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Berlin’s ‘Gardens of the World’: A Lot More than Just Flowers

The Berlin park known as ‘Gärten der Welt’ is just the right spot for taking extensive walks and looking at beauty. Children will like it there too, also because of the labyrinth and several playgrounds.

Berlin, August 8th, 2020, update April 16th, 2022 (The Berlin Spectator) — Berlin’s ‘Gärten der Welt’ is a former GDR endeavor which has grown substantially since the Berlin Wall fell thirty-two years ago. Today, the Gardens of the World premises include countless different garden styles from all over the world. It is an excellent day trip destination within the Berlin city limits.

The café at the Chinese Garden was closed in 2020. Photo: Imanuel Marcus

City Anniversary in East Berlin

The German capital’s Marzahn district may not exactly be a beauty with its many rows of Eastern Bloc style apartment blocks. But the communists left a lot of greenery in between. They did have a lot of room for parks, even though the city was divided by the Wall they built to keep people in the GDR.

Marzahn is partially ugly. Not from up here though. Photo: Imanuel Marcus

During those times, Berlin needed two zoos, a Western and an Eastern one, two city halls, two everything. West Berlin had its Britzer Park, which it prepared for the Federal Garden Show that took place in 1985. East Berlin wanted an equivalent. So it got the ‘Recreational Park Marzahn’ ready for the Berlin Garden Show and the 750th anniversary of the city in 1987, two years before communism collapsed along with the Wall. But the big park in Marzahn survived.

The ropeway takes visitors to the observation tower and to the ‘U-Bahn’ train station. Photo: Imanuel Marcus

Change of Plans

After Germany’s reunification, in 1995, Berlin wanted to host another Federal Garden Show. But the plans were thrown overboard. Cottbus hosted it instead. Initially, Asian gardens were supposed to be set up for the event in Tiergarten, near Berlin’s Western city center, in spite of the fact that there was not enough space. Much later, those exotic gardens were installed in what is known as Gardens of the World today.

This insect seemed to be satisfied. Photo: Imanuel Marcus

Berlin kept on investing into the ‘Erholungspark Marzahn’. Those plants already looked nice. The park out there, in former East Berlin, would pull some of the many tourists out of the city center. In the beginning of the Corona crisis, the issue of having too many tourists in Berlin was replaced with the one of not having tourists at all. But the Berliners still visited the big park in their city’s eastern part.

There are several water gardens. Photo: Imanuel Marcus

Asian Gardens Galore

In 2017, it was finally renamed Gardens of the World because that is exactly what it had become. Once the new millennium had dawned, in the year 2000, a Chinese Garden was part of the huge park. Almost every year, more gardens followed, including a Japanese and a Korean one. All of them are beautiful indeed.

Millions of photo opportunities are waiting. Photo: Imanuel Marcus

By now, there are many more, including a Balinese garden, an Oriental one, an Italian Renaissance Garden, a Christian Garden, an English Garden and a Jewish Garden.

These water lilies want to be looked at. Photo: Imanuel Marcus

The Right Perspective

There are water gardens along the Promenade Aquatica, huge lawns and all kinds of plants. Most flowers can be admired along the paths. Near the Gardens of the World’s labyrinth, an ocean of flowers is waiting for the beholder. The Rose Garden and the Flower Theater are good spots. Constantly, several gardeners look after the beautiful plants with a lot of dedication. They probably call each flower by its first name. Of course, things look different during the winter months.

Counting them would take years. Photo: Imanuel Marcus

One of the nicest places to take a rest at is the café right at the little lake in the Chinese Garden. Families with children should not bypass the playground with that blue whale. The sightseeing tower can be reached by ropeway or on foot. From up there, everything looks nice. Even Marzahn.

Recently, the sausage and the Apfelschorle were 6 Euro. Photo: Imanuel Marcus

Getting there is easy as pie. ‘Gärten der Welt’ can be reached by ‘U-Bahn’ train (U5 to ‘Kiensberg) or by bus (X69 ‘Blumberger Damm/Gärten der Welt’). Going there by bicycle will take one and a half hours from Charlottenburg or one hour from Kreuzberg. A regular ticket for ‘Gärten der Welt’ is 7 Euro, one that includes the ropeway is 9.90 Euro. The combination ticket for children is 5.50.

The ‘Gardens of the World’ do have a website. It can be reached here.

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