The deer garden Erfurt
A mirror of the times
The Hirschgarten as we know it today was created over several centuries by demolishing several streets.
The urban open space between the State Chancellery and the former Germania department store has existed since 1733. Since red deer were kept there in the early days, the name “Deer Garden” was established for the area. There are also other explanations for the name, but the fact is: the area was made accessible to all Erfurters in 1780.
A peculiarity at a time when parks and gardens are reserved for a privileged minority. This eastern part of the Hirschgarten then reflects the respective era over decades. Before the French occupation at the beginning of the 19th century it was turned into a botanical garden. Napoleon's troops used it as a military camp. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1871, a monument with French cannons adorned the square, which became the “Square of the SA” in the Third Reich and after 1945 took the name “Square of German-Soviet Friendship”. It is the latter name in particular that leads to renewed demolition activities: the SED leadership thought in the 1970s that a “house of culture” for the working class associated with the Soviet Union would do very well in a place with such a name. To achieve this, the Regenbogengasse will be completely demolished and the Eichengasse will be partially demolished.
But times change faster than construction takes place: in the last years of the GDR, a shell of the cultural center was built, which was no longer built after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Many people in Erfurt still remember this as a “ship lift”.
New times also bring about new plans for the deer garden. The western area in particular arouses desire. After all, there was a shell building there including a construction pit at the beginning of the 1990s. Why not build a department store there or rebuild the theater? Ultimately nothing comes of the development. An open space is created, which largely consists of a playground.
There are also lovingly created and maintained beds with numerous flowers:
The Hirschgarten has remained true to itself over the centuries: it remains a mirror of the times. Maybe it's his proximity to power. With today's State Chancellery, the Mainz Lieutenancy, the Prussian Regional Council as well as American and Soviet Command and the Council of the Erfurt-Land District, there is always a prevailing moment in the neighborhood. Who can escape that?
