Hirschhof

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The almost 3 meter high deer made of steel as a passage is eponymous for the Hirschhof (from the entrance Oderberger Str. 15 - currently not open to the public)

The term Hirschhof refers to some of the merged courtyards on the corner of Oderberger Straße and Kastanienallee in the Prenzlauer Berg district of Berlin's Pankow district . The entire Hirschhof complex is also known as the Garden of Paradise from Daniela Dahn's report on the Prenzlauer Berg Tour (1987) and is listed in tourist guides.

The peculiarity of its almost unique history as an early form of a citizens' movement in the GDR combined with individual artistic designs, works of art and historically valuable finds make it a space worth protecting.

history

prehistory

Up until the end of the Second World War, there was a cheese dairy on the site of the actual Hirschhof , with access from Oderberger Straße. Prenzlauer Berg was largely spared from the Allied bombing raids , but the dairy was destroyed. During the GDR era, the street block was in a sensitive place, as the Berlin Wall ran in the immediate vicinity . The old buildings were increasingly derelict. The authorities therefore planned to demolish the street block in order to build new buildings here. However, the local residents successfully defended themselves against these plans because they jointly forced the disclosure of the plans through organizations such as the residential district committees (WBA) and thus made them fail.

Emergence

At the beginning of the 1980s, a “Join in!” Initiative was started in East Berlin under the motto Power the farms . The focus was on the backyard-richest district of Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg. In the form of a citizens' movement on Oderberger Strasse, a large tenant community had campaigned for the area, which spanned several backyards , to be cleared out and redesigned after the war damage. Above all, you have to do something yourself and not wait for someone. The graphic artist Eberhard Neumann, who lived here at the time, was quoted in a cover story of the NBI about the Berlin backyards.

At the initiative of the residential district committees, some courtyard sections have now been merged. A small park was created in 1982 , which was created - on the initiative of the residents. To this end, the city district council contributed around one million GDR marks . After completing the extensive construction work ( mainly earthmoving by the municipality of Prenzlauer Berg and the impulse and commitment to artistic design from the residents), the Hirschhof opened in the summer of 1985. The Hirschhof soon became very popular with the residents as an artistically and horticultural designed green space in the middle of the densely built-up area at the interface between Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg and was considered a popular meeting place.

Meeting point of the underground

The almost 3 meter high stag gave its name to the Hirschhof ; a brightly painted metal sculpture made of forged and welded steel scrap by the artists Anatol Erdmann , Hans Scheib and Stefan Reichmann . Access to the actual courtyard leads through the Hirsch from Oderberger Straße 15.

Other works of art were created, including a seating group made of fruit and vegetables, tiles, an Indian pole and fish. (Some of the works of art have since decayed.) During the GDR era, there was also a culture stage (a small amphitheater ) in the Hirschhof, where concerts, readings and film screenings were held by residents.

As an insider tip, the Hirschhof soon developed into a meeting place for underground culture in East Berlin, to which many opponents of the regime belonged. The Prenzlauer Berg scene met in the 80s: artists, intellectuals, so-called bluesers or customers and punks , with fluid boundaries between all these groups. The State Security subsequently kept a “Hirschhof” file.

The Hirschhoffest (see photo) was held annually in summer. The enormous success came through word of mouth within the scene . Concerts, readings and film screenings took place on the Kulturbühne, a small amphitheater, in which victims and undiscovered IMs of the Stasi shook hands. The courageous project was sponsored by Erhard Tapp , chairman of the local residential district committee.

Debris allegedly from the Berlin City Palace in 1990; Artists picked them up from a garbage dump in the Ahrensfeld forest

Rubble blocks

View of the fourth back courtyard at Kastanienallee 12 in 1990, which was designed by artists into an adventurous playground oasis

In the vicinity of the playground there are still a number of rubble blocks that are embedded in the playground. It used to be assumed that these were parts of the Berlin City Palace , which was blown up by the GDR government in 1950. This rumor brought crowds of tourists to Oderberger Strasse. According to the art historian Gabi Ivan, however, this is the rubble of the Berlin Cathedral that was taken from the landfill on Falkenberger Chaussee by the initiators of the Hirschhof during the GDR era . The famous golden eagle is located on the currently closed area.

Post-turnaround time

The houses in the streets around the Hirschhof were in poor condition when the wall came down, and some were uninhabitable. However, they had the character of the Wilhelminian era , with a fundamentally good building fabric. Over time, investors found themselves who gradually renovated some of the houses. However, this also led to a sharp rise in rental prices, which would subsequently gentrify (displace) most of the ancestral residents .

With the action We remain all (WBA) - a conscious reference to the old abbreviation WBA for the former residential district committees - the residents and an active citizenry at the Hirschhof organized the two largest demonstrations against the upcoming rent increase that ever existed in Berlin in 1992 ; with over 20,000 participants. For the time being, you could then defend yourself against luxury renovation plans that had also threatened the Hirschhof . As a result, the district renovated the courtyard for 50,000 euros.

After the sale of the adjacent houses and extensive conversion into condominiums, combined with the replacement of residents, a long-term legal dispute ensued between the new apartment owners and the Pankow district office. There has been no direct public access to the Hirschhof since the late 1990s, as the entrances were locked. The district office, however, wanted to preserve the park and cultural facilities for the general public. There was an application to the district assembly in Pankow to protect the Hirschhof due to its history as a - public - garden monument , which was not complied with by the state monument protection authority.

In 2011 the Higher Administrative Court (OVG) Berlin ruled that the Hirschhof was not a public green space and now gave the owners the right to put up fences.

On September 30, 2011, a new procedure began to answer the question of whether the district can use the private areas publicly and possibly expropriation (i.e. purchase by the state at a price of € 15 / m², which is well below the market value ) according to the Traffic Area Adjustment Act is possible. The regional court dismissed the state's complaint and the higher court granted it. In the appeal proceedings, the Federal Court of Justice referred the proceedings back to the Chamber Court, as important witnesses were not heard. In addition, the Court of Appeal must check whether the Hirschhof is a horticultural designed green area (only expropriation would be possible) or “only” a green inner courtyard.

In another procedure before the Federal Court of Justice because of another sub-area, the Court of Appeal must decide again and determine the actual use at the time of accession. It had previously affirmed the district's right to purchase after the district court had denied it.

Dismantling and outlook

In the summer of 2014, the Pankow district announced that it would not continue the legal dispute with the owners. Against this background, the district began to dismantle the old Hirschhof in early August. The historic sandstone blocks and capitals in the area behind Kastanienallee 12 were removed and stored. They are to be used again at a later point in time. The district councilor and head of the urban development department of the Pankow district, Jens-Holger Kirchner (Bü 90 / Die Grünen), declared that they would buy a plot of land currently still owned by the Liegenschaftsfonds Berlin in the area between Oderberger and Eberswalder Strasse and use the old Hirschhof there to want to rebuild the original materials and the eponymous metal sculpture. However, the relevant planning is still in its infancy.

The new Hirschhof

On August 29, 2011, work began on the neighboring property, Oderberger Straße 19, to create a “New Hirschhof”, which was completed after a year of construction. The central point here is also a deer made of wood, integrated in a children's playground. Originally, this part was intended as an extension to the historic Hirschhof , whose entrances are now closed. The "Neue Hirschhof" is primarily a children's playground with a water play area and two table tennis tables. It cannot tie in with the flair of the neighboring, currently private Hirschhof. A square is currently being built on the new Hirschhof with public funds and accompanied by BIOS eV, which will serve as a café and cultural center of the area in the future.

location

View from the entrance to Kastanienallee 12 to the former Hirschhof as one of the characteristic Berlin backyards ; here four in a run consecutively, Photo 2007

The Hirschhof is located northeast of Oderberger Straße (today's access next to Oderberger Straße 19, accessible throughout). From here, the Neue Hirschhof with the playground can be entered, on which the newly designed deer (made of wood) is located. The adjoining backyards are currently not accessible, as the new deer courtyard is separated from the old deer courtyard by a wall and fence and the back courtyards themselves have been fenced in and closed. Between October 2004 and Easter 2006 the old deer farm was finally closed due to pressure from the house owners.

In the past, the old Hirschhof was mainly accessible through Haus Oderberger Straße 15, from which the famous Stahl-Hirsch could be viewed and - through it - the lavishly designed green area could be walked through.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Stefan Strauss: The people stay outside - according to a court order, the Hirschhof is no longer a public park . In: Berliner Zeitung of October 3, 2011 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e Wolfram Kempe: No man's land . In: Prenzlberg voice from October 14, 2011 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Annette Kuhn: The secret garden . In: Berliner Morgenpost from September 17, 2006 . (chargeable).
  4. ↑ a b c Daniela Dahn : Prenzlauer Berg Tour . Berlin 1987/2001, ISBN 3-354-00139-9 .
  5. ↑ a b c Stefan Strauss: Closed society . In: Berliner Zeitung of July 21, 2005 .
  6. ^ Oasis on the doorstep - The great Berlin court action , by Lothar Heinke ; in: Neue Berliner Illustrierte 22/86, pp. 12-17.
  7. ↑ Summer party at the Hirschhof 1986 , photo by Harald Hauswald on bpb.de.
  8. ↑ The Secret Garden. History and future of the Hirschhof , interview in Oya 9/2011 ( online version ).
  9. ↑ Peter Nowak : "We stay all" and the history of the Hirschhof on MieterEcho 313 / December 05.
  10. ↑ Gartendenkmal Hirschhof district association Pankow from September 15, 2010.
  11. ↑ a b ODK: Neuer Hirschhof opens Prenzlberg Voice on August 26, 2012 .
  12. ↑ Press release of the BGH on the judgment of July 12, 2013, file number V ZR 85/12
  13. ↑ BGH judgment of April 11, 2014 Az. V ZR 17/13
  14. ↑ Thomas Trappe: New Hirschhof planned. In: Prenzlauer Berg Nachrichten, July 18, 2014 prenzlauerberg-nachrichten.de .

Coordinates: 52 ° 32 ′ 23.3 "  N , 13 ° 24 ′ 31"  E