Surroundings & days out

Biesdorf Palace Park is just 400 metres from the holiday home and invites you to enjoy long walks in summer or winter. Discover the former home of the Siemens family and a park with Marzahn’s oldest and largest continuous stand of trees. Biesdorf Palace was built in 1868 as a residence for the owner of the Biesdorf estate.

In 1887, Freiherr von Rüxleben and Baron von Bültzingslöwen sold the palace to Werner von Siemens for 1.2 million Reichsmarks. He transferred it to his son Wilhelm in 1889. Between 1891 and 1898, Wilhelm expanded the park to 14 hectares and redesigned it in the English landscape style fashionable at the time. Local legends tell of Siemens experimenting with wireless telegraphy on the palace tower and testing Germany’s first electric railway in the park.

Biesdorfer See is only a ten-minute walk from the holiday home. At approximately 60,000 m², it is Berlin’s largest former gravel-pit lake and a popular destination for walkers. Parts of the shore have been landscaped as sunbathing areas, with play and relaxation areas, seating, a volleyball court and table tennis tables. Large loungers offer a comfortable spot to enjoy the view over the lake.

Biesdorf also offers cycling and walking routes along the River Wuhle. The Wuhletal walking trail starts at Ahrensfelde S-Bahn station, passes through Biesdorf and ends in Berlin-Köpenick after more than 15 kilometres.

Marzahn-Hellersdorf is one of Berlin’s greenest districts. Gardens of the World, with traditional themed gardens from Asia, Europe and the Orient, plays a major part in this. The gardens form part of the 21-hectare Berlin-Marzahn recreation park, offering both outstanding garden design and relaxation in one of Berlin’s most beautiful green spaces.

The extensive grounds include walking paths, meadows, landscaped areas such as a rhododendron grove, perennial and herb gardens, and flower beds with seasonal planting. There are also play and sunbathing lawns, quiet seating areas and a variety of playgrounds. The park also has a cable car covering a total distance of 1.5 kilometres.

Built for the International Garden Exhibition (IGA), this attraction offers wonderful views over the park and Marzahn.

Tierpark Berlin is one of Berlin’s two zoos. Situated in Friedrichsfelde in the east of the city, just four kilometres from the holiday home, it covers 160 hectares and is Europe’s largest landscape zoo. It was established following the division of Germany after the Second World War. Berlin Zoo was in the British sector, leaving East Berlin without a zoo of its own.

Tierpark Berlin became known beyond the city for its African elephant breeding programme. Its gardens emphasise its parkland character. The grounds have gradually expanded from an initial 60 hectares to 160 hectares.