Buergerpark - a homage to the English Garden?

I am not talking about any old garden in England. The reference is to Munich's much larger English Garden, the length of whose footpaths, bridleways and roads totals 75 kilometres; this "citizens' park" in Bremen is tiny by comparison.

The park is nonetheless over 2 kilometers long, its width varying between half a kilometer and one kilometer. And it is a delightful place for a run, a trip around the park in a rowing boat, a leisurely stroll or a good meal. There are notices in the park asking the public to keep off the grass, as it is for consumption by the deer who frequent it. A nice touch.

The park was funded by public subscription in the 1860s, and is today still maintained by public contributions. At exactly the same time Napoleon III was creating the great public parks of Paris, including the Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes.


This photo shows two young policemen (in black) striding across the bridge towards the animal enclosures on the other side. The odd thing was that one of them was carrying a small map of the park, exactly the same map as we had picked up on entering. What business did two armed policemen have in the park? Was there trouble brewing between the zebus and the donkeys?

A little further on we came on a park employee using a leaf-blower to move dead leaves along a tarmaced path. He had no apparent means of collecting the leaves, and was several hundred metres from the nearest road. Moreover, the further he progressed the more leaves he was accumulating. So what would happen if the wind got up?