Why this ride
184 km from Zehlendorf to Zehlendorf, about 3 h 54 of riding. It goes by way of Museumsinsel, Gartenstadt Flakenberg, Berlin Modernism Housing Estates and The ADGB Trade Union School.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf and The ADGB Trade Union School
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 184 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 54
- 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
Museumsinsel → Gartenstadt Flakenberg
The ride follows Museumsinsel → Gartenstadt Flakenberg for 20 km.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 20 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 Museumsinsel.
2. Museumsinsel
The northern tip of an island in the Spree in the middle of Berlin holds five museums that between them cover about six thousand years of human history. The Museumsinsel, or Museum Island, grew out of a decision in the nineteenth century by the kings of Prussia to build a cultural centre in the heart of the capital, and the buildings, in neoclassical and neo-baroque style, were added one by one until the 1930s. UNESCO listed the ensemble in 1999. Among the treasures are the Pergamon Altar, the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, and the bust of Queen Nefertiti, which sits in the Neues Museum.
Read the complete Museumsinsel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Museumsinsel comes up about 14 km into the recorded legs. Next is Gartenstadt Flakenberg.
3. 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
about 34 km into the recorded legs you reach Gartenstadt Flakenberg. Next is Berlin Modernism Housing Estates.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is The ADGB Trade Union School.
5. 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 sits at 95 km, about halfway. Next is back through Berlin Modernism Housing Estates.
6. 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 comes up about 130 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Gartenstadt Flakenberg.
7. 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
about 150 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Gartenstadt Flakenberg. Next is back through Museumsinsel.
8. back through Museumsinsel
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Museumsinsel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Museumsinsel, late in the day. Next is Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf.
9. 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
The route ends here after 184 km.
Leg by leg
Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf to Museumsinsel
Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf → Museumsinsel is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Museumsinsel to Gartenstadt Flakenberg
Museumsinsel → Gartenstadt Flakenberg is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gartenstadt Flakenberg to Berlin Modernism Housing Estates
Gartenstadt Flakenberg → Berlin Modernism Housing Estates is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Berlin Modernism Housing Estates to The ADGB Trade Union School
Berlin Modernism Housing Estates → The ADGB Trade Union School is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The ADGB Trade Union School to back through Berlin Modernism Housing Estates
The ADGB Trade Union School → back through Berlin Modernism Housing Estates is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Berlin Modernism Housing Estates to back through Gartenstadt Flakenberg
back through Berlin Modernism Housing Estates → back through Gartenstadt Flakenberg is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gartenstadt Flakenberg to back through Museumsinsel
back through Gartenstadt Flakenberg → back through Museumsinsel is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Museumsinsel to Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf
back through Museumsinsel → Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.