Beneath our feet flows a ghost of Berlin’s past. This is the story of the Eschengraben. Once a vital waterway in Pankow, it now exists mainly in memory and under the streets. The Eschengraben, named after the ash tree, once flowed freely. It started near Prenzlauer Promenade and Thulestraße. Its source was about 54 meters above sea level.
Imagine Berlin before the sprawling metropolis. Picture a landscape where the Eschengraben snaked through fields. It eventually fed into the Panke River. The Panke is a tributary of the Spree. The Spree flows into the Berlin-Spandauer Schifffahrtskanal. This canal connects to the Havel, then the Elbe, and finally, the North Sea. So, the small Eschengraben was connected to the vast ocean.
Before 1900, maps clearly showed the Eschengraben’s course. From its source, it flowed north for about 100 meters. Then, it sharply turned west, south of Hallandstraße. It wasn’t exactly aligned with the street called Am Eschengraben today. The stream crossed Berliner Straße, south of Esplanade, heading southwest. Even now, in the Bornholm II allotment garden, you can spot remnants of the Eschengraben.
The Eschengraben crossed the Stettiner and Berlin Northern Railways. It passed south of the Feuchte Winkel. The stream bordered the burial grounds of the Sophiengemeinde and Elisabethgemeinde. Flowing along today’s Gottschalkstraße, the Eschengraben met the Panke. At its mouth, the Eschengraben was about 32 meters above sea level. It had descended 22 meters over its 3.3-kilometer length. This gave it a gradient of 6.7 ‰.
After 1822, the land between the Eschengraben and the Pankpfuhl belonged to Christian Wilhelm Griebenow. His sheep farm, the Griebenow’schen Schäferei, thrived here. Until the late 19th century, the Eschengraben flowed through a natural landscape.
Interestingly, the Eschengraben once marked Berlin’s boundary. It was the edge between the city and Pankow. Before World War I, the area between Pankow and Berlin was developed for housing. The Eschengraben was mostly removed. Only a small section remained in the colony south of the Esplanade. The street “Am Eschengraben” marks part of its former path. The Eschengraben’s mouth into the Panke was near today’s Panke Basin. This is north of the French Cemetery III, west of Wollank- and Gottschalkstraße. The stream also received water from west of the Weißer See.
On November 26, 1925, a street was named after the Eschengraben. This street runs from Berliner Straße to Elsa-Brändström-Straße. From 1925 to 1927, architect Erwin Anton Gutkind built a housing complex here. He was commissioned by the “Deutsche-Gartenstadt-Gesellschaft”. This complex, “Am Eschengraben,” is now a protected monument. It represents the principles of the New Building movement.
Today, the 5th and 6th elementary schools of Pankow stand on Eschengraben. Also, the former Willner Weisse beer brewery is here. It was a local brewery from 1882 to 1990. Both the schools and the brewery buildings are under monument protection.
The Eschengraben may be hidden. Yet, it is a reminder of Berlin’s evolving landscape. It is a story of nature reshaped by urban growth. Next time you are near, remember the little stream. Remember that it once defined the edge of a growing city.