Spreepark
Abandoned East German funfair with a rusting Ferris wheel, closed since a cocaine-smuggling scandal.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Spreepark in Berlin's Plänterwald follows Norbert Witte, heir to a German carnival dynasty, who ran East Germany's only permanent funfair after it opened in 1969 and drew up to 1.7 million visitors a year under communism. It traces the park's decline after the Berlin Wall fell, and the January 2002 night when Witte loaded six rides onto ships bound for Peru and vanished with his family, eleven million euros in debt. Desperate for money in Lima, he agreed to something far worse than debt.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Teufelsberg
Man-made hill of war rubble hiding an unfinished Nazi college under a Cold War spy station's domes.
RAW-Gelände
Graffiti-covered former railway repair yard reborn as a sprawling hub of clubs, galleries and open-air bars.
Berlin Wall Memorial
Preserved stretch of Cold War border wall, watchtowers and death strip along a memorial park and open-air museum.
Berlin TV Tower
Soviet-inspired broadcast tower topped by a mirrored sphere that famously reflects sunlight into a giant cross.
Tränenpalast
Former Cold War border checkpoint with narrow inspection booths, now a Berlin Wall history museum.
Stasi Museum
Former secret-police headquarters, preserving the minister's office and hidden surveillance devices.