Eurogate-Blog

It’s a small haven of paradise in the heart of Bremerhaven’s Leherheide district: “Thieles Garten” art and sculpture park, created in the 20th century. Nestled in a park of some 20,000 square metres are ponds surrounded by both exotic and indigenous trees and plants. The estate of the Thiele family of artists features numerous sculptures, a house in Moorish style and a moor cottage. Created on a former potato field, the garden is the fruit of decades of work by brothers Gustav and Georg Thiele and Georg’s wife, Grete.

In the 1950s and 1960s, up to 2,000 visitors a day marvelled at the fairy-tale world, but in subsequent years, the park became forgotten. In 1985, the park, already designated as building land, was bought by the city. The parks department and a preservation society jointly got to work removing the patina that had developed since the death of the Thiele brothers. Numerous sculptures had been vandalised. Many were restored and, together with the idyllic park, given back to the public.

With the help of public funding and donations made available for the restoration, the preservation society and the parks department were able to complete the most important work sooner than planned. Today, festivals, concerts and events are back on the diverse calendar of events in Thieles Garten. Unfortunately, with membership numbers in the preservation society in decline, the financial resources are also drying up, making the task increasingly difficult. To put it in a nutshell: the little oasis in Bremerhaven-Leherheide is dependent on donations. EUROGATE has therefore decided to support the preservation society with a donation.