By Johannes Malinowski
In his youth, the paradise he is today was something of a blank spot on the map. Robert Gloede (51) has been leasing an allotment plot in Späthsfelde for two and a half years. There used to be no man’s land here.
Because: Only a few 100 meters further, along today’s A113, the Wall ran for 28 years. Only people with a permit were allowed to enter the area. “These were mainly SED people who were loyal to the line or Stasi officers,” says Gloede. And his grandfather…
He was an exception because he owned his parcel before the GDR was founded in 1949. Today Gloede’s parents farm that piece of land in the Morgensonne allotment garden. In December 2019 he moved with his wife Conny (50) to the 300 square meter neighboring garden. The couple will soon be celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary.
The gazebo from the 1950s. When the couple took over the garden in 2019, it was overgrown with the previous owner’s roses Photo: Stefanie Herbst
At the beginning, the allotment garden was completely overgrown with huge rose plants. Most recently, a woman in her 80s lived here. It was difficult for her to say goodbye to her rose paradise. “We could hardly cross paths, we tore our clothes on the thorns,” says Conny Gloede. They dug up the plants and gave them away to friends. A commemorative rose still stands on her lawn today.
The amount of work at the beginning was immense. “We found Russian newspapers from the 1950s in the little house,” says Robert Gloede. “There was only a small bio-toilet in the shed.” He dug a huge hole for the faeces pit and laid the pipes. Son Tobias (23), who is in his last year as an electrician, brought the power lines into shape. Little by little, a summer idyll was created.
And today there is still a lot to do. “There’s still a lot of work to do, but we’re definitely enjoying it,” says Gloede. “The work doesn’t run away.” His next project? A small South Seas paradise is to be created around the pool next to the house. The banana plants are already growing, a beach chair creates coziness.
Cool in the pool: Robert and Conny Gloede want to create a South Seas paradise behind their arbor with bananas and a beach chair Photo: Stefanie Herbst
The Gloedes live in Marzahn. They try to go to their yard every weekend. Locksmith Robert regularly gets on his e-bike during the week and drives here from his workplace in Lichtenberg after work.
With a grill you can not only grill sausages. Pumpkins, potatoes and plums also grow in the Gloedes’ garden Photo: Stefanie Herbst
The two do not allow themselves a winter break, they have already planted the kale. Conny: “Last year we harvested kale and Brussels sprouts just before Christmas.”
In the spring they plant the first young plants. “We hardly ever buy seedlings,” says Robert. “The perennials stay in the ground, we exchange the young plants for the vegetables among our neighbors.”
Conny Gloede’s favorite place? Clearly her beloved hammock in front of the wooden house in the garden Photo: Stefanie Herbst
Gardening is an inexpensive hobby. The couple pays around 500 euros a year for lease and co. The planting of the domestic balcony was more expensive. Robert: “We paid 100 to 150 euros every year for all the flowers.”
Again and again iron union! Robert Gloede is a big fan of the Köpenicker. Thanks to mobile pay-TV, he never misses a game Photo: Stefanie Herbst
What makes the garden a summer paradise? “I go in the back of the pool, come out, lie on the chair, sunbathe and see the plants around me. What more could you ask for?” says Robert Gloede.
A symbolic euro for the takeover
►The paradise historically: The Morgensonne allotment garden is 95 years old. In GDR times, the area was a restricted area, only officials loyal to the line were given a gazebo here. Or leaseholders who had property here before the founding of the GDR. After the turn came other allotment gardeners.
►This is how we got to our paradise: “We’ve wanted to have an allotment garden in the colony for a long time,” says Robert Gloede. “In the summer of 2019 it became apparent that the previous tenant would give up her plot. We took it over in December of that year.”
►How much space is in the garden? The plot of the Gloedes is about 300 square meters. The gazebo has 27 square meters.
► How much does pleasure cost? “Back then we paid a symbolic euro for the house and the plants,” says Robert Gloede. “Actually, we could have torn it down.” The couple has since invested between 3,000 and 4,000 euros. In addition, there are annual costs of around 500 euros.
►What is your greatest happiness here: Robert Gloede: “My greatest happiness here is my wife.” Conny Gloede: “For me it’s the peace and relaxation.”
► And in the winter? Winter vegetables are harvested there. Kale, Brussels sprouts and co.
Treptow-Köpenick
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