Hamburg Stadtpark (Hamburger Stadtpark) is a large

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...

in the district of

Winterhude Winterhude () is a quarter in the ward Hamburg-Nord of Hamburg, Germany. As of 2020 the population was 56,382. History Winterhude was first mentioned in the 13th century, but archeological findings of tools, weapons and grave-mounds were dated t ...

, in the Hamburg borough of

Hamburg-Nord Hamburg-Nord (meaning ''Hamburg North'') is one of the seven boroughs of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, in northern Germany. In 2020, according to the residents registration office, the population was 315,514 in an area of 57.5 km2. ...

. Spanning an area of , it is the second-largest park in the city after

Altona Volkspark Altona Volkspark is a large urban park in the Hamburg district of Bahrenfeld, in the borough of Altona. Ahead of Hamburg Stadtpark, it is the largest park in Hamburg. Altona Volkspark is located some 3 km off the inner city. The largest parks ...

. The Stadtpark is regarded as the "green heart" of Hamburg, despite being located some 3 km from the city centre. Opened in 1914, Hamburg Stadtpark is an important example of German

landscape design Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practiced by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice, landscape design bridges the space between landscape architecture and garde ...

and the transformation from an urban garden to an

History

Like many cities during the Age of Industrialization, Hamburg grew substantially in the later decades of the 19th century and many former open spaces had been built over. In order to counterbalance this development, in 1901 the

Senate of Hamburg The government of Hamburg is divided into executive, legislative and judicial branches. Hamburg is a city-state and municipality, and thus its governance deals with several details of both state and local community politics. It takes place in two ...

and

Hamburg Parliament The Hamburg Parliament (german: Hamburgische Bürgerschaft; literally “Hamburgish Citizenry”) is the unicameral legislature of the German state of Hamburg according to the constitution of Hamburg. As of 2011 there were 121 members in the parli ...

agreed to purchase the so-called Sierich Grove (''Sierichsches Gehölz''), and to develop an

. In 1908 a public

design competition A design competition or design contest is a competition in which an entity solicits design proposals from the public for a specified purpose. Architecture An architectural design competition solicits architects to submit design proposals for a b ...

was hosted, however, no consensus could be reached. In January 1909, head engineer Fritz Sperber presented two designs – based on the results of the competition – on behalf of the senate, one landscaped and painterly, the other geometric. In June 1909, Fritz Schumacher was made director of the city's Department of Planning and Building Inspection, and in January 1910 he and Fritz Sperber presented a design to the Parliament which was subsequently approved. The park was opened four years later, though it would be another 14 years before it was finally completed. After 1918, the gardening and landscaping work was principally carried out by Otto Linne, the first horticultural director of Hamburg. During the

bombing of Hamburg in World War II The Allied bombing of Hamburg during World War II included numerous attacks on civilians and civic infrastructure. As a large city and industrial centre, Hamburg's shipyards, U-boat pens, and the Hamburg-Harburg area oil refineries were attacke ...

, a couple of buildings within the park were destroyed, and not rebuilt after the war. Need for additional office space in the 1960s led to the development of City Nord, a decentralized

commercial district A commercial district or commercial zone is any part of a city or town in which the primary land use is Commerce, commercial activities (Retailing, shops, offices, Theater (structure), theaters, restaurants and so on), as opposed to a residential ...

located to the north-east of Hamburg Stadtpark.

Overview

The park's most famous landmark is the Hamburg Planetarium, a former

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

. At night, the tower is

illuminated Illuminated may refer to: * "Illuminated" (song), by Hurts * Illuminated Film Company, a British animation house * ''Illuminated'', alternative title of Black Sheep (Nat & Alex Wolff album) * Illuminated manuscript See also * Illuminate (disambi ...

in various colours. The 64-metre-tall brick tower was designed by Oskar Menzel and built in 1914. Since 1930 it has housed Germany's largest

planetarium A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetarium ...

. The tower is located in the western half of the park and can be reached via a 500-metre-long

avenue Avenue or Avenues may refer to: Roads * Avenue (landscape), traditionally a straight path or road with a line of trees, in the shifted sense a tree line itself, or some of boulevards (also without trees) * Avenue Road, Bangalore * Avenue Road, ...

on its eastern side. This avenue leads onto the Great Meadow (''Festwiese''), which borders onto the artificial Stadtpark Lake (''Stadtparksee''). Midway, the park is crossed by a street. Most of the park's western half and the park's edges are made up of wild woods. Around the edge of the park there are also a number of sporting grounds and sporting halls, an outdoor

lido Lido may refer to: Geography Africa * Lido, a district in the city of Fez, Morocco Asia * Lido, an area in Chaoyang District, Beijing * Lido, a cinema theater in Siam Square shopping area in Bangkok * Lido City, a resort in West Java owned by MN ...

and an athletics stadium. Dozens of playgrounds and sport facilities are spread throughout the park. The home stadium of Hamburg Rugby Club is at Saarlandstraße in the north-east of the park. In the very north-eastern corner lies the ''Freilichtbühne'', an open air stage for music concerts. The lake is connected to Hamburg's extensive network of waterways via the Goldbekkanal.

Alster The Alster () is a right tributary of the Elbe river in Northern Germany. It has its source near Henstedt-Ulzburg, Schleswig-Holstein, flows somewhat southwards through much of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and joins the Elbe in central ...

ferries run services between the Stadtpark and

Jungfernstieg The Jungfernstieg () is an urban promenade in Hamburg, Germany. It is the city's foremost boulevard. Location Jungfernstieg mostly lies within the quarter of Neustadt; however at its easternmost it stretches as far as Hamburg-Altstadt. In to ...

in the inner city. Every year in September, a vintage car race takes place at Hamburg Stadtpark ( Stadtpark-Revival). Hamburg Planetarium im Winter.jpg, Planetarium Stadtpark Hamburg Nord-Süd-Sichtachse.jpg, Lake Stadtpark Hamburg im Winter 1.jpg, Pathway Hamburg-Stadtpark.jpg, Pathway and meadows Hamburg Planetarium.jpg, Planetarium

Public art

22 privately sponsored pieces of mostly stone and bronze

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

are displayed throughout Hamburg Stadtpark. Here are some of them: Hh-stadtpark-a-bock.jpg, Diana with dogs (1911) by

Oscar Troplowitz Oscar Troplowitz (18 January 1863 – 27 April 1918) was a German pharmacist and entrepreneur. Troplowitz trained at Heidelberg University and in 1890 he purchased Beiersdorf AG, which at the time was a chemist's shop and laboratory in Hamburg ...

Diana auf der Hirschkuh Georg Wrba 2.NNW.jpg, Diana on a doe (1910) by Georg Wrba Die Badende Reinhold Begas 1.jpg, Bathing Women (1926) by Reinhold Begas Knabe mit Fischen Oscar E. Ulmer 2.jpg, Boy with fishes (1925) by Oscar E. Ulmer Wasserspeier (Richard Haizmann).jpg, Gargoyle (1930) by Richard Haizmann; original labelled

degenerate art Degenerate art (german: Entartete Kunst was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art. During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, ...

and destroyed by the Nazis, replica of 1994 Tanzende Mädchen Karl August Orth 1.jpg, Dancing Girls (1935) by

Karl August Ohrt Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austria ...

References

External links

Stadtparkverein Hamburg e.V.
(friends' association) {{Authority control Parks in Hamburg Urban public parks Hamburg-Nord Tourist attractions in Hamburg Protected areas established in 1914