Park am Gleisdreieck is where I usually go every morning to walk, or run, with my dog. She loves the open green fields, and I like all the different activity stations. I am really happy that I love so close to such a big and beautiful park.

The park itself is quite new, and I believe that parts of it are still under construction, but there are still so many options for things to do! Some of the new playgrounds are really cool, with great designs and materials that I have never seen used before in such a setting. There is a balance course, with various moving footholds and some rocking or shifting springs underneath to test your ability to adjust your weight. There is an incredible skate park, where I see kids – and adults – doing impressive tricks on skateboards and with small bmx bikes.

My favourite part of the park is the overhead train tracks. At night the yellow U2 and U1 lines stand out against the purple backdrop of the sunset, and I feel like I’m in a commercial for something fancy and aesthetic. Or a music video. It’s that striking.

My boyfriend looked up the history of the area on wikipedia, and he found that the name Gleisdreieck comes from the fact that the U-bahn lines were originally built to meet at Gleisdreieck in the shape of a triangle – a drei – eck – three corners! – however there was a horrible accident and two trains collided and fell partially off the raised tracks. As a result, the station was rebuilt, and now is more properly a Gleiskreuz, but, well, wasn’t renamed.

The park also crosses over Yorckstraße, and extends through some forested area towards Monumentinstr. Here the forest is growing over some older train tracks, and the crumbling ruins of some brick train stations. I believe that these tracks are the remains of the old Amrumer bhf, that was one of the main stations from which deportations from Berlin were conducted. As I walk or jog over these tracks, I am aware of this other history and my own incredible privilege by comparison.