Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
one of the ex-GDR's best-known rock bands, in a satirical dig at the social hierarchy
of the workers' and peasants' state. Today, it's a pleasant, very middle-class borough,
focused on the large shopping street
Breite Strasse
, and is most attractive for the belt
of parks - the
Schlosspark
,
Bürgerpark
and
Volkspark Schönholzer Heide
- that lies a
block or so to the north.
Breite Strasse
At the junction of Berliner Strasse and Breite Strasse, on a mid-road island that used to
be the village green, is the
Alte Pfarrkirche
, Pankow's parish church and oldest building.
It dates back to the fifteenth century but was extensively restored in 1832, a project in
which Schinkel had a hand, resulting in an unusual-looking neo-Gothic jumble. At
the western end of
Breite Strasse
, at the end of the main strip of chain stores and
boutiques, is the early-twentieth-century neo-Baroque
Rathaus
, a red-brick affair of
fanciful gables, towers and cupolas, with a good
Ratskeller
- a traditional German
restaurant -
in its basement.
Museum Pankow on Heynstrasse
Heynstr. 8 • Tues, Thurs & Sun 10am-6pm • Free •
T
030 481 40 47 • U- & S-Pankow
While Berlin's workers could hope to afford lodgings such as those at Zimmermeister
Brunzel (see p.135), the city's wealthy could aspire to apartments like this one,
beautifully preserved as a branch of
Museum Pankow on Heynstrasse
. Formerly the
apartment of factory owner Fritz Heyn - who was important enough to have the
street named after him - it is quite the bourgeois palace. Showy chandeliers preside
over heavy furniture, while scores of decorative Prussian touches - eagles, prints of
Bismarck - are all part of the rich over-decoration. None of this extends to the
servants' quarters around the back, of course.
8
Schloss Schönhausen
Tschaikowskistr. 1 •
Palace
April-Oct Tues-Sun 10am-6pm; Nov-March Sat & Sun 10am-5pm • €6
Garden
Daily 8am-sunset • Free •
W
spsg.de • S- & U-Pankow
North of Breite Strasse is the
Schlosspark
, in whose leafy grounds lurks
Schloss
Schönhausen
, former home of Elisabeth Christine, the estranged wife of Frederick the
Great. he Schloss was built at the beginning of the eighteenth century and given an
extensive but run-of-the-mill face-lift in 1764. During GDR days it could only be
admired from a distance, as it served first as o
cial residence of GDR president
Wilhelm Pieck, from 1949 to 1960, and then as the old regime's most prestigious state
guesthouse. Since then it has been revamped and reopened to visitors who can admire
some of the original royal residence interiors; the o
ces of the GDR's president; and
the suites of its most honoured guests. he palace is also surrounded by a slightly
dreary 1950s-era garden that you're free to wander around.
Volkspark Schönholzer Heide
he heath-like
Volkspark Schönholzer Heide
is Pankow's most impressively wild park.
In its southwest corner lies a humble
cemetery
, a burial ground for civilians who died
in the final days of the Battle of Berlin. Most are women or children and for many the
dates of birth and death, and in some cases even names, are unknown, a stark reminder
of the many untold stories that are lost in the dehumanizing chaos of war. In contrast is
the grandeur of the huge
Soviet cemetery
, at the northwestern edge of the park. Here
dozens of communal graves contain the remains of 13,200 soldiers killed during the
same battle. Military hierarchy is observed in death as in life, with o
cers occupying
the central lower tiers and privates around the fringes of the grounds.
