Berlin GROSSER TIERGARTEN

The Parliamentary, Governmental and Diplomatic district of Berlin is known as Tiergarten, which is also home to Berlin's largest animal park. This park's popularity is due, in part, to its inner-city location – its centrality makes it easy to access for locals and visitors alike. Visitors to the park enjoy taking a walk there, getting some fresh air, and it is an ideal location for a picnic. Others go there to cycle, jog or play football. The area used to include a hunting ground, and nowadays it includes the Regierungsviertel, Potsdamer Platz and the Kulturforum, and the Diplomatenviertel.

The park is an ideal location for sporting activities, and Berliners frequently play football games there, as well as hold barbecues on Sundays. In the winter, it is sometimes even possible to ice skate on the park's lakes, depending on the weather. There is a large playground, the Spielplatz, which can be found in the south eastern corner of the park, near to Potsdamer Platz.   

The history of the park begins in the 16th century, when the Grosse Tiergarten (large Game Park) was used as the private hunting grounds of Great Elector Friedrich Wilhelm. From the late 17th century, the design of the park became more refined, influenced by French-inspired gardens which were used for entertainment and leisure. This was when it got its first avenues, and in 1740, public gardens were opened for the first time, by Friedrich the Great. The Brandenburg Gate, originally known as Charlottenburger Chaussee in 1698, led to the Charlottenburg Palace.

In the early 19th century, the fashionable style came from England, and in 1818, Peter Joseph Lenné, a prominent landscape architect, was commissioned to create a landscaped park out of the green area. His original designs of the Zoological Garden in the south west of the Tiergarten, which was opened in 1844, remain to this day. In the mid 18th century, refreshments were sold on a former road in the north-east of the park, named In den Zelten (in the tents), in elegant marquees.

During World War II, the beautiful buildings on the edges of the park were destroyed by bombs, and during the Nazi era Albert Speer had a grand plan for Germany which included widening the Grosser Stern and the central avenue in the park, which he renamed the East-West Axis.