As the temperatures rise again, our desire for outdoor activities, swimming fun and simply spending time outdoors is also growing. While it’s still summer and some of you still have a few vacation days left, we can recommend some great water parks in Spain and Portugal – the weather is almost never crazy there. However, if you prefer to stay in Berlin, you can find great parks in and around Berlin in our overview. However, one real Berlin highlight among the leisure and amusement areas is missing: Spreepark Berlin. It is currently undergoing extensive restoration work, which may take some time, but promises great things. In GDR times, it attracted around 1.7 million visitors a year and was considered a real landmark with its 45-metre-high Ferris wheel.
The history of the Spreepark
The park first opened in 1969 as “Kulturpark Plänterwald” and covered 29.5 hectares – the only permanent amusement park in the GDR. After reunification in 1991, it was redesigned under Norbert Witte into a western-oriented amusement park – with water landscapes, roller coasters, a western and an English village as well as an entrance concept. However, the visitor numbers from the GDR era (around 1.7 million annually) could not be maintained: in 2001, the park only had around 400,000 visitors. High debts eventually led to insolvency and the final closure in 2002. Witte shipped six rides to Peru and the park rapidly fell into disrepair. Between 2009 and 2014, there were guided tours and occasional events, including the Café Mythos – a small excursion café in the Spreepark. In 2014, the city of Berlin officially took over the site.
Restoration & future concept
Since 2016, the project has been in the hands of the state-owned Grün Berlin GmbH, with the aim of transforming the Spreepark into a cultural and nature park. Work began in 2020: The famous 45-metre-high Ferris wheel was sent to Poland for restoration – this measure alone cost around 6.4 million euros. In May 2023, the Eierhäuschen with beer garden (approx. 6500 m², 360 seats), playground and snack bar was opened, marking the first visible sign of the Spreepark’s return to use.
Further construction work followed last year, including the new jetty, the expansion of the path network and the start of work on the foundations of the Ferris wheel. Since April of this year, large-scale renovation work has been underway, including the reconstruction of the Ferris wheel. Completion of the new park is scheduled for 2026-2027. The future Spreepark will no longer be a classic leisure park, but a space for art, culture, nature, history and adventure. The budget initially includes 45 million euros, but the total costs could ultimately amount to up to 70 million euros.