Bahn Agriculture, district Berlin e.V.

On April 1st, 1918, the local office Berlin Westend was founded as part of the small railway farmers' association, Berlin district. The association initially consisted of the Gleisdreieck group (later Westkreuz) with 20 lots and the Lerschpfad group (at the old Luisenfriedhof II) with 13 lots. Later the other groups joined them. The first board of directors included the allotment garden friends Mr. Ernst Donath as chairman, Mr. Richard Krüger as secretary and Mr. Willi Horn as cashier. In 1924/25 the construction of the Westkreuz station began, so the Gleisdreieck group had to be partially dissolved. Due to this fact, the board decided to reclaim the area of ​​the so-called slag hole. This area consisted of heaped waste materials (mainly slag) from the railway company. A small number of railroad workers had already made a few beds and planted bushes there. With the approval of the Reichsbahnbetriebsamt and the Westend railway maintenance office, the area was parceled out. The size of the parcels was 200 - 500 square meters. Footpaths and rail-free access were created In 1928, the Schlackenloch group was connected with the approval of Works Office 2, which already existed between the RT signal box and the Nordringbrücke (Flenderbrücke). Little by little the group Schlackenloch came into being. In the course of 1928/30 the group Gleis 89 with 15 lots was created on the edge of the freight yard Charlottenburg - east side - 1945 the first chairman, Mr. Ernst Donath died. The office of 1st chairman was taken over by Mr. Richard Krüger. In 1958/59 the construction of the autobahn expressway planned by the Senate began. Since the expressway stretched along the S-Bahn, the area of ​​the Westend sub-district had to be used to a greater extent. In 1959, the Lerschpfad group had to clear 16 parcels and the Schlackenloch group 12 parcels and 5 in part. In total, the Westend sub-district had to be completely abandoned for the construction of the expressway and 7 had to be partially cleared. In 1961, 20 parcels of the Westkreuz group were assigned to the subdistrict Charlottenburg. Through the initiative of the chairman in 1961, in lengthy negotiations, it was possible to fill the swamp hole in the Schlackenloch group. This enabled 8 new plots to be created. After consultation with the Reichsbahnbetriebsamt and the Westend railway maintenance office, the fallow land was leveled with sidings 93, 94 and 95, so that a further 22 plots could be developed here. The construction water pipeline, connection Fürstenbrunner Weg, which led through the municipal nursery, was taken over by the Westend subdistrict to supply the plots with water. For his great services in the development of the Westend sub-district, the chairman, Mr. Richard Krüger, was awarded honorary membership of Eisenbahn-Landwirtschaft, Bezirk West-Berlin e. V., awarded. For health reasons, Mr. Krüger resigned from his position as chairman and handed over the sub-district to his successor, Mr. Rudi Horn, on March 6, 1964. On November 12, 1965, Mr. Horn had to resign from his post for health reasons. Mr. Karl Bartkowiak was elected as chairman. In 1968/69 the tenants laid a new water pipe. The greatest difficulty was laying under the tracks of the Charlottenburg freight station while the railroad was running. On April 4th, 1970 the chairman, Mr. Bartkowiak, did not stand for re-election. The long-time auditor, Mr. Kurt Lohrke, was elected as his successor. After all permits had been obtained, the plots belonging to the groups Schlackenloch and Lassenberg were connected to the Bewag power grid in 1974/75. In 1982 the entrance tunnel to the colony was illuminated. A new board was elected at the general meeting on March 23, 1979. The chairman, Mr. Kurt Lohrke, and the cashier, Mr. Wolfgang Reetz, remained in office. Mr. Hermann Gödicke asked the assembly for understanding that he was no longer running for the post of secretary after having worked for the association for 20 years. Mr. Hans-Jürgen Hückler was unanimously elected as successor and deputy chairman. The area under the city motorway (Rudolf-Wissel-Brücke) was given to us in 1984 by the Senate of Berlin, Bridge Construction Office, for maintenance and expanded as a children's playground and festival area. The group of platform 89, which had shrunk to four gardens, was dissolved in 1984. Our club house was planned in 1986, the foundation stone was laid on May 2nd, 1987, the topping-out ceremony on July 4th, 1987, and the approval by the building inspectorate took place on September 8th, 1988. The clubhouse was built through the joint work of almost all tenants. At the general meeting on March 9th, 1991 the chairman, Mr. Lohrke, did not stand for re-election for health reasons. Even the cashier, Mr. Wolfgang Reetz, no longer made himself available. The long-time secretary and deputy chairman, Mr. Hans-Jürgen Hückler, was elected as his successor. Ms. Edeltraut Giering became the new secretary and Mr. Rainer Pischel was elected as the cashier. In 1991/93 1.5 km of paving slabs were laid on the sandy sidewalks; three garages were purchased, which were converted into a bar ("beer can") and storage room for club materials and children's party equipment. In April 1993 the expansion of our club house began, which ended on November 19th, 1994 with the inauguration ceremony. After an arbor burglary on March 31, 1994 in lot 8, at track 121, burglars set fire to the arbor. The arbor burned down to the ground. The fire brigade summoned could no longer save anything. The ramshackle staircase to the top of the mountain was replaced by a new one - opening on May 6, 1995 - after a tenant fell seriously in the fall of 1994. Due to the relocation of the track system between Westend and Spandau, the 3 gardens in the Tiefer Grund I area had to give up a 2 meter strip in 1996 for a new supply shaft. The tenants were compensated. Due to the renovation of the Westend - Jungfernheide S-Bahn line, the sidewalk in the area of ​​plot 1 was reduced from 1.30 m to 0.50 m. At the general meeting on March 22nd, 1996, Mr. Pischel did not stand for re-election as cashier. Mr. Hückler was re-elected as chairman. Ms. Giering was newly elected to the board as cashier and Mr. Stefan Heidrich as secretary. Between 1996 and 2000 the Federal Government planned the Transrapid on the access road to the colony. The colony would then have no access to parking spaces (next parking space 3 km away) and so the tenants took part in many popular initiatives against the Transrapid. The board was involved in the planning. On February 5th, 2000 we learned of the federal government's decision that the Transrapid would not be built. Unfortunately the sub-district suffered a second tragic arbor fire on February 10, 2001. Here the arbor, including the small animal enclosure, burned down on plot 75, in the runoff mountain group. The tenant was a pigeon breeder and kept a few rabbits. All 120 pigeons and all rabbits fell victim to the fire. Here, too, the called fire brigade could no longer save anything. The cause of the fire could not be clarified. At the beginning of February 2001, DB AG began to renovate the tracks for the ICE from Fürstenbrunn to Jungfernheide. Our main water line, which ran under the iron bridge at plot 1, should be cut here. On December 6th, 2001 - after difficult negotiations with the construction management - the penetration through the embankment, the laying of the main water pipe and the construction of a water shaft by the DB AG took place. In April 2002, 200 meters of PE water pipes were laid because the old iron water pipe was ailing and overgrown. On July 10th, 2002 a hurricane caused great damage over our city. Our sub-district was also affected in all three groups. Several trees were uprooted and strong branches were broken off. There was considerable property damage. At the general meeting on February 25, 2005, Mr. Heidrich resigned as secretary. Mr. Stefan Wolfkamp was elected as the new secretary. At the general meeting on 03.03.2006, after 4 years, Mr. Hückler and Ms. Giering were confirmed in their offices. Mr. Wolfkamp no longer made himself available as secretary. Mr. Olaf Domroese was elected as the new secretary. Since the completion of the main station in May 2006 and the associated timetable change, rail traffic with the ICE, regional and freight trains next to our gardens has increased significantly. A carport roof was erected on the fairground in August 2006 in order to be better protected from heavy rain at our summer festivals. Vivico Real Estade GmbH Berlin sold 5 gardens of Group 3, platform 121, to Mr. Karl-Heinz Laukens with effect from August 1st, 2008. The new owner plans to build a driving range on the property and terminated the gardens at the end of 2009. The land was cleared in December 2009 and handed over to the owner. Furthermore, the owner has terminated the water supply, which is located on his property for the remaining 5 gardens of group 3, track 121 and 46 gardens of group 1, Schlackenloch. The water supply lines were closed by a specialist company from the sub-district. A satisfactory solution was found for the water supply for both groups. On 01.01.2012 the Ubz. Split Moabit. Our Ubz. gets 28 parcels and five partial areas from the Ubz. Moabit added. The three groups of the Moabit subdistrict were split up. Group 1, Westhafen, took over the Ubz. We were assigned HuL, Group 2, Spree, and Group 3 Fürstenbrunn. The main part (Spree group) with 23 parcels lies from east to west between Rohrdammbrücke and Wiesendamm and from north to south between the railway tracks and the hiking trail next to the Spree. Three gardens are opposite our entrance on Fürstenbrunner Weg 93, the remaining two gardens and three partial gardens are between the Ruhwald colony and the tracks. Two further areas are located on the tracks of the Tiefer Grund I colony, on the right behind the stage at the fairground. The gardens that remained in the care of the subdistrict after the sale of the gardens of Group 3, platform 121, were handed over to the owner, Mr Karl-Heinz Laukens, on December 11, 2012. The tenants only had to take the movable things out of the arbors. What will become of the site is not yet certain. Conclusion: In our colony, young and old feel very comfortable between the train tracks, the city motorway, the Fürstenbrunner Graben and the vicinity of the castle park. We offer all the prerequisites for a varied environment with morning pints, children's and summer parties, a children's playground and a variety of options for walks along the Spree to the lock, to the Charlottenburg Palace Park and to the Ruhwald Park.