Gardens of the World: Oasis of greenery in Berlin's Marzahn district

By Andreas Heimann Sep 6, 2011, 9:21 GMT

Berlin - Marzahn, a district in the eastern part of Berlin, is not exactly considered an idyll of greenery.

Nor does the area exactly rank very high on tourists' lists of things to see in the German capital. Many expect only to see massive, drab, high-rise pre-fabricated apartment blocks - a landmark of communist-era architecture.

But this is not even half the truth about Marzahn, and has absolutely no bearing at all on the Gardens of the World.

This 21-hectare oasis of green in Marzahn offers a colourful variety of gardening cultures. Those who spend an afternoon - or better yet, an entire day - here will have a chance to stroll through garden settings of many countries, from Bali to Japan, Korea to Italy, and even religions.

Visitors may in the meantime spread a picnic blanket, or grab a garden chair, on one of the many lawns for a bit of a rest and some sun-bathing.

A new attraction is the Christian Garden, just opened last April. It has a 100-metre-long ambulatory, which, like a cloisters, leads around an interior courtyard.

It's not advisable simply to quickly walk through it. What makes it special is that the ambulatory walls and ceiling, made of gold-embossed aluminium, consist of texts - from the Bible, but also from philosophers and poets - printed in large lettering. This wall made of words surrounds the ambulatory on all sides.

Especially pretty is the Oriental Garden with its roses, lilacs, palms, oleander, pomegranates and mulberry trees. The architecture is very reminiscent of Moroccan riads and of artfully-decorated mosques.

What makes it so unusual is its generous use of water - in addition to the splashing of individual fountains there are entire arcs of water shooting above a long basin whose floor is covered with decorative tiles. The name of this attraction - 'Garden of Four Streams' - is very appropriate.

The Korean Garden was a present from the city of Seoul. From a pavilion, one can scan a landscape reminiscent of Korea - with cliffs, water, bamboo shoots and pine trees. Large wooden figures called 'Zang Sung' recall the shamanic system of beliefs in ancient Korea.

It was the Chinese Garden which started it all. It took four years before it was opened in 2000. Berlin used its connections with China to gain the attraction - Beijing is one of Berlin's sister cities.

And so the Chinese not only carried out the planning for the 'Garden of The Recovered Moon,' but also delivered, by ship, a considerable portion of the construction materials and even the furnishings for a Chinese tea-house.

The blossoms are especially colourful in the Karl-Foerster-Staudengarten. It was laid out in 1987 for the Berlin Gardening Show at a time when the city was still divided between East and West.

The section was expanded three years ago. Children are often thrilled by the small pond in the middle of it because of the many water lilies and the frogs to be seen swimming among them. A chance, too, for the parents to lean back a bit and relax for awhile.