Districts of Berlin: history, description, sights

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-17 11:40

The city of Berlin (not to be confused with Berlin in the Troitsky district of the Chelyabinsk region) after the administrative reform of 2001 is divided into 12 historical districts, also called lands. According to the German constitution, local administrations carry out their tasks in accordance with the principles of self-government under the leadership of district mayors.

Historical background

In the 13th century, Berlin and neighboring Cologne (not to be confused with Cologne in the Rhineland) received city rights. Already in 1307, a united magistrate of two settlements was formed, which were covered by a common city wall. In a sense, these are the very first districts of Berlin. In the 17th century, as residential development expanded, Friedrichsmitder in the west and New Cologne in the south were included in the city.

In 1710, Berlin, Cologne with Neu-Cologne, Friedrichsmitder and other suburbs were united into a single administrative unit - the royal capital of Prussia. City blocks were divided into 10 districts. By 1884 there were already 21.

On October 1, 1920 Greater Berlin was formed. It included 27urban districts, 59 rural communities and 7 previously independent cities. The new municipality was subdivided into 20 districts.

Berlin after the 2nd World War was divided into occupation zones, each of which had its own administrative division. In 1990, the reunification of Germany and, accordingly, its capital took place. Prior to 2000, the 23 districts had a wide variety of sizes and populations. In order to equalize the administrative divisions, 12 lands were formed in 2001 with a comparable number of inhabitants.

Best neighborhoods in Berlin

It so happened historically that Greater Berlin was formed by the merger of separate equivalent cities. For this reason, it does not have a center in the usual sense. Rather, there are several historical centers: Old Berlin, Cologne, Friedrichsmitder and other settlements that have developed separately since the Middle Ages and subsequently united under a common administration.

Therefore, if for most cities the best area is the central quarters, this is irrelevant for the capital of Germany. On the contrary, one of the most inconvenient districts to live in is Potsdamer Platz, located in the heart of Berlin. According to the native citizens, Neu-Cologne, Prenzlauer Berg and Mitte are considered prestigious areas. And in the district of Friedrichsain, for example, the quarters north of Karl-Marx-Allee are considered less prestigious than the southern ones. Consider the most interesting districts of Berlin from the point of view of a tourist and a local resident.

Pankov

This is the northernmost district of the city with the most comfortable corners. The tourist heart is the municipality of Prenzlauer Berg, located closest to the geographical center of the capital. The once sleepy quarters after the unification of the East and West sectors of Berlin have changed dramatically. Thanks to low rents, students and young families rushed to live here. Youth breathed new life into the patriarchal foundations of the quarter.

When the former students grew up, got rich and “gained gloss”, they wanted to eat better products, go to more respectable restaurants, and spend their leisure time more culturally. The area eventually became a haven for a young elite, with restaurateurs, tenants and hoteliers catering to the public.

Today, the southern part of Pankow is an example of the ideal city that residents want it to be: cultured neighbors, clean streets, romantic architecture, excellent drinking places and restaurants, elite clubs and low crime. If you ask a passer-by what area of Berlin he would like to live in, with a high degree of probability the answer will be: “In Pankow.”

Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg

This area in the heart of the city is an incredible fusion of socialism and capitalism. The municipality of Friedrichshain vividly displays the legacy of the GDR. Once it was the front gate of East Berlin. Kreuzberg, on the contrary, was part of the zone of occupation by the Western powers. In this area, the visible confrontation of the systems was most acutely felt.

The two districts are symbolically separated by the Spree River, and no less symbolically connects the incredibly beautiful Oberbaumbrücke Bridge with romantic red brick turrets and a gallery in the style of a fortress wall. As a result of the administrative reform, it was decided to reunite two such dissimilar districts of Berlin into one.

What is ready to surprise Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg? First of all, this is a "party" place. The smallest of the twelve districts of the capital has at the same time the highest population density and the lowest average age of residents. Young people gather along the long embankment. There is also the East Side Gallery, which includes a preserved section of the Berlin Wall.

Mitte

The Mitte district in Berlin is a paradise for shopaholics and at the same time the center of state power. Here are the main institutions of the Bundesrat, Bundestag, federal government, embassy buildings. The area's iconic sights are:

• Reichstag.
• Brandenburg Gate.
• Potsdamer Platz.
• Gendarmenmarkt.
• Alexanderplatz.
• Berlin TV Tower.
• Admiralspalast.

But if the politics and history of Germany are not very interesting, welcome to a concert at the Berlin Philharmonic, or on the Museum Island. The area around Rosenthaler Platz, the Weinmeisterstr underground station and the Unter den Linden boulevard is full of affordable boutiques.

List of districts

Full listadministrative divisions of the capital with statistical data:

	Population	Area, km2	Location
Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg	268000	20, 2	Center
Mitte	328000	39, 5	Center
Pankov	363000	103	North
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf	317000	64, 7	West
Spandau	224000	91, 9	West
Steglitz-Zehlendorf	290000	102, 5	Southwest
Neu-Cologne	306000	44, 9	South
Tempelhof-Schöneberg	332000	53, 1	South
Treptow-Köpenick	238000	168, 4	Southeast
Marzahn-Hellersdorf	249000	61, 7	East
Lichtenberg	258000	52, 3	North East
Reinickendorf	242000	89, 4	North