Ernst-Thälmann-Park

[1] It was laid out in 1986 at the site of a former coal gas plant and named after the former Communist party leader Ernst Thälmann (1886–1944).

In honor of Berlin's 750-year jubilee, the East German government drew up plans for an "inhabited park", including a memorial, a public pool, a planetarium, a school, and a housing estate for 4,000 residents.

The soil and groundwater were extensively contaminated with cyanides, phenols and tar that had to be cleared by excavation and bioremediation after German reunification.

Today the park features public houses as well as art galleries and a small theatre at the former administrative building of the gas plant.

The 14 m (46 ft) Ernst Thälmann bronze monument was created by Soviet sculptor Lev Kerbel between 1981 and 1986.