By Johannes Malinowski
The first thing that comes to mind when you think of Onkel Toms Hütte is the classic novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe from 1852. Berliners have the Zehlendorf underground station in mind. Uncle Tom’s real hut has been in Schöneberg for 32 years!
You can’t miss the signs on the garden gate and gazebo: Jürgen tom Felde (86) created “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” here – his summer paradise.
The trained baker has been retired for 27 years after working for Bewag for 38 years – first as a pump attendant, later in the data center. Plenty of time to create your own oasis on the south site of Schöneberg.
“My girlfriend at the time really wanted to have a garden,” he says. Unfortunately it wasn’t that easy.
At that time, the district association of allotment gardeners had its office on Ebertstraße at Innsbrucker Platz. Interested parties lined up there every Thursday: “I was a pain in the ass and was there every week and chattered to people.”
Jürgen tom Felde and his wife have been managing the parcel on the south site for 32 years Photo: Stefanie Herbst
After two years, Jürgen tom Felde was lucky. In 1990, he bought the 220-square-meter lot with the 20-square-meter arbor for 14,000 Deutschmarks.
The girlfriend left at some point, the garden stayed. He met his wife Gabriela (69) while dancing. The two have been married for 20 years now. The division of labor is clear: “My wife is responsible for the flowers, I for the rough stuff.”
Roses are the pride of Gabriela tom Felde. Her husband says: “She is a flower miracle!” Photo: Stefanie Herbst
26 allotment colonies with 2200 plots have found their place on the Schöneberg southern site. Jürgen tom Felde’s garden is part of the Grüne Aue colony with 200 allotment gardens.
The facility is 115 years old. In the 1930s, the Laubenpieper were temporarily expelled because the Nazis wanted to build a large freight yard here. After the war, the gardens served as accommodation and for the care of Berlin families who had been bombed out.
From the outside, tom Feldes’ decorative arbor from the 1960s is reminiscent of a Swedish house.
The allotment gardener recently renovated it. New roof, new wood, new paint. You don’t see that the hut is made of solid stone. The couple invested money that was actually intended for a vacation: “We wanted to travel, but then Corona came …,” says Jürgen. The inside of the house is still in its original condition.
Tomatoes, potatoes and co. The allotment gardeners process everything they harvest at home Photo: Stefanie Herbst
Allotment gardening is something of a family tradition. Even before the war, tom Felde’s father had a garden behind Hakenfelde. He too had a sign that said “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” He emigrated to the United States in the 1950s after separating from his wife. He died in Florida in 2017 at the age of almost 100.
Jürgen tom Felde goes to the gym three times a week at four in the morning. It only takes him and his Gabriela five minutes to get from the Lichterfelde apartment to the garden by car. They are here almost every day.
What is his greatest happiness? “Just being comfortable here with my wife and enjoying nature.” Does he have a favorite object on his plot? “No. The whole house is a memory.”
Here it can be endured! Tom Felde: “I can enjoy the peace and quiet in the garden” Photo: Stefanie Herbst
You won’t find more small gardens anywhere in Berlin
►The paradise historically: At the beginning of the 20th century, the first allotment garden colonies were founded on the southern part of Schöneberg, such as the Grüne Aue colony in 1907. Later, apartments were to be built, but the First World War prevented the plans. The Nazis wanted to build a freight depot here. The Second World War also prevented that, anti-aircraft positions were stationed on the site. Today, the southern area is one of the largest contiguous allotment areas in Berlin.
►This is how we got to our paradise: When he took over the property in 1990, Jürgen tom Felde had already been waiting two years for the plot. It might take a lot longer today.
► How much space is in the garden? The pitch is 220 square meters, the arbor about 20 square meters.
►How much does pleasure cost? “With lease and water, I pay around 450 euros a year,” says Jürgen tom Felde. There are also electricity costs and plants. “Preparing them at home is too much hype for me.”
►What is your greatest happiness here? Jürgen tom Felde: “Just being comfortable here with my wife and enjoying nature.”
►And in the winter? It goes out there too! The hut is heated. “Look, shovel snow, drink a mulled wine.”
Tempelhof-Schoeneberg
Join us!
Dear BZ readers, we would also like to get to know your summer paradise! Whether you spend the hot days in the garden, on the balcony or on the boat: we come to you! Send us a photo or video and a few sentences at [email protected] or via the online reader reporter form.