In Germany, allotment gardens are real institutions

Allotment gardens emerged after the war in Germany to help families obtain fruit and vegetables.

In Germany, they are real institutions: workers’ gardens, also known as family gardens in Germany. On the outskirts of large cities, the plots are stuck together and separated by simple fences. Originally, they were intended for modest families who could not afford a house with a garden. In Berlin, there are no fewer than 70,000 plots. On each of them, a small house allows you to prepare a meal or take a nap. During the summer, these gardens allow you to enjoy a change of scenery, just a stone’s throw from home.

Sometimes, in the distance, you can hear the sound of a commuter train or the engine of a lawnmower, but nothing that disturbs Knut. With short hair and a thin beard, the 72-year-old retiree spends the summer on his plot of land, a 10-minute walk from his apartment: “There’s nothing better, I’d say. Whenever I have a free minute, I come here. Three or four times a week, on average. We’ve put out deckchairs for sunbathing and yesterday we had a barbecue.”

At number 100 Chemin des Libellules, Sandro, 53, puts down his pruning shears to show us around his 24 square metre shed, with kitchen, living room and shower. His parents have been renting the plot since 1972: “It’s like a bungalow. You see, there’s a small kitchen, a living room with a TV, the bathroom with a shower and there’s the bed…” The gardens were created after the war, to help families obtain fruit and vegetables: “A lot of elderly people have been here since the 1950s. To get an allotment garden, you have to be very patient. Here, the average wait is 10 years.”

The lawns are carefully maintained, no branches overhang the paths. The rules are strict, says Uschi, 74: “The hedge must not exceed 1.20 meters. You must also plant vegetables and at least four fruit trees, otherwise it is not considered a garden.” To the great displeasure of tenants, some gardens are sometimes razed to the ground. They then make way for housing, nurseries or schools, which the capital sorely lacks.