I went for a run in Tiergarten this morning. I don’t know if it was the endorphins my body released due to running or the beautiful linden, oak, and chestnut trees – but by the end of it, I was feeling something more than a runner’s high.
Tiergarten is more than a park. It’s an urban forest. 210 hectares of forest in the middle of Berlin. Before it was absorbed by the city, the area that became Tiergarten was a natural forest. Throughout its history, it was used as royal hunting grounds and as a landscaped public park.
It’s the most beautiful place in the core of the city. (in my opinion)
A promise of lichens and moss in the middle of burnt hydrocarbons.
I have been to Tiergarten millions of times: to read, to sleep, to drink, to write, to cry. Alone, with friends. To gossip, to hug, to lie, to kiss, in moments of bliss. By bike, by foot. Wearing sandals, wearing boots. Drank beer, drank wine. Layers of memories. Not as many as the leaves on the trees but plenty enough for my own tree.
Tiergarten itself has many layers. Human, animal, mineral, and floral nature. It’s incredibly rich. Then again, Berlin is rich in nature. With more than 20,000 kinds of animals and plants, Berlin is one of the richest cities in the world in terms of biodiversity, the only real currency of our otherwise bankrupt future.
Many wild animals reside in the thick forest of Tiergarten, especially rare birds like howls, falcons, buzzard-eagles, turtles, Canadian geese, Mandarin ducks, and many others.
There are more than 50 different species of trees, including a 350-year-old oak tree that has survived two wars. However, it doesn’t hold the title of the oldest tree in Berlin. That belongs to Dicke Marie, or Fat Mary, in Tegel forest. She is thought to be between 800 and 900 years old, making her the oldest tree in Berlin and even older than the city itself.
During World War II, the Tiergarten was a battlefield. Amid the severe winter of 1946 Berliners cut down most of the trees in Tiergarten to procure firewood. Only 700 survived of the 200,000 centuries-old original trees. The remaining trees stand out as impressive features of the forest and witnesses of a different time. They host a large number of animals, many of them endangered.
Tiergarten is like a living memory book of Berlin’s past, reflecting its many chapters: once a floodplain, then a royal hunting ground, later transformed into a forest with grand Baroque structures.
A space where humans and wild species and conflicting histories coexist in close proximity.
It has been a stage for Nazi displays, a battlefield in World War II, and even a source of firewood and farmland in times of crisis. After the war, it was rebuilt. Tiergarten harmonises diverse elements: a bustling ecosystem, echoes of history’s grandeur, and reminders of decay. It’s both inclusive and chaotic, inviting interpretation and sharing. Tiergarten shows what the future might be like, offering life in the middle of city challenges.
Am I exaggerating? Maybe. Blame it on the runner’s high.