Harztal-Wilde Rose and its Parzelle 25

The Allotment garden Harztal-Wilde Rose, founded in 1911, is located between North-Neukölln and Alt Treptow, in Harzer Kiez. It was originally divided in two different colonies that were assembled into one when some buildings have been built close to the Berlin Wall, which passed along the former garden’s perimeter.

Geoportal Berlin ed., (2012). Historical maps Berlin Neukölln along the Berlin Wall. 1956 (above) 1988 (below). Available at: http://histomapberlin.de/histomap/en/index.html.

Harztal-Wilde Rose is a small Kleingartenkolonie divided in 46 plots crossed by an inner path with just one access on south to Harzer Straße. The lack of a second entrance to the colony makes the inner path working only for the internal garden’s distribution and it is therefore difficult to leave the main gate constantly open to the public.

Two years ago one of the plots - Parzelle 25 (P25) - remained vacant. People from the colony decided to convert it into a community garden. P25 was established in order to promote visits and events in the allotment garden, to improve the exchange of information and experiences within the gardeners and to offer a new green space for the neighbours.

Harztal-Wilde Rose allotment garden, Berlin ©Elena Ferrari

The establishment of the new community garden has passed through different steps of negotiation between Harztal-Wilde Rose and public authorities. The main problem in the negotiation process has been the lack of a formal regulation that helps and allows the creation of new forms of urban gardening in allotment gardens.

Parzelle 25, in addition to other public events - such as 48 Stunden Neukölln - will host different initiatives in the upcoming time. The most important one is in collaboration with the school in the neighbourhood Hans Fallada-Schule, that together with the Gemüseackerdemie will run urban agriculture educational activities for the students on the P25 space.

People from the colony together with Gemüseackerdemie build part of the vegetable garden at Parzelle 25 in Harztal-Wilde Rose allotment garden, Berlin ©Frank Radix

Yesterday, 26 March, the Gemüseackerdemie started building part of the new community garden on P25 (respecting the two meters of interaction distance between people, according to COVID-19 regulations).

Harztal-Wilde Rose is opened and can be visited during the weekend. A wooden box closed to the gate is also been installed in order to collect plants from the garden that can be picked up by people that pass by the entrance.

Experts from Gemüseackerdemie build part of the vegetable garden at Parzelle 25 in Harztal-Wilde Rose allotment garden, Berlin ©Elena Ferrari

Address

Kleingartenanlage Harztal-Wilde Rose Harzerstr. 79 12059 Berlin

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