South:
Osdorf / Heinersdorf
USA and Japan, and a vanished village. The inconspicuous flat land that begins just over the border with Brandenburg – formerly the GDR – is the Diedersdorfer Heide landscape conservation area. The first village fell victim to German division, the church of the other to the Second World War. A search for traces.
The wall path became the cherry blossom avenue
The former wall path and pure nature
Protected area Diedersdorfer Heide
Since Lichterfelde was located directly on the border to the former GDR until 1989, we come directly into the landscape conservation area Diedersdorfer Heide and Großbeerener Graben; i.e. nature. Fields, meadows and small forests determine the scenery – ideal for walks and bicycle tours. In addition villages with history – one of them has disappeared.
Directly behind it (from Berlin’s point of view) used to be the Osdorf cemetery. Nothing is left of the village from the 13th century: Border security measures of the GDR led to the complete demolition and forced resettlement of the approximately 150 inhabitants.
The next settlement is Heinersdorf/Großbeeren (5 km). The Hinrichstorp from 1299 experienced the most different ownership, became in the meantime knight’s estate . It was destroyed and completely abandoned during the Thirty Years’ War, only to be rebuilt. In 1813, General von Bülow gathered his troops here and on August 23 gave the attack order for the Battle of Großbeeren, through which he was able to defeat the French and beat them back altogether. A land reform in 1928 led to the incorporation to Osdorf. The manor house and church were destroyed during the Second World War. The associated church tower was blown up in 1950. The partly overgrown remains serve today as a memorial. Exactly 700 years after the first mention, Osdorf (which continued to exist administratively) merged with Großbeeren and the “district of Osdorf” was later renamed the district of Heinersdorf.
Berlin Wall path / Cherry Blossom Alley
The cherry blossom avenue has created the Japanese embassy between 1990 and 2010 corridor with one thousand cherry trees along the former border strip between Lichterfelder Allee, Marienwerder Anger and Teltow-Sigridshorst. This action had been initiated by the Japanese TV station TV Asain and citizens of Nippon donated for it in solidarity with the unification of the German people.
Japan Corner
The Japaneck (3 km), a terminus of the Kirschblütenallee (see above), is located at a prominent angle in the Berlin border demarcation and at the same time forms the transition from the Berlin urban area to pure nature. Several hiking trails cross here, such as the Jakobsweg, the Berliner Mauerweg and the Teltower Dörferweg.
Due to the donation of Cherry Blossom Avenue, this pointed corner is now called Japaneck.
Parks Range / Dough City
The U.S. Army used the site as a military training area from 1953 to 1994 under the name Parks Range, named for the first sector commander Major General Floyd Lavinius Parks (1896-1959). On the site, which was expanded to 70 acres in 1975 on Osdorfer Street, in Doughboy City, but popularly known as ‘U.S. Ghost Town,’ the armed forces practiced house-to-house combat, including a faithfully recreated subway station. The area was marked only in white on Western maps, while the NVA had detailed maps of it. Since the 1990s, part of it has been used by the Holderhof riding community as open pastureland.
Please understand that text and photos will be posted gradually, since research and recording require a not inconsiderable amount of time. – Accordingly, look in again soon! Thank you!
Osdorf
The Lichterfelde-Ost train station (1.5 km) was inaugurated in 1868. The entrepreneur Johann Anton Wilhelm von Carstenn had deliberately purchased land along the Anhalter Bahn (since 1841), which cut through the impoverished estate village of Giesensdorf, for his idea of a garden city before the metropolis of Berlin, in order to have an immediate connection to the center.
The historian Jens Leder, himself a resident of Lichterfelde, has done more in-depth research on the site that was razed to the ground. His book “Osdorf – Osdorp – Oßtorff” can be ordered directly from the following website:
Village church Heinersdorf
Im J
Please understand that text and photos will be posted gradually, since research and recording require a not inconsiderable amount of time. – Accordingly, look in again soon! Thank you!