Fichtepark

The Fichtepark, enclosed by the roads Bernhardtstrasse, Grossmannstrasse and Westendring, is living testimony to typical forms of garden design around the turn of the 20th century. It is understood as an integral element of the purposefully created residential district »Hohen-Plauen«.

The ensemble must be viewed in its overall structure as an historically valuable blending of urban and landscape architecture, with its ornamented park, roadside trees, open housing layout and children's playground. The proven contributions of Carl Hampel, one of the prominent garden and landscape architects of the time, add further to the importance of the Fichtepark as a monument worthy of preservation.

The 2.5-hectare park was created in 1890 as the »Westendpark«. The necessary land was donated by the Bienert brothers. Like most other historical parks, the Fichtepark underwent several development phases. In numerous areas of the park, the original design was seriously impaired over the years, and changes have had to be reversed.

The most severe of these impairments was the creation of a large open space, reflecting National-Socialist philosophy, in front of the Fichteturm tower between 1939 and 1941. Important structures of the park were destroyed. The basis for restoration has been formed by monument preservation principles, elaborated on behalf of the City Office for Green Spaces.

The regional government granted monument preservation approval for the restoration project in 1994, and in the same year assigned financial assistance amounting to 153,000 DM. Over the four construction stages, more than 1 million DM was invested, the largest share of which was provided by the City of Dresden.