Bezirk Berlin: Schöneberg-Tempelhof

Population: 335,060

Sub-districts: 6

Schöneberg

Friedenau

Tempelhof

Mariendorf

Marienfelde

Lichtenrade

Tempelhofer Feld | Tempelhof Field

These former airport grounds were, in 2008, repurposed as a 368-hectare large public park. Since then, through the project known as Tempelhofer Freiheit (Tempelhof Freedom), they have comfortably grown into the role of the Schöneberg-Tempelhof hangout.

Following the information boards around the grounds from the Colombiadamm entrance one soon realises that things here weren't, however, always so easy. The on-site Colombia-Haus, for instance, was in 1936, Berlin's first concentration camp. When the Tempelhof Airport was extended for military use, also in 1936, it became the world's largest building, absolutely intended to demonstrate the magnitude of the Nazi machine. Further, the supplies that kept the Western sectors of the Hauptstadt alive during the Berlin Blockade of 1948-49 were delivered here by air.

The space is now home to football and baseball pitches, basketball and tennis courts, a skate park, wild grassland conservation areas, community allotments and bike polo courts. In between all of this are maintained lawns where people sunbathe, read, listen to music and also designated barbequing areas. In between the Colombiadamm entrance and the Tempelhof S-Bahn entrance there is even an inexpensive mini-golf course with eighteen holes designed by eighteen different local artists, who used only reclaimed materials.

The real highlight of Tempelhofer Feld though is the 6km of runways, with still visible aviation directions and more recently painted sprint interval markings. Here the sun-faded black tarmac is filled with in-line skaters, skateboarders and cyclists that push to take off on the straight 2km long strips. The sky is pocked with kites that pull, with surprising vigour, the even more adventurous – most of them wittingly – along the asphalt. There really are few places better, in the middle of a city, to test your flight capabilities.

At the Tempelhof S-Bahn entrance sit small huts ready to facilitate your exploration of the area in pretty much any wheeled form you can imagine: roller-skates, go-karts, trikes, unicycles, Segways, electric scooters and tandems. Town bikes can also be rented here – €6 for 60 minutes – just make sure to bring €50 and a form of ID as deposit.