In the courtyard of a living complex surrounded by sidewalks and sandways sits this little prefab playgroundette.
It features a duplicity of modest pieces, slightly different from the next courtyard down, which we might visit another week.
Dope springs
A staple of German playgrounds, this spot has a red cat (maybe) and a blue dog rocker the children can spring about on. Everything from the tamper-proof bolts to handles is methodically placed. Besides a thick spring, you could imagine these things packing pretty flat.
This is maybe a cat that probably would say *meorph*
Springer spaniel - this blue dog rocks
Twos house
To each their home. These small, faded cubby houses are configured only the slightest bit different at the rear walls.
Quiet neighborhood surrounded by quiet neighborhood
Airy open plan with lots of natural sunlight
Modestly appointed one room house
That’s all there was!
These minimal rockers were approaching sculpture
As a bonus I wanted to fit in this potato quality photo I took on a safe bike ride today. We spotted these two derelict spring rockers in an old, forgotten seating area.
This much I know to be true. Hamburg is a massive port along the Elbe, where goods have come and gone from present-day Germany for hundreds of years. The sea runs through the veins of this weeks playground. This wonky and askew wooden construction was full of neat details that caused me to lose sight of the big picture, I’m excited to share.
If you’re looking at the newsletter online, you’ll be seeing a new theme! Let me know how it looks with a comment!
The real imagination grabber here is this wee boat. How did it get here? Maybe it was carried inland during one of the great floods. Maybe tis’ but an homage to the salty Northern folks and the water that brings them Fischbrotchen.
Fish net stalking
Getting very close on the hardware and details of this giant finger trap.
How funny but not fun does this fish rocker look… where do you even hold on?
Impressive metal slide — a must.
I’ve heard of a rope swing, but thisis rediculous!
Nauticalesque hardware
The tail of this fish looks like an eye to confuse predators
More ropes and details
If this hardware is there to prevent a kink - it has failed.
This week I’m reminded once again that the world isn’t always a fun place.
I didn’t feel much like writing as I steeped in the news and aftermath of the pre-fascist entanglement in Washington. But as I sat around making the least of my last Sunday of unemployment, I remembered why I decided to make this little letter in the first place.
Things aren’t always fun, and I hope to encourage myself and others each week that we can’t stop imagining something a bit better than what we find ourselves living in today.
Issue 3: Like Egypt, but wood. On the last issue of 2020 we visit a solid wooden playground that's in-your-face Egyptian, trying not to get beamed by a flying camel or bounce yourself into a bench.
Sending this out on the last day of the year is symbolic of something. If you have any idea what that something might be, feel free to let me know with a comment. This isn’t the Wasserspielplatz I promised in the footer of Issue 2. Do comment if you care, your feedback is important. The water feature is coming, be sure to subscibe.
Tucked in the shadow of a tall apartment complex is this quirky wooden Spielplatz with an Egyptian theme. This is a great specimen made from Massivholz (solid wood). Like many natural materials being adapted to the will of man, builders come in with a plan, but it’s probably a loose plan, and you have to be willing to adapt to changing circumstances.
Egyptian horses were a thing
That’s how I am going into 2021. With a loose plan and a 1000 yard stare as blank as this wooden horse.
Like Egypt, but wood.
There’s a bit of irony in paying homage to Egypt with timber. The predominantly desert empire wasn’t know for it’s forests — although today researchers have managed to harness wastewater to feed man-made forests in the drylands.
From the street it was hard to tell if this was public, or a Privatspielplatz belonging to the complex.
Unguarded spinning bucket
The hand carved wooden rockers are usually very prominent theme pieces. Along with tubular steel slides, Germany has an undeniable aptitiude for coil springs. The assemblies use of metal, plastic and wood is practical, long lasting fun.
Hand carved sphinx form, preserving a forgotten art
Smooth camel rocker.
Log swingset with metal ground piles. I guess this would be for easier installation, height adjustment and to prevent rotting. See also in-ground trampoline and a nice Rundbank or round bench.
An homage to the great pyramids of Giza
The anchor here is a climbable timber tip with steps, rope ladder, climbing holds and a wreck-yourself rope bridge. If you grow up near here, odds are you can climb like Alex Honnold.
A climbing focused anchor piece with metal pilings
Hand painted details that scream IT’S EGYPT
Ending with an interesting new type of structure I’ve seen here. It’s like some sort of 1-3 person covering on a platform. This strikes me as less Egyptian and more of a modern convenience.
A smoke shack?
I picture children exercising their right to play in pissing rain, a bemused adult stands bemusedly in under the cover. Like it or not, the kid will have to keep playing until the rain lets up. There’s a metaphor here somewhere too.
Welcome to the second issue. Tis the night before German Christmas celebrations , Weihnachten is celebrated on the 24th. As we adjust to what for many is a weird and different holiday season, I too will keep things close to home, sharing some photos from a Spielplatz just down the street.
Like the spirit of Christmases gift, it’s not about the grandeur of the playground, but the thought that counts. It’s about community — and community builders here understand this, gifting residence with a dusting of small playgrounds between the more ambitious public play places.
Playing on a playground on a play street
We’re living on a Spielstraße, or play street, which means children at play have priority over cars - infact they’ve even handed out tickets for parking in this street. Not practical, but that’s how important Spielen is in Germany. The speed limit is an aspirational 10km/h.
• Speed limit is 10 km/h, motorists must drive extremely carefully. • Pedestrians may use the full street, children are allowed to play all over. • Motorists cannot endanger or impede pedestrians, if necessary they must wait. • Parking is only authorized on marked areas. • Pedestrians must not unnecessarily impede traffic.
Tactile wall detail
Some sort of sand eating picnic table
Anchor piece from another angle
A remarkable thing about the playgrounds here: you find them everywhere.
Wandering an unintentioned 2km loop in an unsuspecting neighborhood we crossed more than 4 playgrounds. I actually got tired of taking photos and just passed one by.
This modest playground is embedded right into a neighborhood - not in a park or schoolyard, but between houses. I will refer to these as embedded playgrounds. So far these seem to contain more pre-fab components, and less custom work than the larger spots. This one is made by Proludic, which looks like some kind of international playground megalocorp.
The design on this slide would allow for pairing a straight section of any length with the little end kicker.
Climbing wedge
With climbing and bouldering on the rise with young people, it’s interesting to see the climbing aparatuses in place from before the boom. This little climb-about has a single style of hold on a 45º, and doubles as a little sitting hut/rain shelter.
A fence keeps players from wandering into the waterway
Got more detail than I bargained for on this shot
Hand holds and bolt covers
Undercarriage details
Soft tiles under the climb-about with overgrowth
Making it up as I go along: new terminology
I suspect I’ll start to pick up on trends and similarities between playgrounds, so I will begin making up my own terminology until I learn otherwise.
Embedded playgrounds — a Spielplatz tucked neatly into a residential area, usually only impressive enough to draw children from the direct vicinity.
Anchor — The lifeblood of the playground. The anchor is the big draw, a difinitive feature or structure that sets the tone for the rest of the playground. It’s the main dwelling space of any king of the castle.
Climb-about — a play structure with the explicit intent to be climbed upon.
Thanks for reading. Share and subscribe so you don’t miss next week, when I flow through an impressive park with a dry water feature - Wasserspielplatz.
a photographic archive of play places around Germany. Call me Marcs, I’m a Canadian cyclist, freeskier and product designer living in Hamburg. I am starting this newsletter to capture the beautiful patina of old playgrounds. The playgrounds I grew up with have been replaced by new structures — very safe, and very much the same. Riding around Germany I’ve been amazed by the unique character of the metal and wood Spielplaetze peppered throughout the land. As a practice in curiousity and sense of play, I’ll share as many as I can here.
Gleisdreieck (Track triangle)
It’s late fall. Amid the lockdown’s increasing restrictions the rural playground in Gleisdreieck is quiet. A wooden train is halted in a pit of sand. Intricate wooden construction with plastic details. The tubular sheetmetal slide is celebrated throughout the region.
Surrounded by farmland and fields, the occasional parent and child make their way down to ride the high slide.
A hand engraved and painted statistics board on the tower.
