Green Facts
- The public green areas cover more than 30% of the city area. Numerous public green areas including parks, gardens and urban squares offer inhabitants and visitors various opportunities for relaxation.
- Tiergarten in the heart of the city is one of the most popular parks in Berlin. On the weekend many people use the 210-hectare park for walks, cycling or picnics. The restaurant "Café am Neuen See" is open throughout the year and in the summer extends an invitation to refreshments in its large beer garden.
- The idyllic Pfaueninsel (Peacock Island) is located on the Havel between Berlin and Potsdam. A ferry takes you to the 98-hectare island which boasts an impressive array of garden landscapes and buildings from the late 18th century. The Lustschloss (Pleasure Palace), with its romantic, white façade, erected in 1739 by King Friedrich Wilhelm II based on a medieval model is particularly appealing. In 1990 the island was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- Several rivers, including the Spree and the Havel, with a total length of 180 kilometres make their way through Berlin and give visitors an opportunity to experience the city from the water.
- Since reunification in 1989 the city boasts two zoos: one is located in downtown Berlin, the 35-hectare Zoologischer Garten which is said to have the largest number of different animals and to be the oldest zoo in Germany as it opened in 1844. The other more spacious zoo (Tierpark) in the eastern part of the city extends over some 160 hectares.
- "Berlin is the city in Germany with the largest number of bird species," remarked Josef Reichholf, Professor for Nature Conservation in Munich during the Berlin Nature Conservation Conference. Berlin's varied urban landscape is highly conducive to rich biodiversity: it is home to approximately 25,000 animal and plant species; 7,000 of them are on the Red List of Threatened Animals.
