The Rainbow Playground in Mauerpark was part of the international Rainbow Project.

Young people from different cultures and social backgrounds would meet and – and with a little professional help – build a rainbow together. The rainbows were created at places around the world, such as South Africa, Israel and Northern Ireland, where the rainbow as a symbol of building bridges was particularly relevant. Through their work together, the young people learnt how it was possible for the history of their home countries to continue to affect their individual lives and how experiences of violence could be passed on from generation to generation. But they also learnt at first hand how new ways of interacting with other people created hope for a peaceful future.

Maurparks’s Rainbow Playground was built in 1999 on the site of the former Berlin Wall. It was a powerful symbol of how something that had inspired fear and kept people apart could be creatively transformed into something joyful that brings them together.
This rainbow suddenly disappeared in autumn 2015. Chainsaws had razed it to the ground. The local parks and gardens department was concerned it was unsafe and had felt obliged to “dismantle the play equipment.”
But we are not defeated! Every ending is an opportunity for a new beginning and with every new beginning a new adventure awaits …

We, the Friends of Mauerpark, are now determined to get our Rainbow Playground back as a symbol for optimism and dreams. The plans have already been drawn up. The parks and gardens department has given the go-ahead and will support the work. The new rainbow will be made up of three separate parts that can be built in three stages. That makes the work – and also the financing – easier.

But we need your support to turn these plans into reality. We need money. According to Irish legend there is a crock of gold at the end of every rainbow. Please contribute whatever gold (or euros) you can and help us to build a new rainbow in Mauerpark!

After all, who can claim to have helped make a rainbow?

More information: Plan sketches and illustrations (PDF 8MB)