Green spaces in Freiburg

Inside the park, lake Dietenbachsee is located, which was the direct result from gravel extraction for the construction of the street Westrandstraße.

One of its purposes is to protect the small stream Dietenbach, that had been re-natured during the course of the construction, from being completely absorbed by the lake in the case of a flooding.

There are several plants growing in the park, including fruit trees, dog roses, margarites, medick and knautia.

The most eye-catching element of the park is a huge sculpture which represents a water tap with a red garden hose.

South of the meadow where the sculpture is located, there is a circular flower bed with a perennial garden, a pergola with wisteria and hedges.

In the late 1990s, the park served as an alternative venue of the Theater Freiburg during the reconstruction phase of its primary location near Bertoldstraße.

[5] Since 2005, the vocational school Friedrich-Weinbrenner-Gewerbeschule has used the Eschholzpark as the location for the European Stone Festival, which takes place every three years.

Freiburg's lord mayor Joseph Brandel initiated the construction of the 43,500 m2 big Joseph-Brandel-Anlage which was completed in the late 1960s.

A memorial stone in the shape of a glacial mill, found by a business man in the Rhine close to Bad Säckingen, was set up to remember the former lord mayor.

Many different footpaths and cycle paths lead through the Park and connect it via bridge with St. Georgen (another Freiburg district).

In 1996 countless old trees were cut down to make way for the construction of a new highway (“B31 Ost”) against fierce resistance from Freiburg's population.

Since accidentally too many trees were cut down, the regional council was forced to pay the city of Freiburg a fee of €130,000.

Initially, in 1877, two artificial ponds had been created south of the train tracks for the collection of ice by the brewery Neumeyer.

The Society for Urban Beautification (Verein zur Verschönerung der Stadt), founded in 1873, suggested the creation of the park shortly afterwards.

After the First World War, the extremely unkempt park, which covers an area of 11,000 m2 (i.e. eleven hectares), was thinned out and slightly remodeled.

Since 1960, a so-called Jugendverkehrsschule, an institution for children and young adults to learn about traffic, has been located south of the Waldseestraße.

In 1966, the local county named the quarry pond Moosweiher, and in 1968, it was recultivated by the municipal parks department, by applying paths with benches, sunbathing lawns and a playground.

The geometrically designed park with a central lawn, in which Ralf Witthaus, an artist from Cologne, has tilled a pattern using a strimmer in 2011,[13] is framed by a pergola in the east.

As this place, which is close to the city center, is also frequented by homeless or addicted people, an outreach program has been set up.

Since 2008, two municipal social workers in their specially marked vehicles take care of these people two to three times per week.