University Park, Bunkerberg (O18QR2)

At the eastern entrance to the town, the town fortifications and Elster Gate stood in front of Luther House and the Augusteum. Following defortification, the demolition of Elster Gate in 1876, and the construction of a new road into the town (part of Collegienstrasse), the area immediately to the south was transformed into parkland. This site owned by the university administration was directly adjacent to Luther House; nowadays it belongs to the Luther Memorials Foundation in Saxony-Anhalt. In the early-20th century, a ‘garden of change and scholars’ named University Park was set up south-east of Luther House. It was used by the Protestant Seminary, which was inaugurated by the King of Prussia in 1817 and housed in the Augusteum.
A tall bunker erected on the site during the Second World War and later dynamited was never completely removed and instead covered with soil and plants. The resulting elevation is known as Bunkerberg (‘Bunker Hill’).
The former University Park was redeveloped in 2017 to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. An installation comprising a series of platforms is intended to open up the view of the town and the landscaped surroundings and to provide visitors with a new viewpoint.