Rudolph-Wilde-Park

About

Rudolph Wilde Park (formerly Stadtpark Schöneberg) is located in the Schöneberg district of Berlin. This public park and recreation area is named after the first mayor, Rudolph Wilde, on whose initiative the town hall of the then-independent town of Schöneberg was built between 1911 and 1914. The long, narrow park covers an area of 6.6 hectares and extends approximately 650 meters along Martin Luther Street (Berlin), from the town hall westward to the district boundary at Volkspark Wilmersdorf on Kufsteiner Straße. Tree-lined walking paths, playgrounds, lawns, the listed Carl Zuckmayer Bridge with the above-ground Rathaus Schöneberg underground station, and the Hirschbrunnen fountain in the spa-like eastern section characterise this popular park.

Geologically, Rudolph Wilde Park is situated in a side arm of the glacial channel of the Grunewald chain of lakes [ de ]. The area was part of a marshy fen formed at the end of the last Ice Age, originally flowing from Nollendorfplatz along the Teltow ridge to the Lietzensee lake. An information board on-site explains:

Due to sedimentation, this trench became increasingly shallow and eventually split into a chain of small lakes and ponds. The so-called Schwarze Graben (Black Ditch), also known as the Haupt-Graben (Main Ditch) or Fauler Graben (Rotten Ditch) by villagers, flowed through this trench. Sewage from Schöneberg was discharged into it until it was filled in in 1887.

This remaining drainage channel began south of the former mill hill, where the town hall was built. The duck pond in front of the Rathaus Schöneberg underground station is now the last remaining eastern body of water in the lowlands, which stretch westward as an inner-city green belt approximately 2.5 kilometres long and 150 meters wide. This green belt passes through the neighbouring Volkspark Wilmersdorf and the Fennsee lake to the Stadtring ring road. After being interrupted by sports fields and built-up areas, the secondary channel continues at the Hubertussee and meets the Herthasee at the Koenigssee [ de ], where it intersects the Grunewaldrinne at a right angle.

The gently rolling lawns in the western part and the tree-lined paths on the elevated edge, popular with joggers, still reflect the channels of the meltwater. The valley character of the park is particularly evident at the Rathaus Schöneberg underground station.

The U4 underground line divides the park into eastern and western sections. Engineers utilised the entire width of the park to construct the underground station, which features two glass sides opening onto the park and is one of Berlin's most beautiful underground stations. The underground line runs beneath the park's drainage channel, emerges at the surface within the park, and dives back underground on the other side. Despite its open location, the station is not at ground level and must be accessed via stairs, like other underground stations. The station's roof is formed by the historic Carl Zuckmayer Bridge, adorned with stone figures and vases on an ornate balustrade, from which wide steps lead down to the two parts of the park. The bridge connects the northern and southern parts of Innsbrucker Straße across the park but is closed to through traffic, reserved for pedestrians and cyclists. It is named after the writer Carl Zuckmayer, who worked as a dramaturge at the Deutsches Theatre in Berlin in 1924 alongside Bertolt Brecht and lived at the southern end of the bridge.

Between 1995 and 2005, the bridge and underground station underwent extensive renovation, complicated by the marshy, swampy ground. For example, the oak piles beneath the stairways were found to be rotting and too short. As a replacement, 21-meter-long concrete piles were driven deep into the ground. The renovation was necessary because the area in front of the station had subsided by approximately 60 centimetres, endangering the Hirschbrunnen fountain and the Milchhäuschen milk house in the eastern part of the park.

To the west, directly in front of the bridge and the glass enclosure of the underground station, lies a small duck pond, which, like the adjacent sunbathing lawn, has been raised to a new level. While the eastern part of the park was fully renovated by 2001, work on the duck pond took longer and was completed in October 2005 after a decade of construction. The pond regained its original function as a "mirroring" link between the architecture of the station and the landscape garden, designed in the style of an orangery. According to an on-site information sheet, the district office planned:

The duck pond in Rudolph Wilde Park, a listed garden ensemble, is to be renovated. Construction work will begin in July 2005. As a prerequisite for the pond renovation, trees surrounding the pond must be cleared. The trees on the banks do not correspond to the original layout but were planted later or have grown from tolerated wild growth. They impair the water surface's effect as a mirror of the underground station in the style of an orangery and conflict with the original low-lying vegetation on the banks. Another reason for the clearing is the introduction of organic materials, such as leaves, which severely impair water quality. The rear wall of the pond will also be reworked. The planned construction work will be completed in October 2005.

In April 2005, fifteen trees around the duck pond were felled, surprising local residents. Two weeping willows with birds' nests, the subject of a fierce dispute, remained standing temporarily. While Building Councillor Gerhard Lawrentz (CDU) and the monument protection authority advocated felling the trees for the reasons described, District Mayor Ekkehard Band (SPD) supported their preservation. Since the redevelopment measures and the " clear-cutting at the duck pond" ( Berliner Morgenpost, 23 April 2005) were financed by ecological compensation measures, the Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Berlin (BUND) considered legal action against the district office for misuse of funds. The park initiative "Save the Weeping Willows" put up a poster on a willow tree with the slogan "This tree will stay." According to the Berliner Morgenpost on 26 April 2005, Ingrid Winkler from the initiative protested against "the cynical justification for felling given by the monument authority, which claimed that the trees detracted from the effect of the architectural monument that is the underground station in the water mirror of the pond."

By the end of 2005, construction work on the duck pond was completed. A natural clay sealant replaced the pond's previous asphalt basin. Water is now supplied from a deep well at the southern end of the underground station. Fresh water and pond water extracted from the banks can be enriched with oxygen via circulation pumps. Together with a biological filter system and a marshy reed belt on the north bank, these measures aim to keep nutrient concentrations in the pond within limits, preventing algae growth.

Spa garden character in the eastern part

The renovation of the smaller eastern section, comprising roughly a third of the total area, was completed in 2001. This section, starting directly at Schöneberg Town Hall, is considered the "architectural" or "geometric" section, with a representative spa garden character.

A wide staircase leads from a historic, renovated milk house to a large fountain, at the centre of which stands an 8.8-meter-high column crowned by a golden stag, the coat of arms of Schöneberg, created by sculptor August Gaul. A beer garden was established in the milk house in 2001.

A wide parapet forms a semicircle around a lawn lined with tree-lined paths, stretching to the Carl Zuckmayer Bridge. This lawn hosted a public television broadcast in 1951. Numerous benches and, in summer, a beer garden at the Milchhäuschen invite visitors to linger.

In addition to stabilising the milk house and fountain on the marshy ground, the redevelopment included extensive replanting and the creation of flower beds. The total cost of redeveloping this approximately 200-meter-long section was around five million euros. The immediate station area was the responsibility of its owner, the BVG.

The gently rolling lawns in the western part and the tree-lined paths on the elevated edge, popular with joggers, still reflect the channels of the meltwater. The valley character of the park is particularly evident at the Rathaus Schöneberg underground station.

The U4 underground line divides the park into eastern and western sections. Engineers utilised the entire width of the park to construct the underground station, which features two glass sides opening onto the park and is one of Berlin's most beautiful underground stations. The underground line runs beneath the park's drainage channel, emerges at the surface within the park, and dives back underground on the other side. Despite its open location, the station is not at ground level and must be accessed via stairs, like other underground stations. The station's roof is formed by the historic Carl Zuckmayer Bridge, adorned with stone figures and vases on an ornate balustrade, from which wide steps lead down to the two parts of the park. The bridge connects the northern and southern parts of Innsbrucker Straße across the park but is closed to through traffic, reserved for pedestrians and cyclists. It is named after the writer Carl Zuckmayer, who worked as a dramaturge at the Deutsches Theatre in Berlin in 1924 alongside Bertolt Brecht and lived at the southern end of the bridge.

Between 1995 and 2005, the bridge and underground station underwent extensive renovation, complicated by the marshy, swampy ground. For example, the oak piles beneath the stairways were found to be rotting and too short. As a replacement, 21-meter-long concrete piles were driven deep into the ground. The renovation was necessary because the area in front of the station had subsided by approximately 60 centimetres, endangering the Hirschbrunnen fountain and the Milchhäuschen milk house in the eastern part of the park.

To the west, directly in front of the bridge and the glass enclosure of the underground station, lies a small duck pond, which, like the adjacent sunbathing lawn, has been raised to a new level. While the eastern part of the park was fully renovated by 2001, work on the duck pond took longer and was completed in October 2005 after a decade of construction. The pond regained its original function as a "mirroring" link between the architecture of the station and the landscape garden, designed in the style of an orangery. According to an on-site information sheet, the district office planned: