The spring has arrived to Berlin and everything is colourful!
The parks are already full of Berliners and tourist enjoying the beauty of the green areas of the city and not only green, as it is the blossom season.
There are many cherry trees in Berlin but what not so many people know is why …
Once upon a time Germany was divided, but one day, the wall felt and Germany was again reunited. This event inspired the Japanese television network TV Asahi, that in 1990 launched a a Sakura Campaign to collect money to plant cherry trees in Berlin as a symbol of the friendship between Japan and Germany, what nowadays is called „crowdfunding“.
It was really successful and they collect around 1million Euro and planted 9,000 trees, mostly in Berlin and Brandenburg.
Visit Berlin has created a map where you can see these trees and events related to them, like the Hanami in Mauerweg here: http://www.visitberlin.de/de/artikel/berlins-erste-fruehlings-map-berlinblossom-in-der-hauptstadt
Another event is the Kirschblütenfest (cherry blossom festival orHanami) that takes place yearly in April (16th and 17th of April 2017) in the Gärten der Welt or Gardens of the World, a place that we want to mention particularly due to its exoticism and its beauty. This event involves stages with various performing artists, martial arts displays, food and fashion.
Gärten der Weltare located in Marzan, not at all a tourist area and characterized by its blocks of communist buildings.
Originally opened in 1987 as the Berlin Gartenschau (Berlin Garden Exhibition) it was renamed Erholungspark Marzahn (Marzahn Recreational Park) after reunification, and then to Gärten der Welt, with the construction of the park’s Chinese Gardens as part of Berlin’s partnership with the city of Beijing and following with the Japanish garden and an Arabian-themed Oriental Gardens in the years after.
Thus, the Gardens are now nearly 12-hectare and have 10 different areas, including the English garden that is presented during this IGA 2017 (International Garden Exhibition). The English one is now added to the Japanese, the Balinese, the Oriental, Korean and the Christian garden and an Italian Renaissance.
The opening of the IGA 2017 takes place between the 13th and the 15th of April this year, and the IGA in general will last 186 days hosting more than 5000 events ranging from classical concerts, rock and pop and musical shows to a varied environmental education programme for young and old alike. The cable car is one of the main highlights together with the Promenade Aqua water.
More information:
Gärten der Welt: https://gruen-berlin.de/en/our-parks/gaerten-der-welt
Program of the Cherry Blossom Festival: https://iga-berlin-2017.de/veranstaltungen/kirschbluetenfest-0?tn=6277&td=0&tt=1492419600
IGA information: https://iga-berlin-2017.de/en
