Spielplatz Wilhelm-Guddorf-Straße

Spree Ahoi: a Climbing Ship in the Sand

The green area between Wilhelm-Guddorf-Straße and Schulze-Boysen-Straße has been newly created after an extensive renovation. Construction began in early 2024, the construction fences came down in February 2025, and on June 3, 2025, district councillor Filiz Keküllüoglu inaugurated the water playground. The total project cost 1,050,000 Euros from the investment funds of the Lichtenberg district office and was planned by the Road and Green Spaces Office together with Henningsen Landschaftsarchitekten, with Märkisch Grün executing the work. The themed playground is named Spree Ahoi, and the motif runs throughout: at its center is a climbing ship partly submerged in sand, along with a slide, sound elements, a fish sculpture, and a mud pump with which sand and water can be mixed. The area is explicitly designed for all age groups and for people with and without disabilities. This is particularly evident in two places: the trampoline is built so that wheelchair users can access it, and the calisthenics facility on the fitness island has barrier-free elements. Already in the project announcement of 2022, it was stated that the play areas should include low-threshold, intergenerational offerings and water play elements; at that time, 840,000 Euros were allocated for this.

Drinking Water in the Pump and Street Names with History

The district office lists the green area as one of ten water playgrounds in Lichtenberg and states that the water in Lichtenberg’s water playgrounds is of drinking water quality; the only exception being emergency water pumps. For families, this means that what comes out of the mud pump is tap water, not treated circulating water. In addition to the play area, picnic tables, hammocks, and numerous other seating options have been installed, further fitness stations are located along the paths, and the planting has been renewed, with areas perceived as unsafe being removed. To protect children from road traffic, barriers were part of the concept from the beginning. Those who venture out will walk through a district whose street names commemorate resistance against National Socialism: Schulze-Boysen-Straße has borne the name of Harro and Libertas Schulze-Boysen, who were executed on December 22, 1942, in Berlin-Plötzensee, since 1972. The facility is accessible via tram lines M13 and 16, the U5, and the Magdalenenstraße and Frankfurter Allee train stations, where S-Bahn lines S41, S42, S8, S85, and S9 also stop. The Wilhelm-Guddorf-Straße green area is a public space of the district office and costs no admission.