Eichtalpark, Public park and cultural heritage monument in Wandsbek, Germany.
Eichtalpark is a public park of about 7.5 hectares in Hamburg-Wandsbek, stretching along the Wandse between Kedenburgstraße in the west and Bei der Hopfenkarre in the east, bounded by Walddörferstraße to the north and Ahrensburger Straße to the south. Its layout comes from the Lütkens family estate, with an artificial hill bearing the Villa Lütkens, the Eichtalteich pond, a chestnut avenue, bridges and axial paths.
The park traces back to tanner Lucas Lütkens, who took over the mill site on the Wandse in 1835 and ran a tanning works there until 1872. His two sons continued the business and laid out an oak plantation beyond the road, using bark and leaves for tanning. His grandson Caspar Oskar Lütkens turned the plantation into a park with an artificial hill, the Eichtalteich pond and a chestnut avenue. The then independent town of Wandsbek bought the grounds in 1926 and had Hermann Koenig redesign them as a public park.
The park's name comes from the oak plantation (Eichenplantage) that the Lütkens family laid out to supply tannin for their tannery. The southern gatehouse, built in 1927 as a public toilet and tram waiting room, holds two sphinxes carved by Swedish sculptor Johann Wilhelm Manstadt for the Schimmelmann Palais on Mühlenstraße. Since 2019 the gatehouse has been run by the Friends of Eichtalpark association.
The park is open to the public, though some sections may be temporarily closed during ongoing renovations. Wear comfortable shoes and be prepared for varying pathway conditions throughout the grounds.
The gatehouse at the southern entrance on Ahrensburger Straße was built in 1927 as a public toilet, and two sphinxes from the Lütkens estate were built into it. The Swedish sculptor Johann Wilhelm Manstadt had carved them for the Schimmelmann Palais on Mühlenstraße in Hamburg. The gatehouse has been a listed monument since 1 September 2005 and won the 2022 heritage prize of the Patriotische Gesellschaft von 1765.
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