Finding Peace in Berlin: Hidden Sanctuaries

By: Rachel Fischler

Berlin is so beautiful for its calm, including millions of different people from all walks of life,  forming a beautiful weave of color and creativity. In this urban space, life squeezes its way in all the in-betweens one can conceive of. The city is very rich with meaning, a novel with boundless pages to be turned and explored. I feel closest to its heartbeat when I find the subtleties and details that are so integral to whole but easily overlooked. These ‘pauses’ allow for opportunities to see newfound beauty: revealed and undone.

“Gemeinschaftsgarten Allmende-Kontor”

Templehofer Feld, an airport turned park, is a large emerald sea in the midst of the cityscape. Vast asphalt runways and paths meander from place to place over long stretches. Many bikes whiz by, whether an athlete, a commuter, or otherwise in pursuit of the fresh air and some fun. People of all ages populate the expanse all year round. Birds sing and trees sway along the perimeter. Most beautiful of all, is the community garden, “Gemeinschaftsgarten Allmende-Kontor” on the far right of the park.

Large garden beds full of every plant imaginable reside under the canopy of lush trees and flowers. Herbs and vegetables blossom among art and sculptures of all mediums. Playful and deeply contemplative art sits side by side. If you move deeply enough into the garden, you will find a beautiful night sky of constellations is made manifest by nails and rubber bands amid a jet black backdrop. In the winter the art shines out through the muted space, and in the summer sweet aromas from violet and lavender will fill your senses in the small wonderland.

Sightlines of Viktoriapark

Viktoriapark lies in Kreuzberg, and rightly is filled with colorful contradictions and creativity, even strangeness. For one, Viktoriapark is shaped by its steep and impending hills curving the park, quite notable for such a flat city. A beautiful waterfall as if out of the forest splices the park surrounded by lush greenery and flowers. Many rocks and places to rest along the rushing water allow moments to catch the quiet beauty. The most breathtaking place of all, though, lies a few paces ahead of the Nationaldenkmal für die Befreiungskriege, or Prussian Monument for the Liberation Wars, the highest point of the park. 

A few steps behind the top of the waterfall, one is greeted with the most stunning view. Cascading splashes dance downward leading ones eyes to a most surprising perspective. As if a cross section of Berlin, there you can see farther than the mind can make sense of. The waterfall leads out of the park and straight down the street lined with varied buildings, and on and on and on. Cutting through the city—not a better view of Berlin I have ever beheld.

“Märchenbrunnen”

This is a place that has seen much love and light, you can feel it in your being as you listen to the music of splashing water and the harmony of all different sounds. The Märchenbrunnen fountain in Volkspark Fredreichshain seems transposed from a fariytable, with fantastical mythical creatures of fictitious conceptualizations carved in stone spurting water every which way. Grand stone arcs provide the chance to slump in awe of the beauty before you. 

If you allow yourself to be lured by the magic of Volkspark Fredreichshain, you will find a beautiful pond dotted by lily pads, a free outdoor movie theatre, beautiful walking paths, statues, and endless other wonders. Wandering is the sustenance of wonder, after all.

May these hidden sanctuaries bring you beauty and inspire you to find spaces that speak to you.