Internal Reserves: Dorfplatz, Wangerooge, Germany

Thursday, January 31, 2019

Dorfplatz, Wangerooge, Germany

As this blog has shown, there are many ways to slice and dice the idea of the 'internal reserve', and we have seen an enormous variety of them. However, we have in many instances seen the form's originators express the hope that internal reserves serve primarily to keep children away from street traffic, and of course the initial burst of enthusiasm for internal reserves - a little over a century ago - came at the same time as the first real rise of the automobile from a curiosity to something which had to be contended with as a danger as much as it was an advantage.

That's why the park known as Dorfplatz, on the picturesque holiday island of Wangerooge in the East Frisians, is something of an anomaly: the island permits no cars (or at least, no private vehicles, and no roadway wide enough for two conventional automobiles to pass each other).

That said, this particular park space conforms in all other ways to the internal reserve form, with some extra delights that make it a great template for these kinds of spaces. Key amongst the 'conforming' elements are that surrounding properties have direct visual connection to the space and gateway access; it is hidden from, but close to, the central shopping area and it is used and valued by local residents. View it here; note its proximity to a much more 'public' park, the Rosengarten.

I visited it twice, on the 30th and 31st of January 2019, and I have to say that as an Australian, from a place that sees snow about twice a century (and then momentarily), I was much taken by the apperance of the place in the second of these visits.

The space is divided into three parts. The northernmost serves as the garden for a hotel, the New Hampshire. The middle part is essentially featureless; the southern section is treed, with a war memorial and serves as a memorial area at the front of a church. Thus, the space is commercial, neutral and commemorative in equal measure.