Why this ride
192 km from Zehlendorf to Zehlendorf, about 3 h 34 of riding. On the way it passes Gartenstadt Flakenberg, Siedlung Schillerpark, The ADGB Trade Union School and back through Siedlung Schillerpark.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf and The ADGB Trade Union School · 192 km from Zehlendorf
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 192 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 34
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf → Gartenstadt Flakenberg
26 km on Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf → Gartenstadt Flakenberg.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 26 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf
Bright colours were a weapon for Bruno Taut. The architect believed that good housing could change people's lives, and in the 1920s he designed several large housing estates in Berlin for working and middle class families, with light, airy flats, gardens and shared green spaces. The Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf, better known as Onkel Toms Hütte, Uncle Tom's Cabin, after a nearby inn and the underground station, was built between 1926 and 1931 on the edge of the Grunewald forest, and Taut, working with other architects, painted the houses in strong reds, greens, blues and yellows, so that the estate glows among the pine trees. It is one of the great monuments of modern housing in Germany.
Read the complete Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf is where the day begins. Next is Gartenstadt Flakenberg.
2. 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 comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Siedlung Schillerpark.
3. Siedlung Schillerpark
Siedlung Schillerpark is a block of red-brick housing in Berlin's Wedding district, and it is easy to ride straight past without grasping what it is. It was designed by Bruno Taut, one of the great figures of German modernism, and built in the later 1920s as the first of the new housing estates that Berlin's reform-minded councils and cooperatives raised to give working families light, air and a balcony. Today it sits among the six Berlin Modernism Housing Estates on the UNESCO World Heritage list. It is modest in scale, with long brick walls, rounded corners, small balconies and clear colour, and its calm is the point.
Read the complete Siedlung Schillerpark write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 60 km into the recorded legs you reach Siedlung Schillerpark. Next is The ADGB Trade Union School.
4. 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
The ADGB Trade Union School, about halfway. Next is back through Siedlung Schillerpark.
5. back through Siedlung Schillerpark
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Siedlung Schillerpark write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Siedlung Schillerpark sits at 117 km, about halfway. Next is back through Gartenstadt Flakenberg.
6. back through 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 through Gartenstadt Flakenberg comes up about 164 km into the recorded legs. Next is Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf.
7. Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf closes the day.
Leg by leg
Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf to Gartenstadt Flakenberg
Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf → Gartenstadt Flakenberg is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gartenstadt Flakenberg to Siedlung Schillerpark
Gartenstadt Flakenberg → Siedlung Schillerpark is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Siedlung Schillerpark to The ADGB Trade Union School
Siedlung Schillerpark → The ADGB Trade Union School is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The ADGB Trade Union School to back through Siedlung Schillerpark
The ADGB Trade Union School → back through Siedlung Schillerpark is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Siedlung Schillerpark to back through Gartenstadt Flakenberg
back through Siedlung Schillerpark → back through Gartenstadt Flakenberg is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gartenstadt Flakenberg to Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf
back through Gartenstadt Flakenberg → Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.