The first Eisenhüttenstadt nature trail was discovered by the "AG Hütte Neu & Schön für Jung & Alt" during research on the "Rose Hill". This is located on the right hand side at the exit of the town towards Diehlo and offers peace and quiet and interesting information about the local botany. The entire route also leads through exciting parts of the Eisenhüttenstadt area monument.
Start / Finish: Zentraler Platz 1
Length / Duration: about 8 kilometers / about 2 hours
Directions
The circular route of the nature trail begins at the Trinkbunnen (monument) in front of the town hall, from where you follow Pawlowallee to the Eisenhüttenstadt Municipal Hospital. To the right you continue along Freidrichs-Engels-Straße into Maxim-Gorki-Straße, where you will find the Gesamtschule III on the left.
At the end of the road, turn left and follow the L43 for a few meters until you turn right into the "Rosenhügel" recreation area, where the actual nature trail begins, which runs for about 1,3 kilometers through the area. Here, goldfish ponds surprise visitors with huge rhododendron bushes, mirabelle trees, and blueberry bushes. If you linger on one of the numerous benches, you might catch a glimpse of the kingfisher. In total, there are about 11 partially dried-out ponds, an insect hotel, and numerous educational boards to discover.
Useful information: In collaboration with ArcelorMittal trainees, the “AG Hütte Neu und Schön für Jung und Alt” (New and Beautiful Steelworks for Young and Old) created a special work of art. A rose was made from steel and attached to an existing base on the grounds of the Rose Hill.
The path is a particular attraction because knowledge of botany, zoology, geography and forestry can be refreshed and acquired as one passes by. Nature lovers appreciate the rich flora and fauna around Eisenhüttenstadt.
At the end of the nature trail, turn left onto the L43 and reach the Eisenhüttenstadt open-air stage. Following the road for about a kilometer, you return to the socialist planned city and discover another highlight: the Gartenfließ. It is located on the edge of Diehloer Straße and is a small green area with many sculptures in the open space.
At the end of Gartenstrasse, turn right into Saarlouiser Strasse and then immediately right again into Heinrich-Heine-Strasse. Here, too, there is a small green area that leads directly back to Makim-Gorki-Strasse. Follow this for almost a kilometer to Erich-Weinert-Allee, passing the Eisenhüttenstadt Municipal Hospital again on the right.
On the left side of Erich-Weinert-Allee is the Museum of Utopia and Everyday Life (formerly DOK-Zentrum; "Documentation Center for Everyday Culture of the GDR") in the building of the former Nursery II. In a permanent exhibition on everyday culture and the history of the GDR as well as regular special exhibitions, the history and everyday life of the GDR can be discovered and experienced.
Useful information: The building was opened after 1954 as a kindergarten or nursery II. The right wing served as a nursery until 1994. The left wing still houses a day care facility today. The main building was converted into a documentation center in the mid-1990s and renovated in stages.
After this exciting excursion, we will go through the residential complex of the area memorial to the Square of Remembrance. The square was originally called the Square of German-Soviet Friendship (DSF). In the middle of the square is the Soviet memorial for the prisoners of the Stalag III B prisoner of war camp. Under the obelisk there are three burial chambers with the bones of the dead. They were originally buried on the site north of the present-day city and were reburied here when the steelworks was built.
Useful information: The granite of the obelisk was originally intended for Hitler's plans to transform Berlin into the world capital Germania. The stones were stored in the port of Fürstenberg (Oder) and were used in the 1950s for the obelisk and the walkways of the main road, among other things.
Then turn left into Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße. At the end of this street you will come to Lindenallee. If you follow the street to the left, you will pass the Friedrich-Wolf-Theater and the tourist information office on the right. Here you can get excellent advice on site and also book special tours, for example with a ride in a nostalgic Trabi through the area monument.
Following the Lindenallee, you pass various sculptures as well as the Lindenzentrum, which was built in 1959/60 as a textile store and is now used as the "Lindenzentrum" office and commercial building. The main tenant is the city library.
Useful information: The wall mosaic at the Lindenzentrum by Walter Womacka is already the second mural there. The first mural showed a red and white plaster work of the "Hüttenwerker" by Johannes Hansky, who later also designed the city coat of arms of Eisenhüttenstadt, and was created on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Stalinstadt in 1960. It was replaced in 1964 by "Produktion im Frieden" (Production in Peace).
At the end of the Lindenallee you stand in front of the former "first house on the square" - the former Eisenhüttenstadt hotel for guests from western countries or important guests from within the country.
The Hotel Lunik was built between 1960 and 1963. In contrast to the residential complexes I - III in classic masonry construction and the residential complex IV in large block construction, the hotel is a reinforced concrete skeleton structure, only the extension with kitchen and café was built in classic masonry.
In addition to over a hundred beds for overnight stays, the Lunik had a restaurant, a concert café, a night bar and a wine bar. In the 1980s, the mezzanine also housed one of the city's three Intershops.
Useful information: The name Hotel Lunik was chosen on March 4, 1960 as part of a competition. Other suggestions were Hotel International and Hotel Glück Auf.
Finally, you just cross the Straße der Republik and end up back at the drinking fountain (monument) in front of the town hall.
