Gardens as summer resorts
From mid 1800 on, wealthy citizens built their country houses with gorgeous gardens in Berlin’s suburban area in order to flee the bustle and the narrowness of the city. Villages like Pankow and Niederschönhausen situated in the Northern part of Berlin became popular locations during the summermonths. In the course of the so-called „Separation“ which rended possible new regulation of the ownership structure (private redistribution of agrarian land which was shared land until 1811 and the abolition of serfdom in Prussia), people could acquire farms and plots of land. That’s why middle-class mansions and summer residences were built around the Pankower Anger and northwards along the Ausfallstraße, nowadays called Grabbeallee. Gardens and parks with orangery, fountains and sculptures were often added as a complement. People who arranged these places were willingly geared to the natural style of Peter Joseph Lenné, gardener and landscape architect.
When Pankow and Niederschönhausen were incorporated within Berlin in 1920, a huge part of the gardens fell victim to the construction of apartments. But some of the gardens survived. Even today you can still recognise the former structure of the village with its combination of farm and country houses along the Breite Straße.
More information at the exhibition