Before 1859 the Eichberg was primarily covered in oak trees. It was part of the Woltersdorfer Heide. Imagine Berlin acquiring the Woltersdorf estate in 1487. They hoped to find limestone deposits in the Eichberg similar to those in Rüdersdorf. Sadly this hope proved unfounded.
The Eichberg is a ridge located between the Brandenburg municipality of Woltersdorf and the Berlin district of Rahnsdorf. It covers an area of approximately 60 hectares. The Eichberg forms part of the southern edge of the Barnim plateau. It is situated in the southwest of Woltersdorf’s town center and in the far east of Berlin. The ridge continues towards Rahnsdorf with the Grenzberge and the Püttberge in its southwest.
Its relative height is up to 45 meters today. Naturally it was 35 meters. It consists of three main ridges forming a triangle. The highest natural elevation until 1902 was the Eichberg in the east at 71 meters. The Eichberge were formed as an end moraine during the penultimate ice age.
After the sale of the Woltersdorf estate in 1859 the Eichberg was completely deforested. It was subsequently sold to the state. On September 9 1873 it was merged with the Köpenick state forest. In 1902 the Woltersdorf entrepreneurs Piper & Starcke leased an area. They mined gravel and sand there. At the same time a tree nursery by Julius Kaschub and the garden city Schönblick were established on the northern slope. The nursery closed in 1912. The area between the village and Schönblick was parceled out. Since 1915 most of the Eichberge have been protected under the long-term forest contract.
By the 1980s gravel mining in the Eichberge was exhausted. The western Eichberge were almost completely eroded. From 1986 onwards the mining area was used as a landfill for construction rubble and recycling material. The landfill grew in the following years. This was due to the demolition of garden colonies in Marzahn and Hellersdorf. Large housing estates were built there. Numerous demolition projects in reunified Berlin also contributed. The rubble came from buildings up to 100 meters high. Today the Eichberg offers stunning panoramic views. Though officially inaccessible from the Berlin side its beauty remains captivating.