Historical Park: A Fusion of Recreation and Remembrance

Udo Hubert Dagenbach Glada-Berlin's Innovative Approach to Memorial Design

The Historical Park, located on the grounds of the former Prussian prison in Berlin, is a testament to the ability of design to convey history and evoke memory. The prison, which was used to capture and torture political prisoners during World War II, was largely destroyed in 1958, leaving only the outer wall. Udo Hubert Dagenbach Glada-Berlin was contracted to design a park that would serve both as a recreational space and a memorial.

The design team, led by Dagenbach, used land and minimal art to tell the story of the prison. The star-shaped buildings of the prison are represented through a series of elevated and sunken grass sections and hedges. A concrete cube symbolizes the prison's central observation area, forming the heart of an architectural garden. The park's architectural elements are made of sandblasted, beige-coloured concrete, matching the joints of the old brick wall that remains from the former prison.

The park covers an area of roughly 2.8 hectares, with about 330 meters of the old prison wall restored. The design includes a sound installation in a prison cell, which plays poems from prisoners and knocking sound codes when a visitor enters the cell. A poem from a former prisoner during the Nazi Period is inscribed on the inside of the prison wall.

The project, which began in 1990 and was completed in 2007, was a long process of public and internal discussion. The challenge was to tell the history of the prison while providing a recreational landscape. The design team succeeded in creating a space that allows visitors to receive as much information as they wish, relying on the impression of the architectural and vegetative elements.

The Historical Park is a unique example of how design can be used to convey history and evoke memory. It is a testament to the innovative approach of Udo Hubert Dagenbach Glada-Berlin and his design team, and a worthy recipient of the Golden A' Landscape Planning and Garden Design Award.