Volkspark Humboldthain

Humboldthain People’s Park: Rose Garden above the Flak Tower

The park spans approximately 29 hectares and was created between 1869 and 1876. Construction deliberately began on the 100th birthday of Alexander von Humboldt, after whom the park is named. It was designed by Gustav Meyer, a student of Peter Joseph Lenné, and is the second public park Meyer created for Berlin. Those entering via Brunnenstraße first arrive at the rose garden, which is inspired by Italian Renaissance gardens: geometric beds with around 15,000 roses of 70 varieties, a pergola, a beaver fountain, and the bronze figure „Diana“ by Walter Schott from 1927. After the war, the park was rebuilt with 200,000 new trees and shrubs.

Flak Tower, Humboldthöhe, and Summer Pool in Humboldthain People’s Park

The two concrete blocks in the north form a counterpoint to the rose garden. These are the remains of a flak tower from 1941 and 1942, which was partially blown up after the war and covered with about one million cubic meters of rubble. This created the Humboldthöhe, 85 meters high, with a viewing platform and a metal sculpture by Arnold Schatz from 1967. Around 250 bats of six species hibernate in the tower, making it the city’s third-largest winter quarter. The Berlin Underworlds offers tours through the structure; the „From Flak Tower to Rubble Mountain“ tour costs 18 Euros. The German Alpine Club also operates climbing walls on the bunker walls. Additionally, there are several playgrounds, including a supervised adventure playground, a toboggan run on the small bunker hill, a vineyard yielding around 200 bottles annually, and the Humboldthain outdoor swimming pool from 1951, whose day ticket costs seven Euros.