Kleist grave at the Kleiner Wannsee Restoration of the Kleist grave in terms of garden monument preservation and landscape planning

Grabstein © NN

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Entwurf © 2011 bwp

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Perspektive © 2011 bwp

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Grabkuppe © bwp

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Eröffnung © bwp

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Grabstein © NN

Entwurf © 2011 bwp

Perspektive © 2011 bwp

Grabkuppe © bwp

Eröffnung © bwp

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Heinrich von Kleist's death, Heinrich von Kleist's tomb at Kleiner Wannsee was reopened to the public on 21 November 2011 after extensive garden monument conservation and landscape planning restoration.
The focus of the work is the comprehensive restoration of the Kleist grave itself. Among other things, the gravestone will be restored and reinscribed, the lattice surrounding the gravesite restored and completed, the path to the grave made barrier-free, the planting revised and carefully supplemented in a naturalistic manner. On the shore, the visual connections to the landscape of the Großer and Kleiner Wannsee were already carefully uncovered in winter.
In order to better integrate Kleist's grave into the cultural landscape, the shore path from the landing stages at the Großer Wannsee will be continued barrier-free under the Wannsee Bridge and thus under Federal Road No. 1 to Bismarckstraße. In the process, an interesting and at the same time near-natural green space will be created on areas that have partly been unused and neglected since the end of the war. Prunings from the construction will be completely piled up on site in a hedge-like manner in order to preserve previously existing retreats for plants and animals.

The restrained, more naturalistic emphasis on the grave and green area has made the grave surroundings an enchanted place in recent decades. The Kleist grave at the Kleiner Wannsee should therefore be presented in an appropriate way, in a landscaped design of the surroundings and staged and reorganized for the visitors. For this purpose, it is necessary to consider and evaluate the existing properties between Königstraße, Kleinem Wannsee and Kleist's grave in terms of cultural history and open space planning.
The immediate grave surroundings of the memory of Henriette Vogel and Heinrich von Kleist does not require a new elaborate grave monument from a landscape architectural point of view and should be largely left in its current appearance. The memory of the last hours in the life of Heinrich von Kleist can still be authentically conveyed at this location.

From Königstraße, the visitor should in future be guided to the grave via a curved path leading through the landscape. This connection, which is to be skilfully placed, creates a new barrier-free path to the place of remembrance and to the shore at Kleiner Wannsee. During the planning process it turned out that this direct path is currently not feasible. For this reason, the planning was modified in such a way that the property of the student rowing association is not taken up. The new connection provides a barrier-free path to the Place of Remembrance. The connection to the shore at Kleiner Wannsee will be established via stairs.

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Planning offices

Bode - Williams + Partner
Berlin

Project period
2010 - 2011

Client
Landesdenkmalamt Berlin - LDA 25 -
Städtebauliche- und Gartendenkmalpflege
Klosterstraße 47
D-10179 Berlin

Cornelsen Kulturstiftung
Mecklenburgische Straße 53
D-14197 Berlin

Landesdenkmalamt Berlin - LDA 25 -
Städtebauliche- und Gartendenkmalpflege
Klosterstraße 47
D-10179 Berlin


Cornelsen Kulturstiftung
Mecklenburgische Straße 53
D-14197 Berlin

Address
Königstraße / Bismarckstraße
14109 Berlin
Berlin

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Project type
Redevelopment of (historic) open spaces