Volkspark Friedrichshain:
Fairytale Fountain, Walks & Why Berliners Love This Park
Volkspark Friedrichshain: Facts at a Glance
Where?
Between Friedrichshain and Prenzlauer Berg — right along Landsberger Allee in Berlin.
Address: Am Friedrichshain 1, 10407 Berlin
Getting there?
From Alexanderplatz station, take tram M4 for a few minutes and get off at “Am Friedrichshain”. Alternatively, take M5 or M6 to “Platz der Vereinten Nationen”.
Best time to visit?
The best time to visit Volkspark Friedrichshain is between spring and early autumn — when the Märchenbrunnen, open-air cinema, lawns and bunker hills show most clearly why the park is part of summer for so many Berliners.
Since when?
Since 1846, making it Berlin’s oldest park. Volkspark Friedrichshain was Berlin’s first public municipal park.
Size?
Around 49 hectares.
Highlights?
Märchenbrunnen · Mont Klamott · viewpoints · open-air cinema · climbing rocks · swan pond · beach volleyball · lawns · Cemetery of the March Fallen · playgrounds
Is Volkspark Friedrichshain Worth Visiting?
Yes — especially if you’re not looking for a landmark but for a place where Berlin simply happens.
Volkspark Friedrichshain combines history, walks, views, leisure, family life and a surprising amount of calm right in the middle of the city.
Why Are There Hills in Volkspark Friedrichshain?
The hills in Volkspark Friedrichshain are rubble hills.
After the Second World War, blown-up bunkers and debris from destroyed Berlin were covered with soil and turned into green spaces.
Today, people sit there watching the sunset — often without knowing what they’re actually sitting on.
Alright, friends,
this is probably the park of my childhood.
Not in some big dramatic way. More in the way places in Berlin slowly become part of your life.
School trips. Reading outside instead of sitting in class. Lying around on the grass somewhere. Discovering things. The water playground.
At some point, you suddenly realise you’ve been to a place more often than you thought.
I grew up around Warschauer and Volkspark Friedrichshain was simply part of that.
And to this day, I still have the same quick thought in certain parts of the park:
Damn — I’ve actually been coming back here for decades.
Not every summer. Not every week.
But every now and then.
And somehow, the park still feels surprisingly unchanged.
The History of Volkspark Friedrichshain Didn’t Start with Leisure
Today, the park feels like something that has always been there.
But when the idea first came up, it was actually pretty modern.
In 1840, Berlin’s city assembly decided to create a public park in the eastern part of the city.
Back then, there were hardly any public green spaces. Parks were either representative spaces or reserved for certain groups.
The idea came from Peter Joseph Lenné.
The vision: a park for the people of the city.
Not for nobility.
Not as a palace garden.
Not as a backdrop.
Construction began in 1846. The park was later designed by Gustav Meyer — one of Lenné’s students.
That made Volkspark Friedrichshain Berlin’s first public municipal park.
When you walk through the park today, it’s easy to forget.
You see families, joggers, volleyball courts.
But originally, there was quite a political idea behind it:
A city doesn’t belong only to buildings.
A city needs shared spaces.
And maybe that also explains why the park still works so well today.
If you're interested in developments like this: in the blog about Berlin’s city centre, this was exactly the question — how Berlin actually grew.
Why Volkspark Friedrichshain Has Seen More History Than Most People Realise
Only a few years after opening, the park took on a completely different meaning.
In 1848, the March Revolution reached Berlin.
People took to the streets demanding freedom, political participation and change.
After the barricade fighting, the victims were buried in the new park.
That’s how the Cemetery of the March Fallen was created.
Today, it’s easy to walk right past it.
But in reality, this place is one of the most important memorial sites in the history of German democracy.
Later, more layers were added.
Hospital construction.
Extensions.
Monuments.
The GDR.
And eventually, war.
The Second World War changed Friedrichshain dramatically.
In 1941, large flak towers were built inside the park.
After the war, the structures were demolished.
Rubble Hill: Mont Klamott
Then something very Berlin happened:
People took the rubble of the city and simply piled it up.
Does that happen to remind you of Teufelsberg and the former listening station?
That’s how the two hills were created.
The Great Bunker Hill.
The Small Bunker Hill.
Or as Berliners eventually started calling them:
Mont Klamott.
And I think that name describes Berlin pretty well.
A little broken.
A little humour.
And somehow, people keep going.
A Walk Through Volkspark Friedrichshain
Volkspark Friedrichshain isn’t the kind of park you tick off.
It works better if you just start walking.
The western side usually gets busy first.
People sit by the water.
Kids run around.
Someone is celebrating a birthday on a picnic blanket.
Then, pretty suddenly, one of the park’s best-known landmarks appears.
The Märchenbrunnen.
As a kid, I always tried to match the different fairy tale characters.
But a few minutes later, the atmosphere changes again.
Wider paths.
More open lawns.
Less noise.
Then somewhere, ducks.
The small lake.
That little island.
People reading.
Others grilling.
And in summer, this typical Berlin leisure scene starts to appear:
Someone’s playing volleyball.
You hear music somewhere.
Someone brought a disposable grill.
Someone is jogging with serious motivation.
And right next to them, someone has been lying in the shade for the last three hours.
If you're more into art and urban spaces, check the atmosphere at the East Side Gallery — or on a smaller scale, at the North Side Gallery.
Later, the park becomes more active.
Running routes.
Beach volleyball.
Skaters.
Climbing rocks.
And at some point, you almost automatically end up at the top.
On one of the hills.
Looking out over Berlin.
Not spectacular.
But surprisingly beautiful.
Small fun fact:
In early planning stages, there were ideas to build the TV Tower in the area around Volkspark Friedrichshain.
Today, that feels almost absurd.
But at the same time, the idea fits Berlin surprisingly well.
The Märchenbrunnen: One of the Most Beautiful Places in the Park
The Märchenbrunnen is one of those places almost every Berliner knows — even if many forget the name.
Between 1902 and 1913, a huge fountain complex was built here under city architect Ludwig Hoffmann.
It was originally intended for working families and children.
And you can still feel that today.
It doesn’t feel like a monument.
It feels usable.
Frogs.
Water.
Figures.
Children.
I used to come here a lot.
And at some point, part of every visit became the same:
Guessing the characters.
Who’s that?
Snow White?
Little Red Riding Hood?
Hans in Luck?
Today, you notice how beautifully the whole place was actually designed.
As a kid, none of that mattered.
Back then, all you wanted was to find the next character as quickly as possible.
And honestly, that’s probably the biggest compliment a place like this can get.
If you're visiting with family, I’d pretty clearly put this park in the same conversation as Gardens of the World — just far less staged.
Why the Climbing Rock in Volkspark Friedrichshain Suddenly Got Smaller
I used to go to the climbing rock a lot with my family.
And I still remember pretty clearly how huge it felt to me.
Now I walk past it and think every single time:
Was it really the same one?
Of course it was.
It’s just that memories sometimes grow faster than concrete.
The graffiti-covered climbing rock is still one of those places where you can clearly see what this park actually is.
Not perfect.
Not particularly spectacular.
But used.
Right next to it: sport.
Kids.
People sitting on top.
Someone trying the same boulder move for the third time.
And nobody acts like this is an event.
That’s exactly why it works.
Similar to RAW-Gelände, a lot happens here — but without a big programme.
Freiluftkino Friedrichshain: Films Flickering Between the Trees
One of my favourite thoughts about Volkspark Friedrichshain is still the open-air cinema.
Because if you think about it, it’s completely absurd.
You’re sitting in the middle of a park.
A screen in front of you.
Trees behind you.
Somewhere, someone is rustling a bag of popcorn.
Someone brought blankets.
And suddenly, an ordinary Wednesday evening turns into summer.
Freiluftkino Friedrichshain has been part of Berlin summers for decades.
And I think places like this are exactly what make the difference.
Not landmarks.
Routines.
And if you’re ever looking for a quiet date in Berlin, I’d honestly recommend places like this over the classic tourist lists.
Volkspark Friedrichshain: Is It Worth Visiting?
I think for almost everyone.
Not because it’s Berlin’s most beautiful park.
Not because it has the best views.
Not because it’s spectacular.
But because it does a lot of things at once.
Kids.
Friends.
Sport.
Quiet.
History.
Summer.
Being alone.
And maybe that’s exactly its strength.
Volkspark Friedrichshain doesn’t feel like a place you visit.
It feels like a place Berliners use.
If you want to keep walking through the eastern part of the city afterwards, a lot of people eventually end up heading towards Oberbaumbrücke.
Others continue towards Tempelhofer Feld or look for free places in Berlin.
But Volkspark itself doesn’t really need a next stop.
It works pretty well on its own.
Berlin isn’t a sightseeing attraction. Berlin is a city.
See you in the honest Berlin — or here in the next blog.
Take care 🖤
Most images in this article are sample images and do not come from the places visited.
Check out our blogs on the history of Berlin.
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