Monday, May 18, 2015
Sunday Afternoon in the Park
On Sunday Alyssa, Robert B and myself went on a trek to look at different gardens throughout the city. We went to the flea market at Tiergarten which was near the Charlottenburg Gate. From here we headed towards the Victory Column, along the way we also stopped to see the Emperor-Friedrich Memorial Church and the Bismark Monument. My goal for this trip was to see an allotment garden and some community gardens so we made our way to the Bellevue U-bahn station. We got to see the Bellevue Palace on the way. When we got to an allotment garden near Tempelhof (there was no name for it that I saw) we walked around this area for a bit and talked with a gardener with some difficulty about how long he had his garden and where he lived. Once at Tempelhof we walked the longest runway from one end to the other. At the one end was a dog park and a community garden. This community garden was very interesting as they tried to re purpose anything they could, this includes old shoes, purses and pants. From Tempelhof we went to Prinzessinnengarten which is also a community garden. This is the one that I briefly mentioned in class that has the cafe within. It was very different from the community garden at Tempelhof.
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Those garden you found that are repurposing items are interesting. Do you think this is done as an attempt to recycle for the environments sake or maybe people who are not so well off attempting to save money and do what they can? or maybe both?
I think they are repurposing the items for both reasons, to recycle and because it is all they have. Most of the plants are in some form of movable box like a shipping crate so that they can relocate it if necessary. Especially in Tempelhof as there might be something other than a park it its future.
As for the flea market it was large but not overwhelming. When we walked into it it looked like mostly old antique like items but as we went in further I noticed more modern things as well as tourist items like magnets that we would see in the I love Berlin stores.
I ended up buying some old coins here, a franc, a 500 mark and a schilling for €1.50. I also bought a German Lego soccer player and a necklace that is a watch.
I would have liked more time at the market but as we were on a schedule because of all of the hinges planned for the day this was not possible.
The market here started at 10am and we got there around 11. It was not overly busy at that time but when we left at noon it had definitely picked up.
I think the trip that we took that day covered quite a bit of ground while still staying on track with what we aimed to look at. I was quite surprised to see how different some of the gardens were, both in terms of Allotment vs. Community gardens, but also the differences between the two community gardens that we saw as well.
I found it intriguing how they choose to use their space. For instance, in both community gardens that we visited, they used objects that wouldn't necessarily be used as spaces to grow plants, such as a hollowed-out boom box or a pair of pants filled with dirt. Even in the allotment gardens, it didn't appear as though those people had much room to work with as well, so they must have to make the best of it.
I'm also quite thankful we got the chance to explore the former Tempelhof airport as well, now Tempelhofenfeld. It was as if this large area could be used for almost anything: the dog park, bird sanctuaries, biking, roller blading, walking, running, gardening, wind surfing, and even Formula-E racing. I think this is such a unique use for this wide-open space. Overall, it was a great day!
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