169-398: Neukölln ( German: [nɔʏˈkœln] ; formerly Rixdorf ), from 1899 to 1920 an independent city, is a large inner-city quarter of Berlin in the homonymous borough of Neukölln , which evolved around the historic village of Rixdorf. With 163,735 inhabitants (2024) the quarter is the second-most densely populated of Berlin after Prenzlauer Berg . Since the early 13th century,
338-765: A 2016 terrorist attack linked to ISIL , a truck was deliberately driven into a Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church , leaving 13 people dead and 55 others injured. In 2018, more than 200,000 protestors took to the streets in Berlin with demonstrations of solidarity against racism, in response to the emergence of far-right politics in Germany . Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) opened in 2020, nine years later than planned, with Terminal 1 coming into service at
507-501: A Slavic-derived name: Pankow , Steglitz-Zehlendorf , Marzahn-Hellersdorf , Treptow-Köpenick , and Spandau . Of Berlin's ninety-six neighborhoods, twenty-two bear a Slavic-derived name: Altglienicke , Alt-Treptow , Britz , Buch , Buckow , Gatow , Karow , Kladow , Köpenick , Lankwitz , Lübars , Malchow , Marzahn , Pankow , Prenzlauer Berg , Rudow , Schmöckwitz , Spandau , Stadtrandsiedlung Malchow , Steglitz , Tegel and Zehlendorf . The earliest human settlements in
676-481: A camp for Sinti and Romani people (see Romani Holocaust ), and the Stalag III-D prisoner-of-war camp for Allied POWs of various nationalities. During World War II, large parts of Berlin were destroyed during 1943–45 Allied air raids and the 1945 Battle of Berlin . The Allies dropped 67,607 tons of bombs on the city, destroying 6,427 acres of the built-up area. Around 125,000 civilians were killed. After
845-691: A center of the Enlightenment , but also, was briefly occupied during the Seven Years' War by the Russian army. Following France's victory in the War of the Fourth Coalition , Napoleon Bonaparte marched into Berlin in 1806 , but granted self-government to the city. In 1815, the city became part of the new Province of Brandenburg . The Industrial Revolution transformed Berlin during
1014-782: A city district separate from Brandenburg. In the early 20th century, Berlin had become a fertile ground for the German Expressionist movement. In fields such as architecture, painting and cinema new forms of artistic styles were invented. At the end of the First World War in 1918, a republic was proclaimed by Philipp Scheidemann at the Reichstag building . In 1920, the Greater Berlin Act incorporated dozens of suburban cities, villages, and estates around Berlin into an expanded city. The act increased
1183-517: A combined state of Berlin and Brandenburg is different from other state fusion proposals. Normally, Article 29 of the Basic Law stipulates that a state fusion requires a federal law. However, a clause added to the Basic Law in 1994, Article 118a, allows Berlin and Brandenburg to unify without federal approval, requiring a referendum and a ratification by both state parliaments. In 1996, there
1352-519: A continental hub for air and rail traffic and has a complex public transportation network . Tourism in Berlin makes the city a popular global destination. Significant industries include information technology, the healthcare industry , biomedical engineering , biotechnology , the automotive industry , and electronics . Berlin is home to several universities such as the Humboldt University of Berlin , Technische Universität Berlin ,
1521-589: A cooler urban climate and many options for natural habitats and urban recreation. The borough of Neukölln, like the homonymous quarter, is densely populated and urbanized, and only has 3.1% (2019) of natural land and forested areas, second to last before the borough Tempelhof-Schöneberg. However, the lack of true forests, which in Neukölln are only 0.1% of the overall surface area, is offset by many green plazas, parks and other vegetated recreational areas, not counting active cemeteries, which actually make Neukölln one of
1690-419: A cooler urban climate, but also promotes the settlement of wildlife. Wild species in Neukölln have usually found their safe retreats along the waterways and in the bigger parks and cemeteries, while using migration routes into the central neighborhoods along train tracks and through the interconnected park and cemetery areas, for example from Tempelhofer Feld to Lessinghöhe. Greener quarters adjacent to Neukölln in
1859-431: A counterpoint to the older Rollberg quarter of ill repute. In 1905, residential construction was in full swing, schools and an academy were built, and main development ended around 1914 except for the westernmost city blocks at Oderstraße, which were developed only in 1927 by Bruno Taut according to modern reformist ideals. The large sports grounds in the quarter's south-western corner ( Sportpark Tempelhofer Feld ), today
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#17327909203792028-429: A criminal investigation unit, with the first precinct established on Hermannstraße south of Hermannplatz. At year's end, Rixdorf's population stood at 90,422. On 17 December 1900, the last Pferde-Eisenbahn of Rixdorf was converted to electric operation, while the omnibus lines continued to be horse-drawn at first. The new city received its coat of arms in 1903, and its population quickly grew to 237,289 in 1910. It
2197-575: A hares' garden in the forest Hasenheide. The first mention of a village tavern ( Dorfkrug ) at the central Richardplatz is found in the town's oldest preserved court report from 29 January 1685. The first mention of a school in Ricksdorf is from the year 1688, when the local authorities deposed the schoolmaster. On 26 June 1693, Ricksdorf's chapel left the Tempelhof parish and joined the Britz parish, and
2366-541: A large Gründerzeit architectural foundation with broad streets and sidewalks, and Berlin's usual grid plan street layout that originated mostly in this era. For the Körnerpark quarter, this development was a natural evolution due to its proximity to Alt-Rixdorf, though the street blocks further south were for the most part developed in the 1920s and '30s, so the quarter has not evolved as uniformly. Schillerpromenade benefited from its location on even farmland adjacent to
2535-636: A loosely defined inofficial neighborhood, which developed since the mid-naughties. The toponym originally stood for the western part of the Reuterkiez, excluding the Bouchékiez, and comprising the LORs Maybachufer, Reuterplatz and Weichselplatz, which are geographically wedged between the adjacent city blocks of the quarter Kreuzberg , whose neighborhoods SO 36 and Kreuzberg 61 border to the north and west respectively. The toponym formed in
2704-417: A microclimate, with heat stored by the city's buildings and pavement . Temperatures can be 4 °C (7 °F) higher in the city than in the surrounding areas. Annual precipitation is 570 millimeters (22 in) with moderate rainfall throughout the year. Snowfall mainly occurs from December through March. The hottest month in Berlin was July 1834, with a mean temperature of 23.0 °C (73.4 °F) and
2873-424: A monumental ensemble. The National Socialist regime embarked on monumental construction projects in Berlin as a way to express their power and authority through architecture . Adolf Hitler and Albert Speer developed architectural concepts for the conversion of the city into World Capital Germania ; these were never implemented. NSDAP rule diminished Berlin's Jewish community from 160,000 (one-third of all Jews in
3042-420: A proposed earlier toponym for the preceding Knights Templar hamlet is *Richardshof ("Richard's Court"). Two alternate Low German spellings, Richarstorp and Richardstorff , are already present in the foundational charter. The village's name was usually pronounced "rickasdorp" with mostly elided or shifted consonants. Alternate spellings of the 14th century were Richardsdorp and Richardstorpp , while
3211-413: A small margin, largely based on support in former West Berlin , Brandenburg voters disapproved of the fusion by a large margin. It failed largely due to Brandenburg voters not wanting to take on Berlin's large and growing public debt and fearing losing identity and influence to the capital. Berlin is in northeastern Germany, in an area of low-lying marshy woodlands with a mainly flat topography , part of
3380-469: A tavern at the crossing of the postal and trade road through Ricksdorf to Mittenwalde and the Ricksdorfscher Damm , modern-day Kottbusser Damm, which in 1737 became Rixdorf's famous tavern Rollkrug at Hermannplatz . On 2 February 1546, the right to inaugurate priests in Tempelhof and Ricksdorf was transferred to the parishes of Cölln and Berlin. On 14 April 1578, a fire destroyed most of
3549-468: Is an iconic landmark of Berlin and Germany; it stands as a symbol of eventful European history and of unity and peace. The Reichstag building is the traditional seat of the German Parliament. It was remodeled by British architect Norman Foster in the 1990s and features a glass dome over the session area, which allows free public access to the parliamentary proceedings and magnificent views of
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#17327909203793718-407: Is divided into five regions, each of them further compartmentalized into a total of 21 so-called Lebensweltlich orientierte Räume (LOR) ("lifeworld-oriented regions"): The industrial parks Ederstraße and Köllnische Heide are no longer part of the city's LOR framework as independent regions. The modern jocular social toponym Kreuzkölln , a portmanteau of " Kreuz berg" and "Neu kölln ", describes
3887-467: Is from the year 1709, and it became the official modern High German spelling in 1797. The mainstream theory on the etymology of Richardsdorf , and therefore of Rixdorf , assumes an eponymous individual called Richard , allegedly a Knight Templar, bailiff or commander of the Tempelhof commandery , or even the original administrator of *Richardshof in the early 13th century. However, no Richard
4056-556: Is mentioned in historical sources in connection with the Templar villages of the Teltow , let alone an actual Knight Templar per Alemanniam et Slaviam , so over the centuries, exaggerating folk etymologies emerged and alternatively connected the toponym to many important historical Richards. In modern times, alternate spellings like Reichsdorp spawned secondary folk etymologies different from Richard , namely from Reich ("empire") or
4225-450: Is the sparrow , and Berlin is now regarded as the "sparrow capital" of Germany. Predatory birds , though common to Berlin, are not native to the quarter of Neukölln, but sometimes intrude from other peripheral areas, for example the common kestrel from the borough's southern quarters. Rank growth and gardening policies have been the basis for a slight revival of the urban insect population, including endangered or almost extinct species like
4394-782: Is today the Reuterkiez . After the completion of the Landwehr Canal in 1850 near the location of the older Müllen-Graben ( Mühlengraben , Mill Trench), industry and workshops began to settle along its shores in the marshes and meadows south of the Berlin Customs Wall , on and near today's Maybachufer . The Cottbuserdamm ( Kottbusser Damm ) and several parallel streets like the Friedelstraße, an important street in Berlin's first communal electric tram network, were built shortly afterwards. Between 1871 and 1905,
4563-518: Is typically characterized by low-lying marshy woodlands with a mainly flat topography . The quarter lies on the geological border between the shallow Weichselian Warsaw-Berlin Urstromtal glacial valley and the northernmost edge of the Teltow young drift ground moraine plateau, specifically the Rollberge , a small range of glacial hills rising to the south of Hermannplatz , Rixdorf, and
4732-565: Is usually interpreted as "bog", "moor" or "swamp". The name Neukölln , however, is in many ways an exception to Berlin's toponymic rules. When Rixdorf was rechristened Neukölln in 1912, the city's new name was a catch-all term. It logically referenced several places in the vicinity, namely the Cölln Heath to the east, as well as Cölln itself, Alt-Berlin 's historical twin city, which had been Rixdorf's feudal parent city for several generations ( see below ). The primary reference, however,
4901-671: The Forum Fridericianum along with, the Berlin State Opera , Charlottenburg Palace , Gendarmenmarkt , Alte Kommandantur , as well as the City Palace . The tallest buildings in Berlin are spread across the urban area, with clusters at Potsdamer Platz , City West , and Alexanderplatz . Over one-third of the city's area consists of green and open-space, with the Großer Tiergarten , one of
5070-694: The Schmiede am Richardplatz . During the Thirty Years' War (1618–48) Ricksdorf was mostly depopulated, with buildings and parts of the chapel destroyed by fire. At the end of the war, the village was also plagued by the Black Death , and in 1652 only seven farmers and cotters ( Kossäten ) and their relatives remained. In 1650, the Great Elector Frederick William gifted Ricksdorf its first windmill . In 1678, he created
5239-685: The Anita-Berber-Park (Schillerpromenade), a former cemetery, and the stadium park of the Werner Seelenbinder sporting grounds , both of which connect to the Tempelhofer Feld, the recently decommissioned cemetery Neuer St. Jacobi Friedhof (Schillerpromenade), now mostly used as a park, with parts under management by the Prinzessinnengärten gardening project, Lessinghöhe and Thomashöhe (Körnerpark),
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5408-892: The Berlin University of the Arts and the Free University of Berlin . The Berlin Zoological Garden is the most visited zoo in Europe. Babelsberg Studio is the world's first large-scale movie studio complex and the list of films set in Berlin is long. Berlin is also home to three World Heritage Sites : Museum Island , the Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin , and the Berlin Modernism Housing Estates . Other landmarks include
5577-576: The Berlin Wall around West Berlin, and events escalated to a tank standoff at Checkpoint Charlie . West Berlin was now de facto a part of West Germany with a unique legal status, while East Berlin was de facto a part of East Germany. John F. Kennedy gave his " Ich bin ein Berliner " speech on 26 June 1963, in front of the Schöneberg city hall, located in the city's western part, underlining
5746-1084: The Brandenburg Gate , the Reichstag building , Potsdamer Platz , the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe , and the Berlin Wall Memorial . Berlin has numerous museums , galleries, and libraries. [REDACTED] Margraviate of Brandenburg 1237–1618 [REDACTED] Brandenburg-Prussia 1618–1701 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Prussia 1701–1867 [REDACTED] North German Confederation 1867–1871 [REDACTED] German Empire 1871–1918 [REDACTED] Weimar Republic 1918–1933 [REDACTED] Nazi Germany 1933–1945 [REDACTED] Allied-occupied Germany 1945–1949 [REDACTED] West Germany 1949–1990 [REDACTED] East Germany 1949–1990 [REDACTED] Germany 1990–present Berlin lies in northeastern Germany. Most of
5915-698: The Burgundians followed. In the 7th century Slavic tribes, the later known Hevelli and Sprevane , reached the region. In the 12th century the region came under German rule as part of the Margraviate of Brandenburg , founded by Albert the Bear in 1157. Early evidence of middle age settlements in the area of today's Berlin are remnants of a house foundation dated 1270 to 1290, found in excavations in Berlin Mitte . The first written records of towns in
6084-663: The Duchy of Pomerania-Demmin , ruled by Casimir I , which had all fought for dominance during the colonization of the Teltow and the formation of Brandenburg . Albert's successor Otto I defeated Casimir I in 1180, and following the rule of Otto II , margrave Albert II managed to secure a large part of the Teltow until 1212, but lost the Duchy of Pomerania again to the House of Griffin . His two sons, margraves John I and Otto III , jointly ruled Brandenburg from 1220 to 1266/67, secured
6253-649: The Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough), and to the quarter Tempelhof in the west (in Tempelhof-Schöneberg ). In the east and north-east, Neukölln borders on the quarters Alt-Treptow , Plänterwald and Baumschulenweg , which are all part of the Treptow-Köpenick borough. Neukölln is separated from Kreuzberg by the park Volkspark Hasenheide , the Landwehr Canal , and the streets Kottbusser Damm and Hasenheide as far as
6422-563: The German Empire as far as East Prussia , looking for work in the town's growing industry, a migration wave that would not significantly weaken until the year 1910. Rixdorf's first daily newspaper, the Gemeinnütziger Anzeiger (Public Gazette), was published since 1874, later reestablished as Rixdorfer Zeitung (Rixdorf Newspaper) by editor-in-chief Wilhelm Hecht in 1882. The city's first telegraph station opened
6591-611: The German common language , while the Hevelli and Sprevane , the Slavic tribes who had replaced the original Germanic natives of the region, spoke West Slavic languages , for example Old-Polabian . For this reason, the toponyms of many of Berlin's localities have a Slavic origin, including Berlin itself, whose name, inspite of the early latinization as Berolinum , possibly stems from Proto-Slavic *berl-/*brl- , an obscure root which
6760-458: The German revolutions of 1848–1849 . During the Gründerzeit , an industrialization-induced economic boom triggered a rapid population increase in Berlin. 1920s Berlin was the third-largest city in the world by population. After World War II and following Berlin's occupation, the city was split into West Berlin and East Berlin , divided by the Berlin Wall . East Berlin was declared
6929-750: The Karl-Marx-Allee heads east, an avenue lined by monumental residential buildings, designed in the Socialist Classicism style. Adjacent to this area is the Rotes Rathaus (City Hall), with its distinctive red-brick architecture. In front of it is the Neptunbrunnen , a fountain featuring a mythological group of Tritons , personifications of the four main Prussian rivers, and Neptune on top of it. The Brandenburg Gate
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7098-622: The Knights Templar and Hospitaller already ruled over nascent Neukölln. After four centuries of colonization , the region around modern-day Berlin came under lasting Holy Roman rule in the 12th century as part of the Ascanian Margraviate of Brandenburg , founded by Albert the Bear in 1157. The region was situated near the borders to the Principality of Copnic , ruled by Sprevan prince Jaxa of Köpenick , and
7267-604: The Kranichgarten at the Neukölln Arcaden , vegetated and partially fenced Baumscheiben around road trees instead of tree grates , as well as vegetated parklets . The Tempelhofer Feld is home to several protected and endangered plant and animal species like the Italian locust and the wood white butterfly . Almost half of the vast park's bird species are on the list of highly endangered species , among them
7436-495: The Kreis Teltow , and Hermann Boddin immediately transitioned into his new office as the city's mayor. Rixdorf then declared itself a free city ( Kreisfreie Stadt ) on 1 May, and Boddin received the official title Erster Bürgermeister auf Lebenszeit (First Mayor for Life) from district president Robert Earl Hue de Grais on 4 May. On 1 November, the city obtained its own police force and law enforcement agency, including
7605-663: The Körnerpark and its orangerie . The Rixdorf Harbor in the southern part of the city was built between 1900 and 1906 together with the Teltow Canal , the Britz Canal and the Britz Harbor. The first stage of the harbor's watergate was constructed in 1902, at first used as part of a drainage facility for the surrounding wetlands. In the north, the Landwehr Canal was extended eastward between 1902 and 1905 with
7774-670: The Körnerpark itself, a former gravel quarry, with the Rübelandpark connecting Thomashöhe and Körnerpark, the Comenius Garden (Rixdorf), Herbert-Krause-Park and Schulenburgpark , both part of the High-Deck-Siedlung, and extensive stretches of garden allotments like Helmutstal and Märkische Schweiz close to the quarter's eastern border, including the Heidekamppark , a long green corridor adjacent to
7943-572: The Neukölln Ship Canal , and neighborhoods south of the Berlin Hermannstraße and Berlin Neukölln stations like Silbersteinstraße . At the western and eastern outskirts there are recreational spaces, namely a large area of privately leased garden allotments in the east at the site of the former Cöllnische Heide (Cölln Heath), and the neighborhood Hasenheide in the west, while industrial areas have formed mostly to
8112-461: The Rhine-Ruhr region, and the fifth-biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union . Berlin was built along the banks of the Spree river, which flows into the Havel in the western borough of Spandau . The city incorporates lakes in the western and southeastern boroughs, the largest of which is Müggelsee . About one-third of the city's area is composed of forests, parks and gardens , rivers, canals, and lakes. First documented in
8281-411: The Rixdorfer Stichkanal (Rixdorf Branch Canal) to the city's new gasworks , replacing the old Wiesengraben (Meadow Trench), which had originally been called Schlangengraben (Snake Trench). The year 1909 saw the inauguration of Rixdorf's first municipal hospital ( Rixdorfer Krankenhaus ), situated outside of the city near modern-day Buckow . It was during the 1850s when construction began in what
8450-437: The Rollberge , and nearby the important Reitergrab von Neukölln (equestrian tomb) south-west of Richardplatz at the Körnerpark, which stems from the onset of the Merowingian era in the first half of the 6th century. The original tribes that lived in the Berlin region belonged to the Elbe-Germanic Suevian Semnones . They eventually migrated southwestward during the era of the Barbarian Invasions and were superseded by
8619-441: The Wayback Machine and still impacts urban planning decisions. Walter Momper, the mayor of West Berlin, became the first mayor of the reunified city in the interim. City-wide elections in December 1990 resulted in the first "all Berlin" mayor being elected to take office in January 1991, with the separate offices of mayors in East and West Berlin expiring by that time, and Eberhard Diepgen (a former mayor of West Berlin) became
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#17327909203798788-404: The Werner-Seelenbinder-Sportpark , opened in 1928. Rixdorf had become notorious for its taverns, amusement sites and red-light districts , which dampened investments, economic development and the immigration of wealthier citizens, so in 1912 the local authorities took up former mayor Boddin's original plan, which until then had been consistently rejected, to get rid of this reputation by assuming
8957-400: The West Slavic Sprevane and Hevelli , historically called the Wends , but archeological traces pertaining to a successive Sprevane settlement were never found in the area of modern-day Neukölln. From the early era of post-Germanic German colonization, only scanty potsherds were excavated, and the remnants of mediaeval chain mail were typical of the 13th or 14th century, the times when
9126-436: The Wilhelmine Ring . In 1866, the Rixdorf villages were hit by epidemics of cholera and smallpox with at least 170 fatalities. In 1867, Deutsch-Rixdorf had a population of approximately 5,000, and Böhmisch-Rixdorf of 1,500. In 1870 the villages received their first train station, the Bahnhof Rixdorf , which still exists today as Neukölln station . On 10 August 1872, the original Jahndenkmal memorial for Turnvater Jahn
9295-413: The beech marten , the hedgehog , bats , the true toad and other species of frog. In recent years, otters and beavers have also made a comeback in Neukölln, for example at the Landwehr Canal. An average of 50–100 kills of wild boar are usually registered every year in the borough of Neukölln. However, boars only seldomly migrate into inner-city quarters, which need to be directly interconnected with
9464-489: The end of World War II in Europe in May 1945, Berlin received large numbers of refugees from the Eastern provinces. The victorious powers divided the city into four sectors, analogous to Allied-occupied Germany the sectors of the Allies of World War II (the United States, the United Kingdom, and France) formed West Berlin , while the Soviet Union formed East Berlin . All four Allies of World War II shared administrative responsibilities for Berlin. However, in 1948, when
9633-449: The states of Germany , and is the third smallest state in the country in terms of area. Berlin is surrounded by the state of Brandenburg , and Brandenburg's capital Potsdam is nearby. The urban area of Berlin has a population of over 4.5 million and is therefore the most populous urban area in Germany. The Berlin-Brandenburg capital region has around 6.2 million inhabitants and is Germany's second-largest metropolitan region after
9802-493: The vine weevil , which also reattracts bird species to the urbanized areas. Furthermore, Neukölln is now home to 300 species of wild bees . Like all cities in today's globalized world, Berlin and Neukölln are also home to several invasive species like the raccoon or the Himalayan balsam . Neukölln in particular has a fairly large population of nutria and muskrat . Several foreign species of fish and crustaceans have settled in Berlin's waterways, and have markedly shifted
9971-404: The whinchat and the wheatear . Generally, Neukölln's wildlife is no different from that of other inner-city quarters of Berlin, so red foxes , rabbits and smaller rodent species like the red squirrel and several muroidea as well as urban birds like doves , crows and (on the quarter's canals) swans , geese and ducks are almost ubiquitous. Less noticeable species include the badger ,
10140-408: The 13th century and at the crossing of two important historic trade routes , Berlin was designated the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1417–1701), Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), German Empire (1871–1918), Weimar Republic (1919–1933), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). Berlin served as a scientific, artistic, and philosophical hub during the Age of Enlightenment , Neoclassicism , and
10309-558: The 15th century introduced Reicherstorff , Richerstorp and Rigerstorp (1435). From the 16th century onward, vernacularly contracted forms took hold. Ricksdorf (1525) became the accepted spelling for two centuries, with many alternate forms appearing in historical records, for example Reichstorff (1541), Richstorff , Rigstorff (1542) and Richsdorf (1543), and in the 17th and 18th century Rechsdorff , Rechsdorp , Risdorf , Reichsdorp , Rieksdorf , Riecksdorff (1693) and Riechsdorf (1737). The earliest known source for Rixdorf
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#173279092037910478-414: The 1813 Wars of Liberation , for example at the Battle of Großbeeren , and the subsequent sovereign and political liberty, also gained from the Prussian abolition of serfdom on 11 November 1810, laid the foundation for Rixdorf's rapid development and industrialization, which began in the early second half of the 19th century. In 1827, the street to Berlin was paved, and by 1830 Rixdorf had already become
10647-423: The 19th century; the city's economy and population expanded dramatically, and it became the main railway hub and economic center of Germany. Additional suburbs soon developed and increased the area and population of Berlin. In 1861, neighboring suburbs including Wedding , Moabit and several others were incorporated into Berlin. In 1871, Berlin became capital of the newly founded German Empire . In 1881, it became
10816-441: The 20th century. 17% of Berlin's buildings are Gründerzeit or earlier and nearly 25% are of the 1920s and 1930s, when Berlin played a part in the origin of modern architecture . Devastated by the bombing of Berlin in World War II many of the buildings that had survived in both East and West were demolished during the postwar period. After the reunification, many important heritage structures have been reconstructed , including
10985-462: The Berlin blacksmiths' guild to stifle competition. The French Army under Napoleon occupied Rixdorf in 1806. The overall population in 1809 was 695. In 1811, Germany's first public outdoor gymnasium was established in the Hasenheide forest by Turnvater Jahn . The Hasenheide itself temporarily became a Regierungsbezirk of Berlin ( governmental district ) from 1816 to 1821, before coming under Rixdorf's jurisdiction. Rixdorf residents fought in
11154-413: The Bohemian colony Böhmisch-Rixdorf for most of the 18th and 19th century. When the Knights Templar became too powerful, the order was proscribed and effectively dissolved in 1312 by Pope Clement V under accusations of apostasy , but different from other Templar possessions, the Tempelhof commandery including *Richardshof did not immediately transfer into Hospitaller ownership, probably because
11323-449: The Britz Harbor north of the Teltow Canal. Smaller landing stages are located along the Neukölln Ship Canal until Kiehlufer, and these Neukölln Docklands are currently subject to extensive redevelopment. Like all of inner-city Berlin, Neukölln, despite its high level of urbanization, has a diverse and thriving population of urban wildlife . The quarter's large share of vegetation, parks and other green areas ( see above ) not only provides
11492-467: The Federal Republic of Germany was founded in West Germany and eventually included all of the American, British and French zones, excluding those three countries' zones in Berlin, while the Marxist–Leninist German Democratic Republic was proclaimed in East Germany . West Berlin officially remained an occupied city, but it politically was aligned with the Federal Republic of Germany despite West Berlin's geographic isolation. Airline service to West Berlin
11661-411: The Forest (1598, 4th ed. 1717), a certain territory of ground adjoining unto the forest [which] was once forest-land and afterwards disafforested by the perambulations made for the severing of the new forests from the old The owner of freelands in the purlieu to the yearly value of forty shillings was known as a purlieu-man or purley-man . The benefits of disafforestation accrued only to the owner of
11830-408: The Heidekampgraben. On the southern and south-western borders to the quarters Britz and Tempelhof respectively is the Carl-Weder-Park , a stretched park above the underground Stadtring autobahn west of the Britzer Damm. Immediately adjacent to the north is the Emmauswald , a former cemetery and Neukölln's largest and only true forest, with the Emmauskirchhof , a still active graveyard, connecting to
11999-426: The Huguenot immigration. Many other immigrants came from Bohemia , Poland , and Salzburg . Since 1618, the Margraviate of Brandenburg had been in personal union with the Duchy of Prussia . In 1701, the dual state formed the Kingdom of Prussia , as Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg , crowned himself as king Frederick I in Prussia . Berlin became the capital of the new Kingdom, replacing Königsberg . This
12168-671: The Karma Culture Garden in Rixdorf, and the Von-Der-Schulenburg-Park (High-Deck-Siedlung). Neukölln's prominent waterway is the Neukölln Ship Canal , which connects the Teltow and Britz Canals with the Landwehr Canal and (through Kreuzberg) the river Spree . The Neukölln Harbor , consisting of an upper and lower basin and connected via the Neukölln Watergate , was built in tandem with
12337-780: The Museumsinsel U-Bahn station opened in 2021, which completed all new works on the U5. A partial opening by the end of 2020 of the Humboldt Forum museum, housed in the reconstructed Berlin Palace , was postponed until March 2021. On 16 September 2022, the opening of the eastern wing, the last section of the Humboldt Forum museum, meant the Humboldt Forum museum was finally completed. It became Germany's currently most expensive cultural project. The legal basis for
12506-555: The Reuterkiez had from the beginning always been aimed at more affluent residents and a higher quality of living, but except for the Reuterplatz forgone any development of green urban plazas. Due to the marshy substrate, the new neighborhood was at first only developed between Kottbusser Damm and Weichselstraße, and was instead extended southward into and beyond the modern Donaukiez of the Flughafenstraße neighborhood. In
12675-652: The Rixdorf lot point to a Germanic prehistory of Neukölln, with evidence of a settlement since the late Neolithic age, like early flint tools, potsherds from the Bronze Age on Richardplatz, or Iron Age burial urns in the Hasenheide . Finds from the era of the Roman Empire were ubiquitous in Berlin, which includes West-Germanic terps and ceramics on the Richardplatz, a Gordianic bronze coin on
12844-473: The Tempelhofer Feld, which was better suited than the area on the Rollberge slopes. Construction of the new residential park in present-day Schillerkiez began with Rixdorf's 1901 development plan. The ambitious Gründerzeit estates, the broad promenade parallel to Hermannstraße and the circular central plaza (Herrfurthplatz) with the Genezareth Church were markedly aimed at wealthier settlers, as
13013-458: The US support for West Berlin. Berlin was completely divided. Although it was possible for Westerners to pass to the other side through strictly controlled checkpoints, for most Easterners, travel to West Berlin or West Germany was prohibited by the government of East Germany. In 1971, a Four-Power Agreement guaranteed access to and from West Berlin by car or train through East Germany. In 1989, with
13182-683: The Western Allies extended the currency reform in the Western zones of Germany to the three western sectors of Berlin, the Soviet Union imposed the Berlin Blockade on the access routes to and from West Berlin, which lay entirely inside Soviet-controlled territory. The Berlin airlift , conducted by the three western Allies, overcame this blockade by supplying food and other supplies to the city from June 1948 to May 1949. In 1949,
13351-442: The [river] Spree "), or Brandenburgica (" Brandenburgian "). Even though neither Neukölln nor the historical Neu-Cölln were ever officially called Nova Colonia , etymologically Neukölln still translates as "New Colony", which was a fitting new name for a city that since the first German colonists of the early 13th century until today has always been a prominent destination for settlers and immigrants. Archeological finds on
13520-554: The area of Berlin from 66 to 883 km (25 to 341 sq mi). The population almost doubled, and Berlin had a population of around four million. During the Weimar era , Berlin underwent political unrest due to economic uncertainties but also became a renowned center of the Roaring Twenties . The metropolis experienced its heyday as a major world capital and was known for its leadership roles in science, technology, arts,
13689-623: The area of modern Berlin are dated around 60,000 BC. A deer mask, dated to 9,000 BC, is attributed to the Maglemosian culture . In 2,000 BC dense human settlements along the Spree and Havel rivers gave rise to the Lusatian culture . Starting around 500 BC Germanic tribes settled in a number of villages in the higher situated areas of today's Berlin. After the Semnones left around 200 AD,
13858-419: The area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209. 1237 is considered the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the staple right on the two important trade routes , one was known as Via Imperii , and the other trade route reached from Bruges to Novgorod . In 1307
14027-475: The balance of indigenous species. Especially the population of red swamp crayfish has risen sharply in the past decade, including in the Landwehr Canal, and the reintroduction of eels into Berlin's waterways is planned as a countermeasure. At the time of its official foundation in 1360 as a Knights Hospitaller angerdorf , Rixdorf was called Richarsdorp ( Richardsdorf , "Richard's Village"), while
14196-554: The borough Neukölln, water bodies make up 1.6% of the whole surface area, with the northern quarter trailing behind Rudow and especially Britz, two of Neukölln's other four quarters. Like its parks and forests, all of Neukölln's water bodies are man-made. Several of the quarter's parks contain artificial lakes and ponds, for example the Volkspark Hasenheide ( Rixdorfer Teich ), the Comenius Garden ( Weltenmeer ),
14365-459: The borough Neukölln, which separates the dense urban areas of Neukölln and northern Britz, with its higher share of immigrants and lower-income citizenry, from the borough's southern quarters, which, with the exception of Gropiusstadt , are mainly characterized by a larger number of family homes and residents with middle-class income. Neukölln is divided into nine neighborhoods ( Kieze or Stadtquartiere , officially called Ortslagen ), among them
14534-464: The building of a new inner-city hospital, a community hall and a poorhouse in 1893, the 1895 reconstruction of Rixdorf station , and the 1899 opening of Hermannstraße station on the Ringbahn . On 9 February 1899, the first electric tram line began its operation. Rixdorf's 1899 independence was executed in two legal steps. On 1 April, the town was chartered as an independent city and released from
14703-540: The capital of East Germany, while Bonn became the West German capital. Following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became the capital of all of Germany. Due to its geographic location and history, Berlin has been called "the heart of Europe". The economy of Berlin is based on high tech and the service sector , encompassing a diverse range of creative industries , startup companies , research facilities, and media corporations. Berlin serves as
14872-567: The cities and villages in northeastern Germany bear Slavic languages -derived names. Typical Germanization for place name suffixes of Slavic origin are -ow, -itz, -vitz, -witz, -itzsch and -in , prefixes are Windisch and Wendisch . The name Berlin has its roots in the language of the West Slavs , and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl- ("swamp"). Of Berlin's twelve boroughs , five bear
15041-521: The city lost half of its population. Frederick William , known as the "Great Elector", who had succeeded his father George William as ruler in 1640, initiated a policy of promoting immigration and religious tolerance. With the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, Frederick William offered asylum to the French Huguenots . By 1700, approximately 30 percent of Berlin's residents were French, because of
15210-496: The city of Cölln in what is also the first historical mention of Berlin's aula . Soon after, the heath would be known as Cöllnische Heide , and its western marshes and grasslands as Cöllnische Wiesen . The windmills of Cölln and Alt-Berlin along the river Spree were mentioned for the first time in a document dated 2 January 1285, which also refers to a royal domain office, the Amt Mühlenhof , which would administrate
15379-591: The city square Südstern , which conforms to Berlin's historical Weichbildgrenze (1861–1919). Neukölln shares part of the Tempelhofer Feld with Tempelhof , the vast field of the former Tempelhof Airport , now a popular recreation area. The green corridor Heidekamppark with the trench Heidekampgraben , the Kiefholzstraße and several urban streets in the Bouché neighborhood separate Neukölln from
15548-509: The city's assembly and forcing mayor Curt Kaiser to resign, who was succeeded by Alfred Scholz ( SPD ). The workers, employees and officers of Neukölln threatened a general strike , but the conflict was resolved in 1919 by the Prussian government. The revolutionary council was barred from attending the city's assembly meetings, and the Prussian Army 's 17th infantry division was deployed and laid siege to Neukölln, which eventually led to
15717-642: The city's official LOR framework or the focus of current or former neighborhood management , are the Donaukiez along Donaustraße between Sonnenallee and Karl-Marx-Straße, Ganghoferstraße around the border between Donaukiez and Böhmisch-Rixdorf, the Weserkiez around Weserstraße between Weigandufer and Sonnenallee, the Warthekiez around Wartheplatz, the Bouchékiez , a larger residential area north of
15886-518: The city. The East Side Gallery is an open-air exhibition of art painted directly on the last existing portions of the Berlin Wall. It is the largest remaining evidence of the city's historical division. Purlieu Purlieu is a term used for the outlying parts of a place or district. It was a term of the old Forest law , and meant, as defined by John Manwood , Treatise of the Lawes of
16055-512: The coldest was January 1709 , with a mean temperature of −13.2 °C (8.2 °F). The wettest month on record was July 1907, with 230 millimeters (9.1 in) of rainfall, whereas the driest were October 1866, November 1902, October 1908 and September 1928, all with 1 millimeter (0.039 in) of rainfall. Berlin's history has left the city with a polycentric metropolitan area and an eclectic mix of architecture. The city's appearance today has been predominantly shaped by German history during
16224-475: The colonial town in Brandenburg was at first called Colonia (1237) and Colonia juxta Berlin (1247, "colony near Berlin"). In the same manner as the toponym of modern-day Köln ( Cologne ), the former Roman Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (50 CE ) and Colonia Agrippina (322), was gradually germanized from post-Roman Colonia (since 450) to its Mediaeval names Colne , Coellen , and Cölln , so
16393-463: The country) to about 80,000 due to emigration between 1933 and 1939. After Kristallnacht in 1938, thousands of the city's Jews were imprisoned in the nearby Sachsenhausen concentration camp . Starting in early 1943, many were deported to ghettos like Łódź , and to concentration and extermination camps such as Auschwitz . Berlin hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics for which the Olympic stadium
16562-638: The decades that followed, Rixdorf, the new Reuterkiez and Donaukiez were expanded west- and southward respectively, forming Neukölln's younger neighborhoods of Schillerpromenade, Körnerpark and the historical Rollberg. Starting in 1875 after the approval of a new development plan, the areas immediately to the south, namely present-day Rollberg and the remainder of Flughafenstraße, were developed first, mainly as working-class outskirts with backyard manufacturing and larger industries, tightly packed tenements , small apartments and tiny residential backyards. To this end, and to also furnish raw material for construction in
16731-573: The dissolution of the Workers' and Soldiers' Council. Berlin Berlin ( / b ɜːr ˈ l ɪ n / bur- LIN , German: [bɛʁˈliːn] ) is Germany 's capital and largest city by area and by population . With over 3.85 million inhabitants, it has more population within in its city limits than any other city in the European Union . The city is also one of
16900-573: The east. Several inner-city squares and building complexes have been designed with green stretches, for example monuments like the Reuterpark on Reuterplatz or the Richardpark on Richardplatz , smaller parks like Trusepark, green plazas like Hertzbergplatz, dedicated plaza parks like Weichselpark on Weichselplatz and Wildenbruchpark on Wildenbruchplatz, as well as special places like the atrium of Neukölln's Stadtbad (public bath house). In
17069-593: The end of October, and flights to and from Tegel Airport ending in November. Due to the fall in passenger numbers resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic , plans were announced to close BER's Terminal 5, the former Schönefeld Airport , beginning in March 2021. The connecting link of U-Bahn line U5 from Alexanderplatz to Hauptbahnhof, along with the new stations Rotes Rathaus and Unter den Linden, opened on 4 December 2020,
17238-724: The end of the Cold War and pressure from the East German population, the Berlin Wall fell on 9 November and was subsequently mostly demolished. Today, the East Side Gallery preserves a large portion of the wall. On 3 October 1990, the two parts of Germany were reunified as the Federal Republic of Germany, and Berlin again became a reunified city. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the city experienced significant urban development Archived 16 December 2023 at
17407-562: The first elected mayor of a reunited Berlin. On 18 June 1994, soldiers from the United States, France and Britain marched in a parade which was part of the ceremonies to mark the withdrawal of allied occupation troops allowing a reunified Berlin (the last Russian troops departed on 31 August, while the final departure of Western Allies forces was on 8 September 1994). On 20 June 1991, the Bundestag (German Parliament) voted to move
17576-509: The first issue of the daily newspaper Rixdorfer Tageblatt (Daily Rixdorf) was published, renamed Neuköllner Tageblatt in 1912. The city's infrastructure continued to grow with the introduction of a telephone network in 1885, the first public telephone installation at Rixdorf's post office in 1886, a new water network connection to the Charlottenburg waterworks in 1887–88, a new sewage system and drainage facility between 1891 and 1895,
17745-418: The flattened Rollberge slopes. The working-class tenements, even in the front buildings, were small and overcrowded, sunless and unaerated, and unsanitary without personal water closets or rooms for hygiene, which promoted diseases and epidemics, infant and child mortality, violence and crime, but also turned Neukölln into a Socialist heartland, fueling the class struggles of the 1920s and '30s, and later also
17914-474: The grasslands later known as Cöllnische Wiesen (Cölln Meadows) on the road to Copenic as an eastern Knights Templar stronghold, administered by the neighboring Commandery Tempelhof ( Tempelhove ), which had developed during the early days of the Holy Roman Empire along the old Via Imperii . The Templar functioned as a neutral institution, and after the primary conflicts had ended in 1231,
18083-557: The greenest of all Berlin boroughs, even taking the city's top spot with 19.9% of parks and meadows. Green space in the quarter Neukölln is dominated by small to medium-sized parks, but the two major parks in the western part of Neukölln, the Volkspark Hasenheide and the Tempelhofer Feld , more than make up for the lack of large green areas in other spots. Smaller parks are found in all neighborhoods, many of which are among Neukölln's historical garden monuments, for example
18252-465: The historical sites of Neukölln's foundation south-east of the quarters's geographical center, Richardplatz-Süd to the south and south-east of the central plaza Richardplatz, and Böhmisch-Rixdorf to the north and north-west, which together are commonly referred to as Rixdorf or Alt-Rixdorf ("Old Rixdorf"). The other official neighborhoods are (from north to south): Other recognized neighborhoods and urban sites, which are sometimes distinguished in
18421-577: The humanities, city planning, film, higher education, government, and industries. Albert Einstein rose to public prominence during his years in Berlin, being awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. In 1933, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power . Hitler was inspired by the architecture he had experienced in Vienna , and he wished for a German Empire with a capital city that had
18590-522: The lands. There seems no doubt that purlieu or purley represents the Anglo- French pourallé lieu (old French pouraler , puraler , to go through Latin perambulare ), a legal term meaning properly a perambulation to determine the boundaries of a manor, parish, or similar region. The word survives in placenames. Examples include Dibden Purlieu in Hampshire , on the border of
18759-433: The large forests in Berlin's periphery, for example like the western parts of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf . To date, no cases have been recorded for the quarter Neukölln. While the plain and unadorned surfaces of modern architecture have all but pushed out traditional urban bird species like the common swift and the house martin , Berlin, unlike other German cities, is still a safe haven for many others. A prominent example
18928-518: The largest and most popular parks in Berlin, located in the centre of the city. The Fernsehturm (TV tower) at Alexanderplatz in Mitte is among the tallest structures in the European Union at 368 m (1,207 ft). Built in 1969, it is visible throughout most of the central districts of Berlin. The city can be viewed from its 204-meter-high (669 ft) observation floor. Starting here,
19097-511: The largest village of the Berlin periphery with more than 2,000 inhabitants. On 28 April 1849, more than a quarter of the buildings in both Rixdorf villages were destroyed in a firestorm, and reconstruction lasted until 1853. On 1 January 1853, the parish of Deutsch-Rixdorf was declared an independent parish by the Berlin Evangelical Consistory . In 1854, the first horsebus connection was established between Berlin and
19266-488: The local settlements, villages and cities down to the present day have always been a popular destination for colonists and immigrants. In modern times, it was originally shaped by the working class and gastarbeiters , but western immigration since the turn of the millennium has led to gentrification and a rejuvenation of the quarter's culture and night life. Neukölln is on the North European Plain , which
19435-726: The low plateaus on both sides of the Spree Valley. Large parts of the boroughs Reinickendorf and Pankow lie on the Barnim Plateau, while most of the boroughs of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf , Steglitz-Zehlendorf , Tempelhof-Schöneberg , and Neukölln lie on the Teltow Plateau. The borough of Spandau lies partly within the Berlin Glacial Valley and partly on the Nauen Plain, which stretches to
19604-921: The lowest is the Spektesee in Spandau, at 28.1 meters (92 ft) elevation. Berlin has an oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb ) bordering on a humid continental climate ( Dfb ). This type of climate features mild to very warm summer temperatures and cold, though not very severe, winters. Annual precipitation is modest. Frosts are common in winter, and there are larger temperature differences between seasons than typical for many oceanic climates . Summers are warm and sometimes humid with average high temperatures of 22–25 °C (72–77 °F) and lows of 12–14 °C (54–57 °F). Winters are cold with average high temperatures of 3 °C (37 °F) and lows of −2 to 0 °C (28 to 32 °F). Spring and autumn are generally chilly to mild. Berlin's built-up area creates
19773-605: The name Neukölln , which referenced both Rixdorf's historical parent city Cölln and the Cöllnische Heide (Cölln Heath) to the east, but was mainly derived from the Neucöllner Siedlungen ("Neucölln Estates") north of Rixdorf, whose name imitated Neu-Cölln , a historical district south of the medieval part of Berlin and Cölln proper. The renaming was petitioned by mayor Curt Kaiser and eventually granted by Emperor William I on 27 January 1912. At
19942-459: The new Bohemian village Böhmisch-Rixdorf had counted 300 residents already in 1747. In 1797, Böhmisch-Rixdorf was granted its own administration, and the two villages settled on the official modern spelling Rixdorf , which had been in use since 1709. In the same year, Deutsch-Rixdorf acquired the forge on Richardplatz and sold it to a local resident, who was therefore allowed to operate the forge permanently, which until then had been prevented by
20111-480: The oldest school building of Neukölln was constructed on the Bohemian Kirchgasse , which from 1797 onward also housed the village's assembly hall. Rixdorf suffered from destruction and pillaging by Austrian and Russian troops during the second year of the Seven Years' War (1756–63), but this did not prevent its subsequent development. In 1760, Berlin statesman Ewald Friedrich von Hertzberg became
20280-484: The original Amtshaus (administrative building) were built in 1878, the first municipal court ( Amtsgericht ) in 1879, which was quickly replaced in 1901 by the new municipal court and prison, and the city's new telegraph office in 1882. Rixdorf's first public open-air bath opened in 1883 south of the Ringbahn , but had to close again in 1913, when Neukölln's harbor and docklands were built. On 14 August 1884, Richardplatz
20449-415: The population increased, as several Gründerzeit apartment blocks were erected, often with industrial backyards that are still typical of Berlin today. Construction was temporarily set back due to a devastating fire in 1886 that destroyed nearly all of the city block between Kottbusser Damm, Maybachufer and Schinkestraße. Different from other neighborhoods of northern Rixdorf, most residential development in
20618-421: The present-day Richardplatz, and approximately 3 km (1.86 mi) from the river Spree , was already called Richarsdorp ( Richardsdorf , "Richard's Village"), signifying decades of development from yard ( hove ) to village ( dorp ), now officially recognized under the sovereignty of Knights Hospitaller grand master Roger de Pins and the joint Electors of Brandenburg Otto VII and Louis II , and under
20787-497: The proprietor of Rixdorf's Schulzengericht ( schultheiß court). The original village of Rixdorf was further expanded in 1764 with new residential buildings and a brickyard , and since 1801 it was mostly called Deutsch-Rixdorf . In 1765, Frederick the Great gifted Böhmisch-Rixdorf its first windmill. Inspite of its expansion, Deutsch-Rixdorf at first remained the smaller of the two villages, with roughly 200 residents in 1771, while
20956-683: The public on 10 May 1914. From 1912 to 1913, the Rixdorf Branch Canal became the Neukölln Ship Canal , further extended southward to the Neukölln Harbor and the Teltow Canal . Construction of the second stage at the Neukölln Watergate concluded in 1914, and the canal officially opened on 1 April of the same year. 6,600 of Neukölln's residents fell serving at the frontlines in World War I (1914–18). Despite
21125-448: The quarter from the borough, the latter is sometimes informally called Groß-Neukölln ("Greater Neukölln"), while the quarter is also called Berlin-Neukölln or Nord-Neukölln . The quarter Neukölln lies adjacent to the quarter Britz in the south, which is also part of greater Neukölln, to the SO 36 and Kreuzberg 61 neighborhoods of the quarter Kreuzberg in the north and north-west (in
21294-509: The quarter's potent resistance movement against the Nazis (1933–45). However, the financial crises and wars in early 20th century Germany prevented any contemporary redevelopment in Rollberg until the 1960s and '70s. Schillerpromenade and parts of Körnerpark , on the other hand, followed the Reuterkiez model with apartment buildings for wealthier residents, and the two quarters still have
21463-529: The quarters of Treptow-Köpenick in former East Berlin . Finally, the Stadtring motorway with the Carl-Weder-Park, streets like Britzkestraße, Juliushof and Grenzallee, as well as the southern end of the Neukölln Ship Canal and the Britz Canal , form the administrative border with the Britz quarter. The Britz and Teltow Canals , on the other hand, form the geographical and demographic border within
21632-587: The regional authority of Hermann von Werberg , Statthalter (Governor) and first Herrenmeister (Lord of the Knights) of the Brandenburg bailiwick . The historical document containing the Richardsdorf charter, itself a mid-15th century copy of the original deed, has been lost since World War II , but its contents have been preserved, and 26 June 1360 has since been commemorated as the official date of Neukölln's foundation. The village with its twelve farmers
21801-481: The remaining Knights Templar offered resistance. Instead, the estate was fiducially held by Waldemar the Great for six years, and legally transferred to the Knights Hospitaller only in 1318. When first mentioned in its foundational charter of 26 June 1360, the only known foundational charter for a Brandenburg village, the angerdorf 5.5 km (3.4 mi) south-east of Cölln and Alt-Berlin around
21970-402: The remaining parts of the Teltow, established many new towns, and are regarded as the conditores (framers) of Colonia ( Cölln ) and the old town of Berlin . Around the year 1200, a military hamlet , at some point possibly called Richarshove ( *Richardshof , "Richard's Court"), together with an unnamed folwark near Slavic Trebow , was established at the foot of the Teltow on the edge of
22139-467: The rest of Berlin, most of the rolling agricultural hills of the Rollberge range were excavated and leveled, and Rixdorf's sixteen windmills torn down, with the last windmill dismantled in 1899. In the first wave, four new parallel streets as well as the Kopfstraße between Bergstraße, present-day Karl-Marx-Straße, and Hermannstraße were constructed together with the crossways Falk- and Morusstraße on
22308-461: The river Spree . The quarter of Neukölln is south-east of the Berlin city center, in the north of the Neukölln borough. The quarter is known in German as an Ortsteil or Stadtteil , and the Neukölln borough as a Verwaltungsbezirk (administrative district), in Berlin officially called Bezirk (district). Different from the borough, the quarter of Neukölln (as a non-administrative district) has no mayor or representatives of its own. To distinguish
22477-493: The royal administration introduced general compulsory schooling in Berlin, Rixdorf and the rest of Prussia. Rixdorf financed the construction of its first windmill in 1729, and five years later the population had grown to 224. In 1737, King Frederick William I of Prussia invited 18 families of Hussite Moravian Protestants , who had been driven out of Bohemia , to settle near the village, where they built new houses, industrial infrastructure and eventually their own chapels off
22646-528: The same year. On 1 October 1874, the Vereinsbrauerei , which had been founded in 1872 and would later become Berlin's Kindl brewery, opened to the public in Rollberg after almost a year of inofficial pourage. Urbanization quickly took off with new residential estates, schools, churches, infrastructure, paved streets with sewers, and an increasing number of industrial settlements. The first Kremser horsebus line to Berlin started its operations on 2 July 1875 under private management. The city's first gasworks and
22815-401: The seat of the German capital from Bonn to Berlin, which was completed in 1999, during the chancellorship of Gerhard Schröder . Berlin's 2001 administrative reform merged several boroughs, reducing their number from 23 to 12. In 2006, the FIFA World Cup Final was held in Berlin. Construction of the "Berlin Wall Trail" (Berliner Mauerweg) began in 2002 and was completed in 2006. In
22984-408: The so-called Pferde-Eisenbahn from Rollberg to Spittelmarkt in Berlin, and a communal line from the Rollkrug tavern at Hermannplatz to Knesebeckstraße near Kurfürstendamm a year later, which formed the basis for the Straßenbahnen der Stadt Berlin (SSB), the first communal public transportation company of Berlin, which was established with grants from the Rixdorf citizenry. On 20 March 1892,
23153-625: The south and east also promote migration into the quarter. Neukölln's nature and wildlife are primarily managed by rangers from Berlin's Stiftung Naturschutz (Charity for Nature Conservation). Political measures over the past years have improved natural habitats and the ecological component of Berlin's path toward a more sustainable development . Among them are a strict urban tree planting and replacement policy, an emphasis on discreetly controlled rank growth, both in parks and on median strips , protected nature areas in larger parks, and more neighborhood-oriented action like roof gardens , for example
23322-499: The south and east of the Berlin Ringbahn . At the south-eastern end of Neukölln in the area of the former Cölln Heath are two additional neighborhoods from the 1920s, situated between Weiße Siedlung and High-Deck-Siedlung around Köllnische Heide station , namely Schulenburgpark to the south, and the Dammwegsiedlung to the north. In urban planning , the divisions of Berlin's boroughs and quarters are more precise. Here Neukölln, non-administrative district 10 in borough 08, as of 2024,
23491-448: The streets Karl-Marx-Straße and Hasenheide . Neukölln's natural elevation is 52 m (172 ft) above NHN , with the highest elevation at 67.9 m (223 ft) achieved by the Rixdorfer Höhe , a trümmerberg in the Volkspark Hasenheide . Neukölln's geographical center , based on a minimum bounding box , is located east of Richardstraße 101 near Kirchgasse at a linear distance of approximately 2.3 km (1.43 mi) to
23660-435: The stronghold was at some point abandoned by the military and rededicated as a Templar access yard, probably after the end of the Teltow and Magdeburg Wars between the Houses of Ascania and Wettin (1239–45), which definitively ended the major regional conflicts of the Ostsiedlung era. On 21 November 1261, margrave Otto III , gifted the forest region Mirica , parts of which would later belong to Rixdorf and Neukölln, to
23829-437: The surname Reich , but without taking the documented earlier variants and vernacular contractions into account. In the 12th and early 13th centuries, during the time of Albert the Bear 's and his successors' foundational advances into the region of modern-day Brandenburg and Berlin, Latin had been the administrative lingua franca of the Mediaeval Holy Roman Empire . The immigrating colonists mostly spoke dialects of
23998-417: The time, Neukölln's population stood at 253,000. In 1913, the city of Neukölln bought the Spree island Abteiinsel , today's Insel der Jugend (Youth Island), which had originally been owned by one of Rixdorf's citizens in 1868, and constructed the Abteibrücke between the exclave and the mainland of Alt-Treptow , one of Germany's first reinforced concrete bridges. Neukölln's bath house opened to
24167-437: The time, Ricksdorf was already spelled Rixdorf in several documents, and when Berlin's new municipal constitution came into effect on 1 January 1710, Rixdorf became a treasury village of the Berlin magistracy. In 1712, the new postal, trade and military road from Berlin to Dresden , the Dresdener Heerstraße , today's Hermannstraße , opened south of Hermannplatz as an extension of the Ricksdorfscher Damm . On 28 September 1717,
24336-539: The town citizens against the building culminated in 1448, in the "Berlin Indignation" ("Berliner Unwille"). Officially, the Berlin-Cölln palace became permanent residence of the Brandenburg electors of the Hohenzollerns from 1486, when John Cicero came to power. Berlin-Cölln, however, had to give up its status as a free Hanseatic League city. In 1539, the electors and the city officially became Lutheran . The Thirty Years' War between 1618 and 1648 devastated Berlin. One third of its houses were damaged or destroyed, and
24505-470: The two Rixdorf villages, followed by the first regular bus line from Hermannplatz to Berlin since 1 May 1860, the Ringbahn launch on 17 July 1871, and an additional bus line from Bergstraße, today's Karl-Marx-Straße, to Hallesches Tor in 1876. Meanwhile, the construction of new streets, plazas and residential estates in the Berlin periphery had been set in motion as part of the 1862 Hobrecht-Plan , which created what would come to be known architecturally as
24674-414: The two towns formed an alliance with a common external policy, their internal administrations still being separated. Members of the Hohenzollern family ruled in Berlin until 1918, first as electors of Brandenburg, then as kings of Prussia , and eventually as German emperors . In 1443, Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new royal palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln. The protests of
24843-476: The unified Rixdorf and oversaw its evolution into the largest village of the Prussian monarchy with 90,000 residents in 1895. The inaugural meeting of Rixdorf's municipal committee commenced on 27 April 1874 at the old schultheiß court on Richardplatz. In 1874, Rixdorf had 12,300 inhabitants, growing to 15,328 the next year, mainly due to thousands of new residents, who since 1870 had been immigrating from Pomerania , Silesia and other primarily Eastern regions of
25012-445: The urban characteristics of the two quarters, which at the time were still very much unequal, with Kreuzberg either more middle-class (Kreuzberg 61) or strongly influenced by the traditional alternative counterculture of Cold War West Berlin (SO 36) vis-à-vis the Reuterquartier's emerging hipster subculture . But as gentrification did not stop at Neukölln's borders, the toponym Kreuzkölln today, for better or for worse, describes
25181-403: The vast Northern European Plain which stretches all the way from northern France to western Russia. The Berliner Urstromtal (an ice age glacial valley ), between the low Barnim Plateau to the north and the Teltow plateau to the south, was formed by meltwater flowing from ice sheets at the end of the last Weichselian glaciation . The Spree follows this valley now. In Spandau, a borough in
25350-433: The village center along the road to Berlin, today called Richardstraße . 31 May 1737 is regarded as the official date of the Bohemian village's foundation, although the first settlers had already arrived in Rixdorf on 25 March of the same year. Twenty more colonists were granted their own land and construction rights in 1748. Already in 1751, the new settlement received its own cemetery, the Böhmischer Gottesacker . In 1753,
25519-476: The village's first parish register was opened by incumbent priest Johann Guthke. On 29 November 1700, the first official brewery concession and distribution rights were granted to Johann Wolfgang Bewert, the proprietor of Ricksdorf's schultheiß court. On 17 January 1709, the old city of Cölln merged with Alt-Berlin, Friedrichswerder , Friedrichstadt and Dorotheenstadt , forming the Königliche Haupt- und Residenzstadt Berlin (Royal Capital and Seat Berlin). At
25688-423: The village's infrastructure. Ricksdorf then created Die alte Kufe , a pond on the central meadow on Richardplatz, which was not only used as a horse pond , but also as a reservoir for the new fire hose . In 1624 the population had grown to 150, and the village had built a forge for traveling blacksmiths , which after several renovations and enlargements remains in operation to this day as Berlin's oldest forge,
25857-415: The wake of Neukölln's early gentrifying wave, which slowly resurrected the neighborhood's culture and night life, attracted an ever increasing number of young new residents, and enticed Berliners to favorably compare the up-and-coming new north of Neukölln with the more established Kreuzberg. The toponym was at first dismissed by many locals on both sides of the border, mainly due to the different history and
26026-427: The war years, urban development had continued unabated at first, and Rixdorf had become one of the most important suburban cities outside of Berlin. From 1 October 1917, waste management services were provided directly by the city. At the end of the war, the November Revolution led to the formation of the city's Workers' and Soldiers' Council , and in late 1918, the council seized executive power in Neukölln, dissolving
26195-400: The west of Berlin, the Spree empties into the river Havel , which flows from north to south through western Berlin. The course of the Havel is more like a chain of lakes, the largest being the Tegeler See and the Großer Wannsee . A series of lakes also feeds into the upper Spree, which flows through the Großer Müggelsee in eastern Berlin. Substantial parts of present-day Berlin extend onto
26364-411: The west of Berlin. Since 2015, the Arkenberge hills in Pankow at 122 meters (400 ft) elevation, have been the highest point in Berlin. Through the disposal of construction debris they surpassed Teufelsberg (120.1 m or 394 ft), which itself was made up of rubble from the ruins of the Second World War. The Müggelberge at 114.7 meters (376 ft) elevation is the highest natural point and
26533-455: The western part of the Reuterkiez together with the adjacent city blocks of Kreuzberg, which together have now formed an almost fully integrated, albeit gentrified, social and urban sphere. As of 2024, Berlin ranks among the greenest cities in Germany with only 44.48% of sealed ground , an average of 4.24 m³ per square meter (4.64 cu yd per square yard) of vegetation, and a 48% share of surface area with green space or water bodies, which provides
26702-415: Was Brandenburg's Holy Roman Colonia , first partially to Colne prope Berlin (1344, "Colne near Berlin"), then to Collen (1440), before settling on Cölln in later centuries. Latin literature kept referring to Cölln as Colonia . To distinguish it from Cologne, toponym extensions were often applied, for example Marchiae ("of the March [Brandenburg]"), or ad Spream , ad Spreeam or ad Spreham ("on
26871-425: Was a successful attempt to centralise the capital in the very far-flung state, and it was the first time the city began to grow. In 1709, Berlin merged with the four cities of Cölln, Friedrichswerder, Friedrichstadt and Dorotheenstadt under the name Berlin, "Haupt- und Residenzstadt Berlin". In 1740, Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great (1740–1786), came to power. Under the rule of Frederick II, Berlin became
27040-411: Was an unsuccessful attempt of unifying the states of Berlin and Brandenburg. Both share a common history, dialect and culture and in 2020, there are over 225,000 residents of Brandenburg that commute to Berlin. The fusion had the near-unanimous support by a broad coalition of both state governments, political parties, media, business associations, trade unions and churches. Though Berlin voted in favor by
27209-461: Was at first also called Neu-Cölln am Wasser ("New Cölln by the water"). It was built in 1662 as the southern military extension of the city of Cölln, and remained a small district of Berlin until the Greater Berlin Act of 1920, when it was dissolved in the new Mitte quarter of the homonymous borough . The etymology of Cölln , and therefore of Neukölln ("New Cölln"), is from imperial Latin colonia ("colony", "settlement", "colonial town"), and
27378-425: Was built. During World War II , Berlin was the location of multiple Nazi prisons, forced labour camps, 17 subcamps of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp for men and women, including teenagers, of various nationalities, including Polish, Jewish, French, Belgian, Czechoslovak, Russian, Ukrainian, Romani, Dutch, Greek, Norwegian, Spanish, Luxembourgish, German, Austrian, Italian, Yugoslavian, Bulgarian, Hungarian,
27547-430: Was during this boomtown era that the architect Reinhold Kiehl was called on by Rixdorf's assembly to further upgrade the city's infrastructure, which led to some of the quarter's most iconic buildings and locations being constructed, such as the city hall ( Rathaus Neukölln ) between 1905 and 1908, which gradually replaced the older Amtshaus , the 1912 Stadtbad Neukölln , a public bath house, and many more after 1912 like
27716-440: Was granted only to American, British and French airlines. The founding of the two German states increased Cold War tensions. West Berlin was surrounded by East German territory, and East Germany proclaimed the Eastern part as its capital, a move the western powers did not recognize. East Berlin included most of the city's historic center. The West German government established itself in Bonn . In 1961, East Germany began to build
27885-405: Was hit by a large fire. On 6 November 1884, Rixdorf sold its old village chapel to the Bohemian-Lutheran parish for 6,300 silver mark , approximately $ 31,800 (2024). In 1873, Rixdorf had already had 8 paved streets, and 24 in 1876, which grew exponentially in the following decade, enabling additional bus lines to Berlin, followed by the introduction of the first tram lines , beginning in 1884 with
28054-455: Was inaugurated in the Hasenheide forest. On 13 December 1872, Berlin's administration merged both Rixdorf villages and the commune Britz into the 24th Amtsbezirk ( bailiwick ). Both villages were united as Rixdorf on 1 January 1874 by royal decree of 11 July 1873, and the new town became a municipality of the Kreis Teltow . On 4 February 1874, Hermann Boddin became the first principal municipal magistrate ( Amts- und Gemeindevorsteher ) of
28223-430: Was mentioned again in 1375 as Richardstorpp in the Landbuch der Mark Brandenburg . Around the beginning of the 15th century, Richardsdorf erected its first official chapel. After ongoing border disputes and an ill-fated armed conflict, the Knights Hospitaller were forced to sell their possessions into permanent fiefdom to the cities of Alt-Berlin and Cölln on 23 September 1435, including Richardsdorf. The village
28392-487: Was mentioned again in deeds of 1525 as Ricksdorf , for the first time officially in its modern contracted form. On 1–2 November 1539, margrave Joachim II converted to the teachings of Martin Luther , and the Reformation was introduced in Ricksdorf. Disputes over Ricksdorf continued between Cölln and Berlin, and with a compromise settlement Ricksdorf became the sole fief and a kämmereidorf (treasury village) of Cölln on 24 August 1543. The documents of 1543 already mention
28561-464: Was to the Neucöllner Siedlungen (Neucölln Estates), which had been constructed on the Berlinische Wiesen north of the old Rixdorf in the decades before the renaming. The estates' name recalled the meadows' old name Cöllnische Wiesen (Cölln Meadows), and thereby, whether intentionally or not, imitated Neu-Cölln , an old district south of the medieval part of Berlin and Cölln proper. This historical Neu-Cölln, sometimes written Neu-Cöln or neu Cölln ,
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