Mauerpark

Mauerpark: From Death Strip to Open Space

Between Prenzlauer Berg and Wedding, the death strip, a heavily guarded no man’s land, ran here from 1961 to 1989. Before that, the area was the Nordbahn freight station. Even earlier, from 1820, the area served as a parade ground and in 1848 was the scene of the March Revolution; after 1914, allotment gardens and sports facilities were established here. Because the BFC Dynamo stadium directly on the border attracted large crowds, the GDR built the wall higher and smoother here than elsewhere and moved it further away from the death strip. In 1988, a new main wall was added without the old one being demolished. So, at the fall of the Wall, three walls stood side by side here.

Behind the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark, about 300 meters of the original inner wall still stand, distributed across three sections, made of long steel-reinforced concrete slabs between H-profile pillars. This remnant has been a protected monument since 2001, and today it is densely covered in street art. Cobblestones on the ground trace where the border ran.

Gustav Lange’s Design and Life in Mauerpark Today

The park was designed by Hamburg landscape architect Gustav Lange with the guiding principle of transforming the border area into an open space. The competition was decided in 1992, construction began in 1993, and the two eastern sections were completed in 1994. The expansion in June 2020 almost doubled the area to just under 15 hectares, again designed by Gustav Lange. Since 2017, the entire Mauerpark belongs to the Pankow district, and the Gleimtunnel, which was closed during the division, has been accessible again since 2008.

Today, the former death strip is home to large meadows, playgrounds, sports fields, a community garden, and an amphitheater. The flea market, with up to 170 private stalls spread over approximately 7,000 square meters of stand space, attracts thousands of people who browse vintage clothing, records, furniture, and handmade goods. In the amphitheater, Joe Hatchiban has been presenting his battery-powered karaoke to large audiences since 2009. A place of division has become one of the city’s most exuberant meeting points.