As we go about our daily lives, we often forget just how beautiful Berlin really is. To feel the city’s magic again, we sometimes need to step away from the hustle and bustle and get out of the city center. Of course, the fairytale castles and estates around Berlin help us recharge our batteries, but the most spectacular views are found elsewhere. Because as soon as the noise fades away, we find ourselves high above the capital’s rooftops and have enough distance to view the city from afar, we realize just how lucky we are to have Berlin. The best place to do this is from the Wolkenhain on the Kienberg, one of Berlin’s most futuristic viewing platforms, which today stands as an architectural landmark of Marzahn-Hellersdorf.
The structure was created specifically for the International Garden Exhibition (IGA) 2017 and opened on April 13, 2017 . What makes the Wolkenhain special is its extraordinary shape: the structure looks like a floating cloud above the treetops of the Kienberg. The platform consists of around 170 steel nodes and approximately 270 tons of steel, which support a translucent, light-permeable membrane. This makes the entire structure appear light, almost transparent, and constantly changing depending on the weather or lighting conditions. At night, the “cloud” is illuminated from the inside in various colors, giving it a particularly futuristic appearance.
The Wolkenhain is located on the Kienberg in Berlin-Marzahn, which itself is about 102 meters high. Together with the platform, the viewpoint reaches about 120 meters above sea level. On a clear day, the view extends up to 50 kilometers —you can see the Berlin TV Tower, large parts of the skyline, and even Brandenburg.
The building’s architecture is also deliberately organic in design. The steel supports resemble tree trunks and branches, allowing the Wolkenhain to blend into the landscape of Kienberg Park like an artificial cloud. The project was developed by the firms geskes.hack Landscape Architects, Kolb Ripke Architects, and VIC Bridges and Engineering.
The Wolkenhain also became particularly well-known thanks to the Berlin Cable Car, which was also built for the IGA 2017 . The approximately 1.5-kilometer-long gondola ride runs from the Kienberg subway station (Gardens of the World) over the Wolkenhain to the Gardens of the World. The ride takes about five minutes and is still considered one of Berlin’s most unusual modes of transportation. Some gondolas even have glass floors.
