Gartenstadt Flakenberg and The ADGB Trade Union School

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Gartenstadt Flakenberg

   On the southeastern edge of Berlin, near the Dahme river, a few streets of small houses are painted in colours so bold that locals nicknamed the place the paint-box estate. This is the Gartenstadt Falkenberg, or Falkenberg Garden City, designed by the architect Bruno Taut and built in the years just before the First World War. Taut believed that colour could improve ordinary lives, and so he gave the terraced houses facades of deep blue, red, ochre and green, with gardens, tree-lined lanes and a central square. It was an early experiment in affordable housing for working families, and UNESCO included it in 2008 among the Berlin Modernism Housing Estates.

   Read the complete Gartenstadt Flakenberg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Gartenstadt Flakenberg is where the day begins. Next is Berlin Modernism Housing Estates.

2. 2. Berlin Modernism Housing Estates

   Most World Heritage sites are palaces, cathedrals or ruins. Berlin got onto the list in 2008 with flats. The Berlin Modernism Housing Estates are six residential developments built between 1910 and 1933, among them the Hufeisensiedlung in Britz, shaped like a horseshoe around a pond, the Gartenstadt Falkenberg with its bright colours, the Weisse Stadt in Reinickendorf and the Siemensstadt estate. Architects such as Bruno Taut, Martin Wagner and Walter Gropius designed them to give ordinary working families light, air, green space and decent bathrooms at a time when many Berliners lived in dark, cramped tenement blocks around courtyards.

   Read the complete Berlin Modernism Housing Estates write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Berlin Modernism Housing Estates comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is The ADGB Trade Union School.

3. 3. The ADGB Trade Union School

   In the pine woods just outside Bernau, north of Berlin, a cluster of yellow brick buildings steps down a gentle slope toward a lake, and it is one of the purest expressions of Bauhaus architecture anywhere. The Federal School of the General German Trade Union Federation, known by its German initials ADGB, was designed by Hannes Meyer, the second director of the Bauhaus, with Hans Wittwer, and built between 1928 and 1930 as a training college for union officials. Every detail, from the arrangement of the dormitory wings in staggered blocks to the glass corridor that runs down the slope, was designed to encourage community, light and a healthy life. It was added to the UNESCO Bauhaus site in 2017.

   Read the complete The ADGB Trade Union School write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 58 km into the recorded legs you reach The ADGB Trade Union School. Next is back through Berlin Modernism Housing Estates.

4. 4. back through Berlin Modernism Housing Estates

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Berlin Modernism Housing Estates write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Berlin Modernism Housing Estates, late in the day. Next is Gartenstadt Flakenberg.

5. 5. Gartenstadt Flakenberg

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Gartenstadt Flakenberg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Gartenstadt Flakenberg. That is the ride.