Berlin, October 2nd, 2019. Update: October 18th, 2026 (The Berlin Spectator) – Living in Berlin or visiting the rather active and loud city requires a break now and then. Both residents and tourists will feel a lot better when they have a little quietude in between. Berlin has 188 parks and public gardens many of which offer that kind of surrounding and atmosphere.
Sure, there are the enormous Tiergarten park, the nice Treptower Park at the Spree riverbank, Volkspark Friedrichshain and other famous ones. But there is only one spot like Körnerpark. It is a little refuge in the partially hectic Neukölln borough.
Berlin’s Körnerpark has water features including fountains, neatly trimmed paths between its lawns, little statues and a colorful flower garden. It seems like a château park, also because of the former orangery on its western end. All of this makes Körnerpark a special place.
A Park in a Hole
This applies even more because of its position. Since the park is located five to seven meters (16 to 23 feet) below the street level, hardly any street noise will be audible down there.
So, why on Earth would anyone dig a huge hole for a park? Because it used to be a gravel pit, meaning the hole was already there when the area was converted into a park.
The former owner, Franz Körner, gave the gravel pit to the town of Rixdorf, which used to be located here, as a present in 1910. He told them he wanted a park which carried his name. That is how it happened. In 1916, the conversion was completed. Now, there was a park designed in a neo-baroque style.
Because the park is on a lower level than the streets and apartment buildings around it, it has retaining walls on three sides. Stepping on the very well-kept lawns is forbidden, but Berliners mostly ignore those big signs. Some individuals even leave all of their trash right there on the grass.
Refuge of Quietude
Party people consume countless bottles of beer and hard liquor at Körnerpark. Well, they need something to flush those potato chips down their throats. Their waste sometimes piles up around the park’s trash cans, especially in spring and summer. But, in spite of this aspect, Körnerpark is the place to be.
Until 2008, the spot was right in the approach path for aircraft landing at Tempelhof Airport. But since the latter was closed to air traffic, Körnerpark became the refuge of quietude it originally was. The calm vanishes temporarily when gardening crews are on site with their leaf blowers that sound like a Boeing 747 at full throttle.
The park’s former orangery now accommodates the ‘Galerie im Körnerpark‘. Recently, an exhibition presented a collection of interesting art prints. Then, they showed art objects that made the gallery look like a construction site, to some. Modern art can be hard to identify.
Next door, at the Organgerie Café, they offer delicious looking brunches, but also coffee and cake. Sitting on that terrace overlooking the former gravel pit is priceless.