Berlin activists give Senate and rail operator ultimatum over closed Görlitzer Park bridge
A footbridge over the Landwehr Canal has been shut since July. The initiative Görli 24/7 says residents will open it themselves if it is not reopened by Sunday.
Symbolic image · Photo: Uli Herrmann / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
A citizens' group in Berlin has escalated a dispute over closed bridges at Görlitzer Park. The initiative Görli 24/7 on Tuesday gave the Berlin Senate and Deutsche Bahn until midnight on Sunday to reopen the pedestrian and cycle bridge over the Landwehr Canal linking Alt-Treptow with the park in Kreuzberg. Otherwise, residents would open it themselves, the group said, according to the Tagesspiegel. No response from the Senate, the rail company, the district or police had been reported by Wednesday morning.
Deutsche Bahn closed the more than 100-year-old bridge in July, citing corrosion and traffic safety, and says it is so dilapidated it must be demolished. The initiative disputes that there is any risk of collapse, noting that paths beneath the bridge remain open. Four bridges of the former Görlitz railway line between Alt-Treptow and Kreuzberg have been closed since July, after the rail operator terminated its rental agreement with the Treptow-Köpenick district as of June 30.
The Senate agreed in early June to take over the land, and the rail company has offered to sell it the bridge. A condition survey is planned for the end of the year, with results and recommendations due by the end of 2026. The district office is calling for talks at the highest Senate level, while residents' group ZusammenBrücken wants clarity soon. Its counts in late May found between 472 and 591 people per hour using the bridge.