Treptower Park

Treptower Park is a park along the river Spree in Treptow, in the district of Treptow-Köpenick, south of central Berlin. The park is a popular place for recreation of Berliners and a tourist attraction. It was also used for the concert given by the British Rock Band Barclay James Harvest on the 14th July 1987, which was the first ever open-air concert by a Western Rock Band in the former DDR [ [http://www.bjharvest.co.uk/bjh-biog.htm Barclay James Harvest Biography ] ]

Soviet war memorial

Its prominent feature is the Soviet War Memorial (sometimes translated as the "Soviet Cenotaph"), built to the design of the Soviet architect Yakov Belopolsky to commemorate the 20,000 Soviet soldiers who fell in the Battle of Berlin in April-May 1945. It was opened four years after the war ended on May 8, 1949.

Spreepark

Within Treptower Park, there can be found an abandoned amusement park, known as 'Spree Park - Berlin'. The amusement park operated from October 1969 to 2001.

The owner of Spree Park, Norbert Witte went bankrupt and left Germany rather abruptly. He took several of the park's rides including the Jet Star and Fun Express with him to Peru where he was to open a small park called Lunapark at Jockey Plaza in Lima, Peru. Some of the rides were damaged in transit and then followed by legal discussions of who would pay for the damages.

In the later half of 2002 there are reports that Mr. Witte has returned to Germany.

One reason Mr. Witte has stated for the failure of Spree Park is the lack of parking. Spree Park is located in a protected forest so one cannot simply cut down the trees and build a parking lot.

In 2004, the owners of Tivoli Gardens purchased Spree Park and have said they wish to invest up to 200 Million euro in the park. It would become a combination of a leisure park, culture centre and marketplace. It could reopen as soon as 2005 and be called "Spree-Garten".

References

External links

* [http://www.treptowerpark.de/ Website der Bürgerinitiative Treptower Park]
* Rollercoaster Database - [http://www.rcdb.com/pd347.htm Spree-Park Info]

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