page_title: Volkspark Friedrichshain
section_title: Post-1945 Reconstruction
hierarchical_section_title: Volkspark Friedrichshain / History / Post-1945 Reconstruction
caption_attribution_description: English: In 1989, a Japanese Pavilion which included a Peace Bell dedicated to unity against nuclear war was constructed in between the two Schuttberge as a gift from Japan to East Berlin.
context_page_description: Volkspark Friedrichshain is a large urban park on the border of the Berlin neighborhoods of Friedrichshain and Prenzlauer Berg. The oldest public park in Berlin, at 52 hectares, it is also the fourth-largest, after Tempelhofer Park, Tiergarten, and Jungfernheide.
context_section_description: At the end of the war Berlin was divided into four parts by the Allied Powers, and the Volkspark resided in the Soviet Sector.  The reconstruction of the park was therefore undertaken by the German Democratic Republic (GDR).  A plan was devised by Reinhold Linger, the GDR director of landscape and park architecture, to create two small artificial mountains in the park out of rubble from the bombed-out city.  (Similar projects were undertaken throughout postwar Germany, and such peaks are called Schuttberge in German.)  In 1946 the bunkers were destroyed, filled, and covered by over two million cubic meters of rubble from the ruins of destroyed buildings.  The larger of the two hills became known as both "Mont Klamott" and "Großer Bunkerberg", the "tall bunker mountain", and is 78 meters tall.  The smaller hill, "Kleiner Bunkerberg", the "small bunker mountain", has a height of 48 meters.  With the passage of time and the growth of greenery, the hills now appear to be completely natural features.
  The park continued its evolution during the cold war.  An open air theater was constructed at the southern end of the park in 1950, and after recent renovation remains open today.  In preparation for the 3rd World Festival of Youth an Students two pools were constructed during the period from 1949–1951. The complex included a 5-meter deep pool for diving, and an 8-lane, 50-meter long swimming pool, along with stands for up to 8000 spectators (Karl-Friedrich-Friesen Stadium). Around 1963, the swimming pool received a collapsible mobile roof that allowed for winter use, although the roof was incorrectly constructed as it was too low. School swimming events, competitions  training took place at the stadium, and it also served for other mass events such as Hauff and Henkler's appearance during the 10th World Festival of Youth and Students in 1973. Due to the conditions of the pool basins and degradation of the bleachers, the facility was demolished in 1999. Only the four lantern pillars of the western gate remain, which were made in the workshop of Karl Souradny in 1951. In GDR times a youth recreation camp existed in the park, the Indianerdorf (Indian village).
  In 1989, a Japanese Pavilion which included a Peace Bell dedicated to unity against nuclear war was constructed in between the two Schuttberge as a gift from Japan to East Berlin.
  The period from 1995 to 2004 saw a period of renovation and reconstruction, during which the Fairy Tale Fountain was cleaned of a great deal of vandalism that had taken place following German reunification.  The swimming pools built in the GDR period have been replaced by a sports complex for beach volleyball, rock climbing, skateboarding, and cycling.
caption: The Peace Bell, given to East Berlin as a gift from Japan.
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