Berlin - Tiergarten

The Berlin Tiergarten (Animal Garden) - not to be confused with the Zoological Gardens or the Tierpark - was originally an Electoral hunting reserve in which deer, wild pigs and other game were preserved. Arond 1700, the Elector Frederick III began to transform the wooded country into a park and caused a road to be built connecting it with Charlottenburg Palace.

Frederick the Great had it laid out in the French style, while his successor Frederick William II converted it into an English-style landscaped park. In spite of these changes, however, much of the area of the Tiergarten remained in its natural unspoiled state. Between 1833-38, the famous landscape architect P. J. Lenné made the Tiergarten into a public park in the English style. Destroyed during the Second World War, its trees felled by Berliners seeking wood for fuel, the Tiergarten was replanted from 1949 onwards, the first tree -- a young lime -- being planted by Ernst Reuter, the first Chief Burgomaster. It is now attractively laid out with an abundance of trees and shrubs, expanses of grass and flower borders. Covering some 200 hectares/ 500 acres, it is a favorite spot for relaxation and walks (cafe by the Neuer See, rowing boats).

South of the Tiergarten was once the Diplomatic Quarter now mainly wasteland. Some of the partly destroyed villas can still be seen, such as the former Italian Embassy. What was once the Japanese Embassy has now become a Japanese-German Center. Now that the Federal Government is moving back to Berlin the Diplomatic Quarter will no doubt come to life again.

For those interested in architecture the Tiergarten has something special to offer: in its southern section, between Rauchstrasse and the Landwehrkanal, eighteen private builders have built what are known as "Eco-houses," based on ideas by the architects Frei Otto and Hermann Kendel.

Monuments

The Tiergarten contains numerous statues and monuments. Some of the older ones suffered damage during the last war and have been replaced by copies. The most notable figures are the following:

Monument to Goethe

This marble figure by F. Schaper at the east end of the park was unveiled in 1880. On the base are allegorical female figures representing Lyric Poetry (with Amor), Drama (a spirit bearing the symbol of death) and Science.

Statue of Queen Luise

The statue, in white marble (by Erdmann Encke, 1880), depicts the Queen in a long high-waisted dress. On the circular base is a high relief recalling her work for the care of wounded soldiers during the War of 1806-07. It shows scenes from military life and women tending the wounded.

Monument to Frederick William III

The monument by Frederick Drake was unveiled in 1849. The high reliefs on the upper part of the circular base depict the blessings of peace, reflecting the King's peace-loving disposition.

Memorial Tablet to Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg

On the bank of the Landwehrkanal, not far from the Lichtenstein Bridge, is a tablet in memory of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, the founders of the German Communist Party, who were murdered by soldiers in the Tierpark in 1919, following the failure of the Spartacus Uprising.

There are also statues of Emperor William I as Prince (A. Brütt, 1904), G. E. Lessing (O. Lessing, 1890), the composer Richard Wagner (G. Eberlein, 1906), the novelist Theodor Fontane (M. Klein, 1910), and a memorial to the composers Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven (R. Siemering, 1904).

Near the carillon to the south of the Congress Hall is a work of modern sculpture in bronze, Henry Moore's "Two Forms."