Sledding Hill at the Hahneberg

A Mountain with a Fort in its Belly on the Western Outskirts of the City

Hahneberg is located in the very west of Berlin, in Staaken, about five and a half kilometers as the crow flies from Spandau Citadel. It is the only mountain on this list that is half natural and half man-made: Originally it measured 66 meters above sea level, then it was excavated for fortress construction. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, four forts were supposed to protect the armament center of Spandau, but only this one was built, because the high-explosive grenade soon rendered masonry forts obsolete. The hexagonal structure measures 450 by 170 meters and was completed in the 1880s. After World War II, the brick walls were removed as building material, and instead, rubble and later construction waste were dumped on the site until the mountain had grown to 87 meters. Until 1989, the fort was in the restricted area of the Heerstraße border crossing, since 1990 it has been accessible again, and since 1993 an association has been taking care of it. The Berlin Wall Trail passes directly by, and during the Buchrucker Putsch in 1923, the fort was briefly occupied; from 1924, the Spandau Aeronautical Association built gliders here for a decade.

Sledding Hill above Bat Roost and Galloway Pasture

Sledding at Hahneberg takes place on the long, open slopes, and from the top, the view extends far over Spandau. Nothing is supervised, sledding is at your own risk, and because the surrounding area is a nature reserve, special consideration is required. In 2009, the fort and its surroundings were designated as a nature reserve and FFH area; dry and semi-dry grasslands as well as the gorge forest growing in the ditch are worthy of protection. Bats, including greater mouse-eared bats, hibernate inside the fort – the operating association offers special guided tours, as well as on Heritage Day and the Franco-German Forts Day. The public observatory Hahneberg stands at 83 meters on the site, as does the nature conservation station on Heerstraße, where the Spandau Artists’ Working Group also exhibits. The open landscape is maintained by grazing Galloway cattle. Six kilometers of hiking trails lead through the 37 hectares, an orientation board with a map and trail plan is located on Heerstraße, and barrier-free paths were created in the area of the nature conservation station in 2018. Several bus lines go to the mountain, including to the Sandstraße stop. There is no S-Bahn or U-Bahn station within walking distance; instead, the city ends here and the Brandenburg countryside begins.