woodlandviews

Grunewald: the forest and the spy hill

Sand paths through Berlin's biggest forest, up a rubble mountain to the Cold War's abandoned ears.

Photo: Gunnar Klack / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Drafted by Claude — the editor hasn’t walked this one yet. We’ll update this notice once it’s been verified on the ground.

Distance

5.2 km

Time

~ 105 min

Difficulty

Strenuous

Start

Grunewald (S7)

End

Heerstraße (S3/S9)

Best at

morning

Right now

21°C· Overcast

Open in Maps for turn-by-turn, or take it offline as GPX.

Berlin keeps its wildest secret in plain sight: a forest the size of a small country, and a mountain made of its own ruins. Five kilometres of sand paths and pine, climbing to the strangest viewpoint in the city — the Cold War listening post the Americans left to the weeds.

Start at Grunewald station, but don't rush past the platform. Gleis 17 is a deportation memorial, and it earns a quiet minute before the trees. Then walk west into the Wald, where the paths go unmarked and the city noise drops away inside ten minutes. Aim for Teufelsberg — the Devil's Mountain — eighty metres of bombed Berlin bulldozed into a hill, topped by three derelict radomes now thick with graffiti. The station is privately run and gated; check the day before you set out. If it's shut, the Drachenberg next door gives you the same view for nothing.

From the heights, drop west toward the Havel — the Grunewaldturm for a coffee and a tower, then down to the shore at Schildhorn, where the river opens out and the sailboats lean. Follow the water north and climb to Heerstraße. One forest, one ruin, one river, and the train home.

The route

On the map.

A soft dashed line, numbered stops. It’s a suggestion, not a turn-by-turn.

Elevation

↑ 401 m·↓ 403 m·26–112 m ASL

Stops along the way

Things to notice.

01
1
Grunewald S-Bahn station
Start here, and read the platform before you walk: Gleis 17, the memorial track, is where Berlin's Jews were deported east. A line of cast steel plaques marks each train. Stand a moment before you go into the trees.
01
Grunewald S-Bahn station
Start here, and read the platform before you walk: Gleis 17, the memorial track, is where Berlin's Jews were deported east. A line of cast steel plaques marks each train. Stand a moment before you go into the trees.
02
2
Grunewald forest paths
Sand underfoot, pines overhead, and almost no signage — which is the point. Pick a westward path and trust it. On a weekday morning you'll have the *Wald* (forest) largely to yourself, dog-walkers excepted.
02
Grunewald forest paths
Sand underfoot, pines overhead, and almost no signage — which is the point. Pick a westward path and trust it. On a weekday morning you'll have the *Wald* (forest) largely to yourself, dog-walkers excepted.
03
3
Teufelsberg summit and the radomes
The hill is wartime rubble, eighty metres of it, heaped over an unfinished Nazi military college. On top, the abandoned American listening station — three geodesic *radomes* (radar domes) gone to graffiti and rust. Access is paid and gated; check opening days before you climb.
03
Teufelsberg summit and the radomes
The hill is wartime rubble, eighty metres of it, heaped over an unfinished Nazi military college. On top, the abandoned American listening station — three geodesic *radomes* (radar domes) gone to graffiti and rust. Access is paid and gated; check opening days before you climb.
04
4
Drachenberg
The quieter twin hill next door, also raised from rubble, and free. Walk up for the same sweep west over the Havel and the forest — no ticket, no fence, just the wind and the kites the hill is named for.
04
Drachenberg
The quieter twin hill next door, also raised from rubble, and free. Walk up for the same sweep west over the Havel and the forest — no ticket, no fence, just the wind and the kites the hill is named for.
05
5
Grunewaldturm
A red-brick tower of 1899 on the Karlsberg above the Havel, built for Kaiser Wilhelm I. Climb it if it's open; if not, the terrace below still gives you the river. There's a café here for the halfway coffee you've earned.
05
Grunewaldturm
A red-brick tower of 1899 on the Karlsberg above the Havel, built for Kaiser Wilhelm I. Climb it if it's open; if not, the terrace below still gives you the river. There's a café here for the halfway coffee you've earned.
06
6
Havel shore at Schildhorn
Down through the trees to the water. The Havel here is wide enough to read as a lake, with sailing boats most of the year. Follow the shore north, then cut up toward Heerstraße for the train back.
06
Havel shore at Schildhorn
Down through the trees to the water. The Havel here is wide enough to read as a lake, with sailing boats most of the year. Follow the shore north, then cut up toward Heerstraße for the train back.

Grunewald: the forest and the spy hill

On the map.

Things to notice.

Grunewald S-Bahn station

Grunewald S-Bahn station

Grunewald forest paths

Grunewald forest paths

Teufelsberg summit and the radomes

Teufelsberg summit and the radomes

Drachenberg

Drachenberg

Grunewaldturm

Grunewaldturm

Havel shore at Schildhorn

Havel shore at Schildhorn

Two more, on similar days.

The Olympiastadion: the stone bowl and the modernist slab

Südgelände: the wild railway yard