Hundeauslaufgebiet Grunewald

Green Wooden Bollards Instead of Fences, From the Hillside Path to the Avus

Anyone who wants to know where in Berlin a dog is legally allowed to run off-leash will inevitably end up here. The Berlin Forests manage twelve dog exercise areas in the city’s forests, totaling around 1,220 hectares, and Grunewald is the largest among them. The Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf part alone measures approximately 250 hectares; in Steglitz-Zehlendorf, the forest areas, including Wannsee-Düppel and Düppel, amount to around 640 hectares. None of it is fenced. On the contrary: Fences in the forest in Berlin exclude, rather than include, because enclosed areas and designated nature reserves are explicitly not part of the exercise area. Instead, green wooden bollards indicate where the area begins. It starts north of the lakes on the upper hillside path and extends to the railway line at the Avus. Within these boundaries, dogs may be walked off-leash all year round, provided they wear a collar with their name and address, are microchipped, have liability insurance, and remain within calling distance. The area is managed by the Berlin Forests and not by the district, which makes a practical difference if you want to know who puts up the signs.

What Applies to the Shores of Schlachtensee and Krumme Lanke

Below the hillside path, the situation is different, and this is where most fines are incurred. On the shore paths of both lakes, in the adjacent green areas, and on the forest slopes north of the lakes, a leash requirement with a maximum length of two meters applies. Individual shore sections are fenced off for biotope and shore protection and may not be entered at all; Berlin Forests and Berlin Waterworks have restored eroded shores there. In Berlin, dogs are only allowed into the water at places explicitly designated as dog bathing spots. A curiosity worth noting: In 2015, the administrative court overturned a district-wide dog ban on the shore paths of Schlachtensee and Krumme Lanke because a shore path is, after all, not a bathing spot. At Schlachtensee, there is now a new toilet and a reopened drinking fountain on Fischerhüttenstraße. The southeastern shore of the lake chain is a district green area and therefore no longer an exercise area, even if one cannot see a difference from the hillside path. Right next door is Grunewald Hunting Lodge, and if you continue west, you will reach the Avus within a few minutes, thus arriving at the edge of the area.