Einsame Pappel

The Einsame Pappel is a garden monument in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg district. It stands in a small, protected green space opposite Topsstraße 15 in the Gleimviertel, close to Schönhauser Allee. The tree marks the site of the first mass demonstration by Berlin workers during the March Revolution of 1848. In 1968 a new tree was grown from shoots of the original and planted in the same place. The site began as an exercise ground for a Prussian regiment in 1825, when the lone poplar stood just west of the Schönhauser Allee. On 19 March 1848 between ten and twenty thousand people gathered here to present six demands to King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. The king rejected their requests, but the tree remained a well-known meeting point for Berlin’s workers. A stone at its base today explains the event. Visitors find a quiet garden with the single poplar at its centre, surrounded by benches and paths. A few metres north lies the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark, while the Schönhauser Allee U-Bahn station is a short walk away. The green space is bordered by residential streets and small cafés, giving a sense of the neighbourhood’s everyday life.