Berlin's public ping-pong tables

Cast concrete tables with steel mesh nets sit in Berlin parks and squares by the hundred, some installed by district parks departments after 1990, others surviving from GDR-era housing estates. Bring your own bat and ball and the table is free, which makes their location and condition the only real question. Entries note surface state, number of tables per site, and how each ground came to have them.

Places in this collection

  • Schendelpark — A trapezium-shaped courtyard in the north eastern corner of Mitte with two concrete tables in decent condition, unusual in a district other…
  • Weichselplatz — Three smooth concrete tables on the Neukölln bank of the canal, ringed by grey concrete benches that form a small arena and stop runaway ba…
  • Böcklerpark — North of the Landwehrkanal, a flight of steps leads up to a small concrete square with two tables, directly in front of the Statthaus neigh…
  • Lohmühleninsel — The southern end of the island was redeveloped as a recreation ground, and the tables sit in a mix with football, volleyball and running pa…
  • Mariannenplatz — Schoolchildren, long-standing local players and groups of friends run small informal tournaments on the tables here, and the square carries…
  • Tempelhofer Feld — Tables set out across the former airport grounds, with the old runways and the cyclists and skaters using them as the backdrop. Space is th…
  • Helmholtzplatz — A square in the middle of Prenzlauer Berg where the table is treated as ordinary neighbourhood furniture, in constant use by people who liv…
  • Monbijoupark — The tables stand near the children's paddling pool, on the Spree bank opposite the Museum Island, which makes this the rare Mitte set you c…
  • Volkspark Friedrichshain — Berlin's oldest public park holds three stone tables in good condition between Café Schoenbrunn and the UFO fountain, standing under shade…
  • Mauerpark — Several tables in and around the park, sized for the sort of large rotating groups that form here rather than for two people playing a set.…
  • Paul-Lincke-Ufer — Two tables on the canal bank, set beside a beer garden, which is the whole character of the place: short games, an audience, and the Landwe…
  • Park am Gleisdreieck — Built over the abandoned railway lands between Kreuzberg and Schöneberg, the park carries four separate clusters of three to five tables sc…

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