Treptower Park

Treptower Park, Berlin Overview

Located in the Alt-Treptow in the Treptow-Köpenick district south of Central Berlin, Treptower Park is one of Berlin’s largest urban parks that offers lush greenery, open spaces for recreation, and scenic riverfront views of River Spree. It’s best known for being the home of the Soviet War Memorial, one of Berlin’s most striking monuments. It’s lined with tall trees, flowerbeds, and winding paths along with areas for recreational activities.

It remains buzzed in festive utopia, especially in summer, when hundreds of people are seen sunbathing and enjoying the shade of trees and view of the river landscape.The middle of the Treptower Park oversees the Soviet war memorial that serves to be an arresting sight for its size, sentiment, and significance to the history. Visitors can also enjoy a relaxing day by taking a trip on a pedal boat or a day cruise along the River Spree. Treptower park serves to be the perfect spot for a day out where you can have a nice picnic with your friends and family or enjoy the 84 hectares of greenery while taking a stroll on the riverside path with your significant other.

History of Treptower Park

Restaurant Zenner in Treptower Park, 1990 — Source

This park was the site for the Great Industrial Exposition of Berlin back in 1896. Thereafter, it was used by Berliners as a spot for leisure activities, and it also became a great source for tourist attraction. The British western rock band - Barclay James Harvest, also used Treptower Park to perform the very first open-air concert on 14 July 1987; hosting over 170,000 people as their audience.

Situated on the banks of the river Spree, the Restaurant and Biergarten Zenner, with over 1500 seats, has also been a trendy spot among people taking day trips to the park since its establishment in 1822 (although it was renovated post World War II).

Soviet War Memorial at Treptower Park

Soviet war memorial in Treptower Park, Berlin — Source

The Soviet war memorial is a military cemetery that was built in Treptower Park on May 8, 1949, in honour of over 70,000 Soviet combatants who gave their lives in the Battle of Berlin in 1945. The war memorial, designed by Soviet architect Yakov Belopolsky, is one of the three war memorials that were built in Berlin after the war. An annual event with the motto ‘Day of Freedom’ has been taking place at the memorial since 1995 and local Berliners have also been conducting several rallies and ceremonies here.

Archenhold Observatory at Treptower Park

Archenhold Observatory in Treptower Park, Berlin — Source

Named in honour of the astronomer Friedrich Simon Archenhold, the Archenhold Observatory is well-known among the Berliners and tourists for it houses the longest and most pointable telescope in the world, Großer Refraktor (Great Refractor), also known as Himmelskanone (Celestial Cannon). This building is located right next to the Soviet War Memorial, and it houses Zeiss Small Planetarium (with 38 seats), Solar Physics Cabinet, and many other telescopes, along with the Great Refractor.

Spreepark in the Treptower Park

Spreepark located within Treptower park — Source

Opened as an entertainment park with the name Kulturpark Planterwald in 1969, this park was later transformed into a western-style amusement park and was started being called as Spreepark. With the individual fee of 29 DM for adults, thousands of visitors would enjoy a fun ride on the Ferris wheel, roller coasters, game watercourses, etc.

But due to lack of parking space, it overviewed a drop in visitors and fell into a huge debt. Due to this reason, the park was shut down and has not been opened for visitors since 2002. This abandoned amusement park site located in the north of Plänterwald is now being turned for cultural use and oversees guided tours by visitors visiting the park.

Leisure Activities at the Treptower Park

Boats available to hire in River Spree at Treptower park, Berlin — Source

Treptower park not only offers just the right routes for leisure activities such as walking, jogging, and cycling but also for rides in riverboat jetty, that is just the perfect place to start the tour of this green oasis. One can then continue along the path to reach Haus Zenner, the ideal place to relish beer and traditional dishes of the city with a panoramic landscape.

Insel der Jugend, Treptower Park — Source

A little further is a small island called Insel der Jugend (Island of Youth) that one can reach after crossing the Abteibrücke bridge. Here, visitors can easily hire a pedal boat, barbeque boat or even a rowing boat and enjoy a relaxing day. The island is also known for hosting cultural events such as live music performances. People on their way to Plänterwald can take a break and enjoy the delicious cake or smoked fish at Klipper restaurant, that is situated on a sailing ship. Furthermore, visitors can also savour the beautiful aerial view of Treptower Park and the whole of Berlin by taking a ride in the red seaplanes in summers.

How To Reach Treptower Park

Tourists can make use of taxi or public transportation alternatives of Berlin such as S-Bahn, Subway, Train, and Bus.

By Bus: The Bus lines 165, 166, and 265 stop at Sowjetisches Ehrenmal and Herkomerstr bus station. While the latter is 457 meters way, requiring a 7-min walk to reach the park, the first one is only 82 meters away from the station and will only require a 2-min walk.

By Metro: The Subway line- U1, train line- RB14, and S-Bahn line- S41 can also be used to reach stations located near the Treptower Park.