Berlin is by design a green city – and at Miniloft, we like to think of ourselves as a green-fingered lot. Whether it’s the roofgarden you’ll find at the top of our apartments, or the allotment our manager Andy keeps in his spare time, one of things that continually inspires us about Berlin is the creative and clever ways people manage to grow their own little oases in the city.
Berlin is primed for greenery, with a huge proportion of the capital dedicated to parks, the aforementioned allotments (known here as schrebegarten and kleingarten) and even forests just outside the city limits. But it’s the community projects (three of which we’re recommending here) that bring together people that we love to see the most – and it’s clear there are plenty of people that share our sentiment.
Lauded by many for managing to take a relatively small patch of land near Moritzplatz – once the setting for a stretch of Berlin wall – Prinzessinnengarten manages to create a productive and suitably Berlin beautiful community garden. Here, crates, milk cartons and old sacks are the home for a dizzying array of fruit, vegetables and herbs, and even beehives. With an onsite café, on a sunny day, it’s a fantastic choice for a quick stroll away from the busy streets of Kreuzberg.
Prinzenstrasse 35 – 38 / Prinzesinnenstrasse 15
10969 Berlin (U8 Moritzplatz)
Opening hours:
Open from April – October, 11am – 6pm
Garden Café open from 12pm – 10pm
Allmende Kontor
Raised beds make a little village of fruit and vegetables on the former Tempelhof airfield. Allmende Kontor is an important meetup point for many locals, who tend to their patches where planes used to take off. If you happen to stroll at the Neukölln end of the field, make sure you take a little wander through a hugely unique plot.
Allmende Kontor
Tempelhofer Feld (Herrfurthstrasse Entrance)
Pionierfeld Oderstraße
Oderstraße 54 12049 Berlin
(U8 Boddinstrasse)
Opening hours:
January 7:30 - 17:00
February 7:00 – 18:00
March 6:00 – 19:00
April 6:00 – 20:30
May 6:00 – 21:30
June 6:00 – 22:30
July 6:00 – 22:30
August 6:00 – 21:30
September 6:00 – 20:30
October 7:00 – 19:00
November 7:00 - 18:00
December 7:30 – 17:00
Interkultureller Garten der Generationen
Vegetables aren’t the only thing being cultivated here, with the Interkultureller Garten (north of Miniloft in Wedding) being an important way for local communities to come together. Run by local residents from ten different nations, the garden is part of a number of projects run from the site, including a Garden of Continents, where you can see plants growing from different countries and climates around the world.
Interkultureller Garten der Generationen
Seestrasse 74
13347 Berlin
(U8 Osloer Strasse)