Natur Park Südgelände

A trip to the Südgelände Nature Park is always a journey of discovery. Once opened as part of the Expo 2000 world exhibition, the park on the site of the former Tempelhof marshalling yard fascinates visitors with its unique combination of old railroad technology, wild nature worthy of protection and art. From the very beginning, the park has stood for the successful transformation of a former industrial wasteland into a special kind of nature park. Originally planned by artists and landscape architects, visitors to this unique park, the first of its kind, stroll between the present and the past through partly untouched nature, which constantly reveals surprising new relics from days gone by.

Located directly at Priesterweg S-Bahn station, the 18-hectare green space stretches almost as far as Südkreuz. After the station was finally shut down in 1952, nature gradually reclaimed the territory and gave rise to an impressive diversity of species. In 1999, the Südgelände Nature Park was designated a landscape conservation area and parts of it a nature reserve.

Railroad history is omnipresent everywhere: in addition to tracks, points and rail lines, water cranes, lamp posts, a steam locomotive and one of the oldest turntables in Germany have been left in the park. Together with the steel water tower and the old bridge maintenance depot, the almost 5,000 m² locomotive shed is part of a listed complex.

In 2022, the jury of the Italian Benetton Study and Research Foundation based in Treviso (Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche, Treviso) recognized Berlin's urban nature and the Natur Park Südgelände as a "bridge between ecology, art and urban culture" with the International Carlo Scarpa Prize. The international award, which has been presented annually since 1990, recognizes outstanding places in terms of landscape architecture that relate nature-related, historical and design values in a special way and bring them to life.