The History of Berlin's Urban Green Space

International horticultural exhibition, Berlin 2017

International horticultural exhibition, Berlin 2017

Berlin’s urban green spaces have a long history. In the following pages, only a few of the more significant events of the past 150-200 years will be described.

This brief History of Berlin’s Urban Green Spaces provides general information about the creation and development of:

  • The Berlin horticultural/landscape gardening administration
  • Historic parks, such as the Großer Tiergarten (Great Tiergarten Park) and the Schlosspark Charlottenburg (Charlottenburg Palace Park)
  • Such major public parks as the Friedrichshain or Humboldthain
  • Large tree-lined boulevards such as Unter den Linden
  • The funeral culture and the development of cemeteries
  • The allotment gardens, and their forerunners, such as the “Schrebergardens.”

It also addresses the planning of spatial use and the general urban green space planning.

Important information about the horticultural/ landscape gardening administration, green spaces and parks, and various aspects of present-day green-space planning, especially during the era of separate development in the western and eastern sections of Berlin during the division of the city, are presented under the category “Urban Green Space”, under the “History of Berlin’s Urban Green Spaces.”

Information of the specific history of the Berlin cemeteries and allotment gardens can be found under the categories “Cemeteries” and “Allotment gardens”

Urban Green Space

In the following section, the over 150-year development of Berlin's urban green spaces will be described in a brief summary. This will involve merely the identification of particular landmarks by way of example, with no exploration of the political background. Urban Green Space

Allotment Gardens

The allotment garden system can look back on an over 150-year tradition. The forerunners of today's allotment gardens were the so-called “paupers' gardens” of the 19th Century. Allotment Gardens

Berlin Cemeteries

On the following pages, the history of the Berlin's cemetery system from the Middle Ages to the present day will be described in a brief summary. Berlin Cemeteries