6 October 2007 - Hans-Baluschek-Park

Dave, a friend of mine, has repeatedly encouraged me to visit Priesterweg Bahnhof, but somehow I had never got around to going there. One fine day in October, I went on a whim.

It didn't start out very promising. The actual Priesterweg Bahnhof is old and empty, with just grafitti showing that people still pass through. The neighbouring park is long, flat, narrow and featureless, with just a few weeds and a rusty strip of metal in the ground to catch my interest.

However, once you cross over the railway tracks into the nature preserve part of Hans-Baluschek-Park, things change dramatically. The rails are no longer used, and have been used in creative ways to make paths and places to sit, as well as a nice exercise area.
After the initial part, there is a strip where grafitti artists do their best (as opposed to the usual scribble kids drawing their tags everywhere; highly annoying), in an area more or less left alone for this purpose. I walked past some kids in action, but decided not to photograph them directly, since I don't know what the actual rules are.

At the of this, the park takes a 120°ree; turn left and continues through an orange bridge to an old depot. If you exit Priesterweg Bahnhof at the other end from where I came, and go under the rails, you end up here right away.

The old railway buildings have been turned into an art project area, with various projects for teenagers inside (while I like the idea, the art on display didn't catch my interest, so you don't see any here), and a sculpture area outside, with various work made from railway leftovers.
Heading back towards the initial entry point, on a parallel path, you come past a nice old locomotive, which sadly is no longer in use, has no instruments, and even the outside of the wheels have been painted over. If this locomotive was put into functioning condition again, it would be simply stunning.
Finally, there is a nature area which you may not even walk on, through which a metal walkway has been laid for people to walk on. At the extreme end, the trail joins the initial trail, and I got one final image of a birch tree in the middle of the rails.

The Hans-Baluschek-Park is a really nice area with some great initiatives, and I would highly recommend at least one visit. Thanks Dave!