Lenné’s Vision | Grosser Tiergarten

During the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19^th century, the Tiergarten was neglected and became overgrown, with some areas turning into marshland. In 1818, Peter Joseph Lenné was commissioned to prepare a redesigned plan, as well as a cost budget, for the Tent/refreshment area of the Tiergarten. Instead, Lenné prepared multiple plans for the entire park. He referred to it as Volksgarten, or garden for the people. Frederick William III rejected both plans put forth by Lenné.

It wasn’t until 1832, when the state councilor, Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland, former physician to the King’s wife, Queen Louise, wrote to the monarch stressing the medical importance for locals to have a properly maintained area, instead of the currently overgrown park. With that, Lenné submitted a new plan and cost estimate. Again, this was rejected; however, Lenné was assigned a small project in the western part of the park. After completion, the monarch praised Lenné, and with the help of Hufeland’s appeals on the public’s behalf, the remaining six areas of the park were improved by the end of 1838. It’s important to note Lenné was very cautious about going over budget and recycled much of what he could when renovating the Tiergarten, however, he frequently had to ask for additional funds. The king was quite fond of visiting the Tiergarten and continuously agreed to supply additional funds when needed.

Between 1845 and 1850, Lenné took advantage of the natural incline between the River Spree and the park and developed a waterway to drain the wetlands of the park into the River Spree, via the Charlottenburger Chaussee. The Landwehr Canal was built with a lock to help properly drain and handle the increasing shipping traffic from the river. An irrigation system was later built when the canal began to stink from the lack of adequate outfall. In 1840, the Neuer See lake was formed, where tourists and locals could rent boats and cruise the Tiergarten. The park, originally located outside of the city, became a central location of Berlin as the city continued to grow and expand. There were few meadows within the park, and Lenné’s baroque avenues were steadily becoming overgrown, giving the Tiergarten it’s unique forestry look.