Berlin has over 2500 public recreational and green spaces – over one-third of the city is made up of forests, parks and rivers. Those are more parks than you will ever be able to visit. Now most people visiting Berlin will be familiar with the Tiergarten, Tempelhof or Mauerpark, but there’s a whole load of other interesting green spaces to be discovered. There are so many parks in Berlin that even “locals” can discover something new. Not too long ago I stumbled across the Park am Nordbahnhof – a little green oasis in the heart of the city.
*Warning – Park am Nordbahnhof Info*
Like most things in Berlin the 5.5 acre Park am Nordbahnhof started out as something completely different. As you might have gathered from its name, the Park started out as the Stettiner Bahnhof. Back in the Day, Germans had the habit of naming their train stations with the name of their final destination (or direction). Trains from the Stettiner Bahnhof (built in 1842) went up Stettin and Pomerania. As the demand for train travel increased – a new building was built (3 meters above street level) in 1876.
After the war Russia occupied Pomerania and then handed the territory over to Poland at the end of 1945. In 1950, the Stettiner Bahnhof was renamed by the East German State into Nordbahnhof to avoid using the name Stettin (in an effort to remove all traces of the former German territory). The station was closed down in 1952 partially because of the heavy structural damage and secondly for its rather inconvenient location, as the tracks of the Nordbahnhof led through West Berlin. The Building was torn down between 1955 and 1962 – but the S-Bahn tracks which ran parallel to the train tracks were kept in service.
With the Construction of the Wall in 1961 the area was turned into a no mans land, as it was blocked off by 2 sets of walls and the “Todesstreifen” (Death Strip).
After the opening of the Borders in 1989 – the Nordbahnhof sprung back to life when wild Birch trees and tall grasses took over, providing a habitat for birds and small animals. The district and the city wanted to keep the “große Wiese am Nordbahnhof – the large meadow at the Nordbahnhof” so plans were set in motion in 1995 to create a park. It wasnt until 2004 though that these plans were actually realized (at the cost of 2.7 Million Euros).
The park itself is a wild meadow of tall grasses and birch trees, which for the most part isn’t accessible to the public. There are paths which lead you alongside (or through) the meadow, which are intersected by “islands” where you can lie down and relax.
If you walk down far enough, part of the Park is divided by a fence, which is due to the fact that the North South Tunnel of the S-Bahn runs through the area. Continuing along the path you will reach the Liesenbrücken (yes plural because they are 2 bridges) and the end of the Park.
The Liesenbrücken – which ive heard several people refer to as Kummerbrücke – Bridge of Sorrows (ive spoken to a few older locals, but they couldnt explain the name either) (the name probably stems from the fact that it divided east and west berlin; apparently it was also known as Schwindsuchtbrücke – Tuberculosis Bridge due to the amount of sick homeless people that camped out there) was part of the Stettiner Bahnhof but was shut down when the station was closed. The Tracks next to the bridge were kept in service for the S-Bahn. The bridge was put under “Denkmalschutz” – and there were plans to form a connection between the Park am Nordbahnhof and the Volkspark Humboldthein, but as far as I could tell the bridge is just locked up and rusting to pieces.
If you walk down the stairs and walk towards the roundabout you will spot a small hidden piece of the Berlin Wall. This piece of the wall is actually situated on the St.-Hedwig Cemetery, which is definitely worth a visit in itself.
The Park am Nordbahnhof is a peaceful little Oasis. Unlike many of the other Parks in Berlin, it isn’t flooded with Dogshit or cigarettes. It’s not packed with Joggers or Cyclists. Its one of those quaint little areas of Berlin which ignore the hustle and bustle around it with ease.
If you are ever in the area – be it to visit the Mauer Memorial at the Bernauer Straße, or to see the new BND Building (Germany’s Version of the CIA), pop on by for a stroll through the Park am Nordbahnhof.
Park am Nordbahnhof
Gartenstraße / Caroline-Michaelis-Straße
10115, Berlin
Public Transport: S-Bahn S1, S2, S25 Nordbahnhof
U-Bahn U6 Naturkundemuseum
Tram M8, M10, M12 Nordbahnhof
For more Pictures – Check out the Flickr Album: Park am Nordbahnhof
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that looks very interesting. i like the picture of the birkenwäldchen very much.
Thanks! Have you been there before? Well worth a visit.
no i haven’t yet, but i’m quite interested now 😉
You’ve documented my favorite place for stepping lightly in Berlin…. A ways away from Maur Park flea market… and just a step away the Wall memorial. I’ve only visited this place in the fall.. when it feels so abandoned… Sort of just mine….. There’s a gym park nearby, with suspended Tabi’s which is always locked and abandoned when I’ve visited…. and a funny junk store which is kind of a museum down the way back into the city …
The stretch of park and the bridge ( which had no name to me.. til now ) makes me feel like I’m a Wim Wender’s Angel….
Ive only been there in the fall as well – I loved that it felt so empty. Apparently a Falcon lives theres as well preying on Pigeons and Mice.
Where/whats the Junk Store?
I visited it last year after a wander along the waterside from Invalidenstrasse and the old graveyard and along Liesenstrasse .
At the time it looked like the former signal box was being renovated into apartments.
Not a bad walk with bits of history to see along the way.
Yes I forgot to mention that there are going to be luxury apartments in the signal box.
One of the reasons why I love that Park so much is because there is so much history to be found. Its a fantastic walk when you come from Bernauer Straße, through the Nordbahnhof, past the cemetries into the Volkspark
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nice write up (and photos!).
The reason the station is a bit out of the way (like many other of the old main stations in Berlin) is that there was a customs wall around the city until the 1850s/1860s, so the old train lines, which were built a few years before the walls were torn down, would terminate just outside the city walls. Torstrasse (naturally) was where the old northern wall of the city lay.
Incidentally, that’s actually why Postsdamer Platz became so big, because the train from Potsdam terminated just outside the city walls in the south-eastern corner of the city.
I did a mash-up between an 1833 and 2011 map to give a sense of where the walls used to be:
http://radiant-flux.tumblr.com/image/33834300778
Oh thats really interesting – didnt know that! That map is really cool – would you mind if I use that at some point? (with proper credits)
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The Liesenbrücken is one of my favourite spots. So central, yet so desolate. Go there at night,
Oh what a shame, ‘just locked up and rusting to pieces’ – so, Denkmalschutz doesn’t encourage preservation? I don’t really get it.
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