Who knew that Berlin had an above ground park / walk way?- A disused above ground railway track turned park. Similar(ish) to New York's 'The High Line', which was inspired by an earlier project in Paris (the Promenade Plantee).
For want of a better term, I am going to call this new (for me) discovery 'the Görlitzer Highline'.
The Görlitzer Highline starts at Görlitzer Park (Kreuzberg), which is the reason for its very existence, and runs to Alt-Treptow.
Görlitzer Park is now a large park area which is very popular in the summer for grill picnics and impromptu parties - and year round for the African dope dealers which unfortunately give the park a shady reputation.
Before it was a park, the area was the site of the Görlitzer Bahnhof (railway station). Built in the late 19th century, it was the terminal for the Berlin - Cottbus - Görlitz train line. Courtesy of Allied bombing in WWII the station was mostly destroyed, although briefly used for some services for a short period after the war. When the Berlin wall was erected in 1961 the station became useless as it was located in West Berlin, and the line it served was in East Germany. The surviving buildings were destroyed.
A former office building and a couple of utility sheds are all that remain of the old station.
These remains are in the part of the park most casual observers would be familiar with, as it is the most 'open' part of the park and also closest to the nearby U-Bahn.
However, a walk down the central park promenade...
For want of a better term, I am going to call this new (for me) discovery 'the Görlitzer Highline'.
The Görlitzer Highline starts at Görlitzer Park (Kreuzberg), which is the reason for its very existence, and runs to Alt-Treptow.
Görlitzer Park is now a large park area which is very popular in the summer for grill picnics and impromptu parties - and year round for the African dope dealers which unfortunately give the park a shady reputation.
Before it was a park, the area was the site of the Görlitzer Bahnhof (railway station). Built in the late 19th century, it was the terminal for the Berlin - Cottbus - Görlitz train line. Courtesy of Allied bombing in WWII the station was mostly destroyed, although briefly used for some services for a short period after the war. When the Berlin wall was erected in 1961 the station became useless as it was located in West Berlin, and the line it served was in East Germany. The surviving buildings were destroyed.
A former office building and a couple of utility sheds are all that remain of the old station.
These remains are in the part of the park most casual observers would be familiar with, as it is the most 'open' part of the park and also closest to the nearby U-Bahn.
However, a walk down the central park promenade...
Leads to a 'hilly' area, complete with slide and hill cul de sac (perfect for snow tabogganing)...
At this point, unless you knew better, it would seem logical to turn around as this is the end of the park and there is 'only' a canal and suburbia beyond. Not really.
A former train line bridge takes you over the canal, and leads to a quite fantastic stainless steel slide ...
and a curious 'Utopia' sign hung on some former railway structure.
At this point it feels like a keep going or run away scenario, you think to yourself - what's this ahead and why are those African guys hanging out there - more dope dealers?
But if you proceed you get rewarded with an unexpected secret non tourist but should be surprise, the Görlitzer Highline!!!
As you walk it's 1 km stretch and survey the surroundings, there are remnants of its former train use...including a small section of visible track...
Noticeably elevated embankments and railway side architecture...
And the best bits, the spans - the over canal bridge and three over street bridges...
And these spans are the best places to sit above Alt-Treptow and watch the traffic, and some interesting sunsets.
So what is the Görlitzer Highline used for these days? It's an above ground foot and cycle path, popular with joggers, walkers and NO tourists!
You get the feeling that this is a 'locals' thing, especially as on the face of it, the path seems to lead to nowhere - particular how it just ends with a green fence as you pass over Elsenstraße and hit this...
At this point, just a hundred metres or so, the old line would have met up with the Berlin Ring bahn - the S-Bahn route that circles the city. So, here you either have to turn around and go back, or 'dismount' the highline and enjoy Alt-Treptow.
You are not trapped on the highline at any point and you can get off easily at a number of places, particularly the spans and also some other less conspicuous points...
Unlike New Yorks 'the Highline', the Görlitzer Highline is not a super trendy urban renewal project, full of cool dudes, tourists, 'art spots' and exquisitly manicured gardens and perfect walkways. It's not pretty like that. It's Berlin pretty - which means its left to its own, it's not looked after, its just cool and it's not celebrated.
Why it isn't celebrated I don't know, I think its fantastic. To me it should take pride of place in any walking tour of Berlin - taking you from Kreuzberg through Görlitzer Park, along the Highline and then there's the perfect rest stop at the Park Centre shopping mall before continuing on to Treptower Park and the maddening, sometimes hard to find, Soviet Memorial. (Maddening because once you find it you can't believe that you walked by it - its unbelievably HUGE).
As a walk, the Görlitzer Highline is about 1 kilometre long, with the length of Görlitzer Park adding another kilometre, so if you got off at Görlitzer Bahnhof and walked through the park, the highline and back, you are up for a pleasant 4 kilometre walk. Easy, enjoyable and so Berlin.
Berlin pretty.
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