Kleingärten

Riding the S-bahn back and forth to classes and out exploring the city, something that I saw flashing past the window intrigued me. Though I knew that parks and green spaces abound in Berlin, I wasn't sure just what these big plots of gardens and rows of tiny houses were.

On a field trip with one of my professors, we rode past one of these places on a train and I finally inquired about what they were. I learned that they are called Kleingärten (little gardens) and that they exist as little oases around Berlin as a means for city residents to keep gardens, spend time outside, and maybe grow their own food when the weather permits.

Historic Kleingarten - Image accessed from Jstor

The idea of food security was actually the basis for Kleingärten to be created. During the industrial revolution Europe, the living conditions were anything but ideal for residents of increasingly urbanized environments. The idea of Kleingärten was implemented by city administrators, churches, or employers to allow residents to grow food for themselves while isolated from agricultural systems outside of the city.

This strategy for solving agricultural isolation continued to be significant through WWI, serving as a way for city residents to survive war-time rationing and shortages. This is similar to the "victory gardens" popularized in the US during this time as well, specifically in reference to helping the war effort. This history has given Kleingärten a special place in German city life. Today there are over 833 Kleingarten complexes in Berlin alone.

Currently however, Kleingärten are being reevaluated in light of some of the new challenges of urban life in Berlin. Because of the re-privatization of public housing and a significant decrease in government subsidized housing across the city over the last few decades, affordable housing in Berlin has become harder and harder to find. This leads many people to look at Kleingärten and question their significant use of city land and the fact that they are specifically zoned as non-residential structures and areas, meant only for tool storage or a weekend get-away.

As the structure of the city changes, with new development and the continuing filling of cultural and structural gaps between the old East and West Berlin, Kleingärten, which existed initially to serve the health and wellbeing of the urban working class may shift in structure and practice to continue this service under new circumstances.