Park am Gleisdreieck

Park am Gleisdreieck covers about 78 acres (31.5 hectares) on the wasteland of the former Anhalter and Potsdamer freight yards. After the rail land sat unused for decades and wild vegetation took over, a modern city park was built between 2011 and 2014 in three sections: the Ostpark in Kreuzberg (42 acres, opened 2011), the Westpark in Kreuzberg (22 acres, opened 2013) and the Dora-Duncker-Park in Schöneberg (14 acres, opened 2014). The design deliberately kept traces of the railway past, including old tracks, ties and patches of the self-seeded "track wilderness."

Today it is one of the most popular places to unwind in western Berlin. Families picnic on the wide lawns while paved paths run through the grounds and draw skaters, runners and cyclists. There are generous playgrounds, sports and ball fields, a skate park, and quiet densely planted corners where the original scrub vegetation is still visible. The elevated U-Bahn viaducts cross above the park, and their steel structures give the place its unmistakable industrial character.

Take the time to walk the full length, from the Landwehr Canal in the north to the Monumentenbrücke in the south, since the link between the park sections across Yorckstraße is what shows the whole scale of the place. The Gleisdreieck U-Bahn station makes it easy to reach, and the surrounding neighborhoods in Kreuzberg and Schöneberg are good for a coffee afterward. On warm days the park really earns its reputation as a green refuge in a densely built city.