Volkspark Cottbus
The Cottbus Volkspark is located near the large mill island, right next to the Markgrafenmühle. The island, enclosed by the Mühlgraben and the Spree, is a conveniently located forest recreation area close to the city. A fork in the road leads left to the nature trail, on the right there is a paved bike-hiking path. Both paths lead to the Kiekebusch weir, the Jubilee Bridge and a railway bridge. The latter are connections to the "Madlower Schluchten" and the Volkspark.
history
Time of the German Empire
With the construction of the Cottbus-Görlitz railway line in 1864-66, the area of the Volkspark gained importance for the city of Cottbus. In 1906 the city council decided to create a forest park called "Kaiser-Wilhelm-Auguste-Viktoria-Hain". The mayor Paul Werner applied for the name and got the approval. In March 1909, when the design of the “Madlower Heide”, which was overgrown with barren pine trees on the typical sandy soil of the Brandenburg region, began, 21 hectares were already lavishly covered with topsoil. The aim was to plant deciduous trees, create a good network of paths, set up three playgrounds including shelters for shelter and set up around 200 benches. Gravel and sand were removed from this side of the Spree to fill the track. The extraction of the soil led to the depressions along the high bank, which were popularly known as "gorges". The start of work in the Madlower Waldpark was dated in 1909, but intensive preparation by the municipal garden administration took place as early as 1906. A driving force was the city gardening director J. Kurfeß, who commissioned the inspector of the newly opened Südfriedhof Gluhm to work out the design proposal. The private farm land was used without further ado. Since the owners did not want to sell, the magistrate used the expropriation law of 1874, which was confirmed by the Frankfurt / Oder district committee. Since the mayor of Madlow and those interested in the recession of the so-called "Hüfnergenossenschaft" did not give their consent, the city council tried by resolution of 1906 with the "thrown carrot" to connect Madlow to the city gas network. Since then, eight gas lamps have been the Madlower's “pride”. Gluhm's design ideas to develop the hesitant transition from the melancholy pine forest to the broader meadow area and through watercourses in the Madlower gorges with bushes and deciduous trees were quickly set limits. This is because the growth conditions in the northern pine forest were unfavorable, so it took a long time for the desired growth of the undergrowth. According to the 1912 administration report, 5588.50 marks were invested in an area of 70.94 hectares to transform the gorges into ponds. The design ideas of Kurfeß and Gluhm faded with planting failures. The ponds became deserted and soon everyone could walk back and forth through the Volkspark. The park designation "Kaiser-Wilhelm-Auguste-Viktoria-Hain" was also revoked. The Cottbus Beautification Association introduced the name “Volkspark”. In parlance, the term “Volkspark” quickly became common and after the end of the German Empire in 1918 it became official.
After the First World War
At the end of the First World War, the Volkspark's tree population was severely decimated, so after the First World War efforts were again made to green the Volkspark. The northern forest area was replanted with deciduous trees such as robinia and oak from 1924 to 1930 . These showed better growth success. In the middle section, walking on well-tended paths, you came across three so-called romping areas, the special attractions of which were the shelters. In the southern part of the gorges, which were designed until 1925, it was now green and blooming. We especially liked the "Nordic Hut" with its pointed gable and the snake heads crossed at the ridge. On the 40-square-meter pond next to it, pond roses were blooming . Particular attractions of the Volkspark were small structures such as the thatched mushroom (similar to the one in Branitzer Park ) and a pavilion made of clinker. The ponds were concreted and connected. On the other hand, the pumps did not manage the required amounts of water - the expensive pipe network was rotting. The sandy heights had become a public park through horticultural art.
During the National Socialism
After the fascist seizure of power, the Volkspark became more and more restless. The horticultural maintenance subsided and the benches and storage facilities were only poorly preserved. The forest recreation home and the new building erected to set up a forest school became a Hitler Youth district leader school in 1934 . The park also had to accommodate an officer applicant village in the 1940s. In the last days of the Second World War , defensive positions were excavated by the “Volkssturm”. In the winter of 1945/46 the Cottbus people collected wood lying around, the remains of the wooden huts were salvaged in order to have a warm room for at least a few hours. In the first years after the Second World War, no one could think of preserving the Volkspark, as the material wounds that the war had left were too big.
During the GDR era
In 1954 the Volkspark was declared a landscape protection area. Since the first draft of a general development plan for the city of Cottbus was drawn up in 1964–1967, the development of local recreation was pursued in a more targeted manner. The garden architects H. Rippl and Billerbeck developed a study for the Volkspark. The investigation showed that large parts of the population recovered in the Spree zone, especially on the weekends. In connection with the further elaboration of the general development and traffic plan, a development concept was created that dealt with the existing, renewed and newly created parks along the Spree. It was proven that there was a more than 450 hectare large contiguous forest area in the southeast, which was suitable for local recreational purposes. The Volkspark belonged to the core of this closed forest area. In 1962 the southern part of the Madlower Gorges was declared a protected landscape area.
To the swimming lake
In the spring of 1969, the soil extraction of around 350,000 m³ of earth for the construction of the Cottbus city ring began on the south-sloping hills of the Volkspark. The choice to develop such a soil extraction point was made in a targeted and far-sighted manner. A subsequent use for this wound in the landscape that made sense at the time was the creation of a bathing lake with a depth of 5 m. Two crawler excavators with the necessary auxiliary equipment, which removed the soil in three layers, lifted the soil from north to south. The design of the beach around the bathing lake was primarily thanks to the initiative work of Cottbus companies, citizens' initiatives and many other volunteers from the city of Cottbus. Under the motto: “Cottbus creates its own local recreation” on October 29, 1970, the City Council of Cottbus dealt with the submission “Concept for the step-by-step implementation of the resolution of the GDR State Council on the development of socialist local politics” from April 16, 1970 the bathing lake “Madlower Schluchten” declared as the most important “join in” project. A “Committee for the local recreation center Badesee Madlower Schluchten” was formed (February 4, 1971) for uniform management of the project. Scheduled missions began on Saturday, March 6, 1971. The climbing frames “Sandmännchens Segelschiff” and “Leuchtturm”, a children's slide designed as a crocodile, a 5 × 5 m anchored swimming plate and floating bridges were built or handed over for use . A rescue station with a rescue tower, a toilet facility and a supply facility (restaurant) were created. The former pump house was also expanded and provided with a weather protection roof, a 30 m long bench was installed and the playground equipment was given its final location. Wooden benches and tables were set up around the lake. The other outdoor facilities that arose in this context include the parking lot, the lighting system and the forest playground. The opening of the local recreation center "Badesee Madlower Schluchten" was on May 20, 1972. Despite the favorable traffic situation and good transport connections, the official bathing operation is currently closed. Economic and safety reasons made this necessary. Bathing at your own risk is still possible; There is no reference to the bathing ban.
Jubilee Bridge
The anniversary bridge over the Markgrafen-Mühlgraben was donated in 1914 by the cloth factory owner Rottke for the 25th anniversary of Wilhelm II's reign and inaugurated by the mayor Paul Werner. According to the draft traffic development plan of the city of Cottbus, the bridge is to be renovated in 2020.
Individual evidence
Web links
- Entry in the monument database of the State of Brandenburg
- "The Volkspark and the large mill island" from ACOL (PDF file; 40.4 MB)
- "The Cottbuser Volkspark" article in the Lausitzer Rundschau from March 17th, 2009
Coordinates: 51 ° 43 ′ 54.5 " N , 14 ° 20 ′ 57.9" E