For a long time, today’s Gleispark Frintrop was home to a railway freight station and marshalling yard. Until the 1960s, the area was dominated by about 30 hectares of railway tracks, and the ruderal vegetation on the site was already rich and valuable at that time.

The landscape architects came up with a management concept to preserve the outstanding landscape and the species-rich vegetation and to further develop and permanently strengthen the contrast between wooded areas and open rough pastures. In this way, Gleispark Frintrop became a model of successful transformation: from an industrial site to a green space with great biodiversity, climate resilience and a balancing function.

This “dialogue of vegetation” was complemented by design decisions that ultimately turned the site into a park. These include a two-kilometre network of paths with symbolic entrances to the surrounding urban districts at various points and several follies. Two steel grating towers draw visitors up the stairs to explore the surroundings by directing their gaze across an elongated grassland patch and onto scenery typical of the Ruhr region or along a narrow path lined with birch trees. The “Drehberg”, a hill made of excavated material, marks another important meeting point in the park.

Following the conversion of the old railway site into the Gleispark in 2000, the landscape park was repeatedly expanded. Today, for example, it includes an old tunnel originally built for railway staff. This not only created another access point, but also provided an important pathway through the green space that many people use every day.

The park-like feel of the open space is still there today. Its biodiversity continues to grow and the space is appreciated by many people using it in many different ways. After more than twenty years, Gleispark Frintrop is a “green place of happiness” in the Ruhr Metropolis, as it says in the book of the same name.

Project Data

Landscape Architecture: DTP

Client: RVR Regionalverband Ruhr
Planning and realisation: Planungsbüro DTP Landschaftsarchitekten GmbH
Photos: DTP
Design Year: 1999-2007
Project Realisation: 2007