatoes grow at the same time. That is why the ASTAF-PRO project ( aquaponic system for emission-free tomato and fish production) was also called tomato fish . The system works almost emission-free, energy, water, fertilizer and raw materials can be saved and the environment is protected. Children get an insight into biological-chemical processes in nature in connection with sustainable food production and consumption and their global significance.
Experiment self-sufficiency VitaWert +
In this project with several partners such as the Life Sciences Faculty of Albrecht Thaer Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science of the Humboldt University and Team garden GbR is explored since March 2014, which nutritionally valuable crops (taking into account different methods of cultivation) in the smallest space as turn out to be particularly profitable. The aim is to develop a sustainable cultivation Concept for the additional supply of fruits and vegetables in small urban areas ( Urban Horticulture and Urban Gardening) .
House nature and environment
The House of Nature and Environment has made it possible for city children to encounter nature since 1955 and was taken over in 2005 by the non-profit USE GmbH (Union of Social Institutions Charitable GmbH). With its 17,000 m² site, it is now available to school classes and groups of children for educationally supervised excursions or project days, during the school holidays and on weekends for families to experience nature all year round. In addition, it serves the social participation of people with disabilities and the encounter of disabled and non-disabled people.
Inside the house there is a natural history exhibition on the topics of forest and the wonderland of soil , terrariums , aquariums and aviaries , laboratories for experimentation and microscopy as well as an extensive collection of insects and preparations , around the house a garden with ponds, a paddock with riding arena and over 500 animals in an outdoor terrarium, in enclosures and a petting zoo .
Wagendorf Wuhlheide
To the west of the House for Nature and Environment , on the area that was previously used as a student summer camp, the Wagendorf Wuhlheide has been located since 1991 ( the Wagendorf Wuhlheide on the map ). The sponsor is the Wagendorf Wuhlheide e. V., the purpose of the association is “the promotion and design of alternative, natural, self-managed and responsible living in non-stationary residential units. [...] To involve people in the process of political decision-making, to strengthen self-help powers and to promote the ability to live independently in our society. The association particularly opposes xenophobia and the social exclusion and stigmatization of foreign or alternative ways of life ”. The Wuhlheide Festival has been taking place here annually for several years .
Previous uses
Labor education camp
In the Wuhlheide several barracks were built for forced laborers during the Second World War . The inmates had to work in the nearby AEG main plant on Wilhelminenhofstrasse in Oberschöneweide.
Former part used by the military
A barracks for the Russian armed forces was built in the 1960s between the trotting track and the Wuhlheide summer pool . It housed the Berlin Brigade . The barracks were created because the capacities in the Wehrmacht buildings of the Army Spy School in Berlin-Karlshorst on Zwieseler Strasse were claimed by the KGB . The plans for Volkspark Wuhlheide date from 1911 and were in the drawer from 1945 until the withdrawal of the Russian armed forces in the 1990s. The Wuhlheide public and forest park was built on the former site of the barracks until 2006 .
After the abandonment of the areas used by the military, the area was dismantled as part of the reintegration. For this purpose, buildings, concrete surfaces and walls were torn down. At the same time, a lizard quarter was created , trees were planted and lawns sown. From the Treskowallee to the Eichgestell, an approximately 1000 meter long asphalt path and in the middle part an oval path, the length of which is around 830 meters, has been laid out for pedestrians and cyclists, which can also be used by skaters . Because of its shape, it is referred to as a Rondell by the locals. The name because of the former Russian armed forces as "Russian egg" is rumored .
literature
- Jörg Bock: die wuhlheide - On the history of the people's and forest parks (= Karlshorster contributions to history and culture 8), Berlin 2013.
- Marina Goertz: Green oases in Berlin, leisure and relaxation in parks and gardens. Berlin: Nicolaische Verlagsbuchhandlung 1999. ISBN 3875847644 .
Web links
- FEZ Wuhlheide FEZ-Berlin Children's, Youth and Family Center, Berlin Treptow-Köpenick
- Volkspark Wuhlheide on www.berlin.de
- Official website of the Volkspark Wuhlheide
- Pro Wuhlheide e. V. , an association of actors in the Volkspark Wuhlheide
- Entries in the Berlin State Monument List: Volkspark Wuhlheide &Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Park
Individual evidence
- ↑ Open-air theater , accessed on August 8, 2014
- ↑ The FEZ Berlin: About us. Retrieved May 5, 2019 . First access on August 8, 2014.
- ↑ FEZ celebrates anniversary | Kindaling.de. Retrieved September 9, 2019 .
- ^ Project tomato fish , accessed on August 8, 2014
- ↑ ( page no longer available , search in web archives: VitaWert PLUS project ), accessed on August 11, 2014.
- ^ Haus Natur und Umwelt , accessed on August 8, 2014
- ↑ The Wagendorf Wuhlheide. In: Berliner Zeitung , June 29, 1996, accessed on August 8, 2014.
- ↑ The dark side of the Triftweg . On: lichtenbergmarzahnplus.de
- ↑ Where work was punishment ... On: YouTube
- ↑ Environmental Relief Program Berlin (UEP) 2000 to 2006 (PDF; 1.6 MB)
Coordinates: 52 ° 28 ′ 0 ″ N , 13 ° 31 ′ 35 ″ E