Hessepark

Did you ever imagine a park named after its last private owners? Here in Blankenese, we stand before Hessepark, a green oasis named after the Hesse family. Hessepark’s story begins much earlier than the Hesses, however. In 1799, merchant Rütger Heinrich Klünder, Director of the Gothaer Versicherung, purchased the land. He transformed it into a private park. After Klünder’s death, the estate was divided and sold. Carl Hermann Merck, a brother of Ernst Merck, acquired the land in the mid-1850s. Then in 1876, George Heinrich Hesse, co-owner of Hesse Newman and a founder of Commerzbank, purchased the park. It then passed to his daughter, Ellen Hesse, and her husband, police president Otto Stürken. Their son, also named Otto, sold Hessepark to the Blankenese municipality in 1926. A large portion was then divided into plots. The remaining area became the public park we enjoy today. The Rosarium, designed by Ferdinand Tutenberg, was redesigned in 2014. Hessepark today offers more than just open space. Within its grounds are old trees, a playground, benches, and even a swimming pool belonging to the nearby Gymnasium Blankenese. A distinctive ring of chestnut trees marks the park’s center, from which paths radiate outwards. Along one path, nestled among rhododendrons, sits “Die Hockende,” a small sculpture by Arthur Bock. Hessepark isn’t just a park; it’s a designated garden monument under Hamburg’s monument protection law. The “Hesse-Haus,” a listed building in the park’s north, now belongs to the Bugenhagen School, which opened in Hessepark in 2008. In 2019, a previously unnamed path within the park was christened “Friederike-Klünder-Weg,” honoring the philanthropist wife of the original owner, Rütger Klünder. This was thanks to the Förderkreis Historisches Blankenese. Hessepark offers a peaceful retreat, layered with history, from its origins as a merchant’s private retreat to its present-day status as a protected landmark.