Neukölln (locality)
Encyclopedia
Neukölln is an inner-city locality (Ortsteil) of Berlin
in the homonymous borough (Bezirk) of Neukölln
, including the historic village of Rixdorf and numerous Gründerzeit
apartment blocks. The Ortsteil is densely settled a with a population of 154,127 inhabitants (2009) and is the most populated one of Berlin. It is characterized by a high percentage of immigrants, especially of Turkish
and Arab
descent. In the past few years, northern Neukölln, frequently known as Kreuzkölln, has undergone a transformation and has seen a huge influx of students and artists as the area becomes increasingly popular.
(in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
) at the Landwehrkanal
. It also borders with Alt-Treptow
, Plänterwald
and Baumschulenweg
(all part of Treptow-Köpenick
) in the east and Tempelhof
(in Tempelhof-Schöneberg
) in the west, separated by the vast field of the former Tempelhof Airport. In the south, the Stadtring
motorway forms the border with the Britz
locality.
The Sonnenallee
, connecting Neukölln at Hermannplatz
with Baumschulenweg in former East Berlin
was the site of a border crossing
of the Berlin Wall
, perpetuated by the 1999 Sonnenallee
comedy film.
. It may have been the site of a former stronghold erected by the dissolved Knights Templar
at neighbouring Tempelhof.
In 1737, King Frederick William I of Prussia
allowed about 350 Moravian Protestants expelled from Bohemia
to settle in the area, then called Rixdorf. They built their own church and houses off the village centre along the road to Berlin, today called Richardstraße. This new Bohemian village (Böhmisch Rixdorf) was granted its own constitution in 1797.
In 1863 a Turkish cemetery was laid out north of Rixdorf, the successor of a smaller burial ground in Kreuzberg established in 1798 for the Turkish members of the Prussian Army
. It contains the mortal remains of the Ottoman
ambassador Giritli Ali Aziz Efendi
, the exiled Grand Vizier Mehmed Talat and Bahattin Şakir.
When both parts of the village were reunited in 1874, the place had 8,000 inhabitants, growing to 15,000 the next year. On May 1, 1899 Rixdorf, then the largest village of Prussia
, received the status of an independent city
and had become notorious for its taverns and amusement sites. In 1912, the local authorities tried to get rid of this reputation by assuming the current name derived from the Old Cölln
part of medieval Berlin - an attempt that ultimately failed. Neukölln's independence ended in 1920 when it was incorporated into Greater Berlin
. From 1945 to 1990, it was part of the American sector of West Berlin
.
S-Bahn
(Ringbahn)
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in the homonymous borough (Bezirk) of Neukölln
Neukölln
Neukölln is the eighth borough of Berlin, located in the southeastern part of the city and was part of the former American sector under the Four-Power occupation of the city...
, including the historic village of Rixdorf and numerous Gründerzeit
Gründerzeit
' refers to the economic phase in 19th century Germany and Austria before the great stock market crash of 1873. At this time in Central Europe the age of industrialisation was taking place, whose beginnings were found in the 1840s...
apartment blocks. The Ortsteil is densely settled a with a population of 154,127 inhabitants (2009) and is the most populated one of Berlin. It is characterized by a high percentage of immigrants, especially of Turkish
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
and Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
descent. In the past few years, northern Neukölln, frequently known as Kreuzkölln, has undergone a transformation and has seen a huge influx of students and artists as the area becomes increasingly popular.
Overview
The locality is situated in the north of the Neukölln borough, adjacent to KreuzbergKreuzberg
Kreuzberg, a part of the combined Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte since 2001, is one of the best-known areas of Berlin...
(in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg is the second borough of Berlin, formed in 2001 by merging the former East Berlin borough of Friedrichshain and the former West Berlin borough of Kreuzberg...
) at the Landwehrkanal
Landwehrkanal
The Landwehr Canal, or Landwehrkanal in German, is a long canal parallel to the Spree river in Berlin, Germany, built between 1845 and 1850 according to plans by Peter Joseph Lenné...
. It also borders with Alt-Treptow
Alt-Treptow
Alt-Treptow is a German locality in the borough of Treptow-Köpenick in Berlin. Known also as Treptow it was, until 2001, the main and the eponymous locality of the former Treptow borough.-History:...
, Plänterwald
Plänterwald
Plänterwald is a German locality within the Berlin borough of Treptow-Köpenick. Until 2001 it was part of the former borough of Treptow and the site of its former town hall .-History:...
and Baumschulenweg
Baumschulenweg
Baumschulenweg is a German locality within the Berlin borough of Treptow-Köpenick. Until 2001 it was part of the former borough of Treptow...
(all part of Treptow-Köpenick
Treptow-Köpenick
Treptow-Köpenick is the ninth borough of Berlin, Germany, formed in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by merging the former boroughs of Treptow and Köpenick.-Overview:...
) in the east and Tempelhof
Tempelhof
Tempelhof is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. It is the location of the former Tempelhof Airport, one of the earliest commercial airports in the world. It is now deserted and shows as a blank spot on maps of Berlin. Attempts are being made to save the still-existing...
(in Tempelhof-Schöneberg
Tempelhof-Schöneberg
Tempelhof-Schöneberg is the seventh borough of Berlin, formed in 2001 by merging the former boroughs of Tempelhof and Schöneberg.-Geography:...
) in the west, separated by the vast field of the former Tempelhof Airport. In the south, the Stadtring
Bundesautobahn 100
is an Autobahn in Germany. The A 100 encloses the city centre of the German capital Berlin, running from the Wedding district of the Berlin-Mitte borough in a southwestern bow through Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Tempelhof-Schöneberg to Neukölln...
motorway forms the border with the Britz
Britz
Britz is a German locality within the Berlin borough of Neukölln.-History:The village of Britzig was first mentioned in 1273. It was incorporated by the 1920 Greater Berlin Act...
locality.
The Sonnenallee
Sonnenallee, Berlin
The Sonnenallee is a street in Berlin, Germany, connecting the districts of Neukölln and Treptow-Köpenick. The street is 5 km long, crossing Baumschulenstraße at its south east end and terminating at Hermannplatz in the north west. Sonnenallee was constructed at the end of the 19th century...
, connecting Neukölln at Hermannplatz
Hermannplatz (Berlin U-Bahn)
Hermannplatz is a station in the Neukölln district of Berlin which serves as an interchange between the lines and . Operated by the BVG, it is one of the busiest stations on the Berlin U-Bahn system.-History:...
with Baumschulenweg in former East Berlin
East Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
was the site of a border crossing
Berlin border crossings
The Berlin border crossings were created as a result of the postwar division of Germany. Prior to the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, travel between the Eastern and Western sectors of Berlin was totally uncontrolled, although restrictions were increasingly introduced by the Soviet and East...
of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
, perpetuated by the 1999 Sonnenallee
Sonnenallee
Sonnenallee is a 1999 comedy film about life in East Berlin in the late 1970s. The movie was directed by Leander Haußmann. The film was released shortly before the corresponding novel, Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee...
comedy film.
Subdivision
Neukölln counts 3 zones (Ortslagen):- Böhmisch-Rixdorf
- Köllnische Heide
- Rixdorf
History
When first mentioned in 1360 the village south-east of Berlin, around the present-day Richardplatz, was called Richardsdorf and owned by the Order of St. John; hence the coat of arms of the current city borough bears the Maltese crossMaltese cross
The Maltese cross, also known as the Amalfi cross, is identified as the symbol of an order of Christian warriors known as the Knights Hospitaller or Knights of Malta and through them came to be identified with the Mediterranean island of Malta and is one of the National symbols of Malta...
. It may have been the site of a former stronghold erected by the dissolved Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
at neighbouring Tempelhof.
In 1737, King Frederick William I of Prussia
Frederick William I of Prussia
Frederick William I of the House of Hohenzollern, was the King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death...
allowed about 350 Moravian Protestants expelled from Bohemia
Kingdom of Bohemia
The Kingdom of Bohemia was a country located in the region of Bohemia in Central Europe, most of whose territory is currently located in the modern-day Czech Republic. The King was Elector of Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806, whereupon it became part of the Austrian Empire, and...
to settle in the area, then called Rixdorf. They built their own church and houses off the village centre along the road to Berlin, today called Richardstraße. This new Bohemian village (Böhmisch Rixdorf) was granted its own constitution in 1797.
In 1863 a Turkish cemetery was laid out north of Rixdorf, the successor of a smaller burial ground in Kreuzberg established in 1798 for the Turkish members of the Prussian Army
Prussian Army
The Royal Prussian Army was the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.The Prussian Army had its roots in the meager mercenary forces of Brandenburg during the Thirty Years' War...
. It contains the mortal remains of the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
ambassador Giritli Ali Aziz Efendi
Giritli Ali Aziz Efendi
Giritli Ali Aziz Efendi was an Ottoman ambassador and an Ottoman author of the late-18th century and he is notable for his novel "Muhayyelât" , a unique work of fiction blending personal and fantastic themes, well in the current of the traditional Ottoman prose, but also exhibiting influences from...
, the exiled Grand Vizier Mehmed Talat and Bahattin Şakir.
When both parts of the village were reunited in 1874, the place had 8,000 inhabitants, growing to 15,000 the next year. On May 1, 1899 Rixdorf, then the largest village of Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
, received the status of an independent city
Independent city
An independent city is a city that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity. These type of cities should not be confused with city-states , which are fully sovereign cities that are not part of any other sovereign state.-Historical precursors:In the Holy Roman Empire,...
and had become notorious for its taverns and amusement sites. In 1912, the local authorities tried to get rid of this reputation by assuming the current name derived from the Old Cölln
Cölln
In the 13th century Cölln was the sister town of Old Berlin , located on the southern Spree Island in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Today the island is located in the historic core of the central Mitte locality of modern Berlin...
part of medieval Berlin - an attempt that ultimately failed. Neukölln's independence ended in 1920 when it was incorporated into Greater Berlin
Greater Berlin Act
The Greater Berlin Act , in full the Law Regarding the Reconstruction of the New Local Authority of Berlin , was a law passed by the Prussian government in 1920 that greatly expanded the size of the German capital of Berlin.-History:...
. From 1945 to 1990, it was part of the American sector of West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
.
Main sights
- Rixdorf village church, consecrated in 1481, adopted by the Moravian Protestants in 1737, officially called Bethlehem Church since 1912.
- Şehitlik Mosque, on the Turkish cemetery, finished in 2005 by the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DİTİB)
Transportation
U-BahnBerlin U-Bahn
The Berlin is a rapid transit railway in Berlin, the capital city of Germany, and is a major part of the public transport system of that city. Opened in 1902, the serves 173 stations spread across ten lines, with a total track length of , about 80% of which is underground...
- U7: U Rudow ↔ S+U Rathaus Spandau
- U8: S+U Hermannstr. ↔ S+U Wittenau
S-Bahn
Berlin S-Bahn
The Berlin S-Bahn is a rapid transit system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It consists of 15 lines and is integrated with the mostly underground U-Bahn to form the backbone of Berlin's rapid transport system...
(Ringbahn)
- S4S4X (Berlin)S41 and S42 operate a circular service on the Ringbahn section of the Berlin S-Bahn. The S41 operates clockwise around the circle, the S42 operates counter-clockwise....
: S Südkreuz → S+U Gesundbrunnen → S Südkreuz - S45S45 (Berlin)S45 is a line on the Berlin S-Bahn. It operates from Schönefeld Flughafen to Hermannstraße over:*a very short section of the Outer ring, opened in 1951 and electrified in 1983,...
: S+U Hermannstraße ↔ S Flughafen Berlin-Schönefeld (only from Monday till Friday) - S46S46 (Berlin)The Berlin S-Bahn line 46 runs from Königs Wusterhausen to Westend. It operates over:*the Görlitz line, opened in 1866 and electrified in 1929,*the Baumschulenweg–Neukölln link line, opened on 8 June 1896 and electrified in 1928 and...
: S Westend ↔ S Königs Wusterhausen - S47S47 (Berlin)The Berlin S-Bahn line 47 runs from Spindlersfeld to Südkreuz. It operates over:*the Schöneweide–Spindlersfeld branch line, opened on 1 April 1892 and electrified on 1 February 1929,*the Görlitz line, opened in 1866 and electrified in 1929,...
: S Spindlersfeld ↔ S Südkreuz (↔ S+U Bundesplatz)
International relations
- Berlin Neukölln is a pilot city of the Council of EuropeCouncil of EuropeThe Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
and the European CommissionEuropean CommissionThe European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
Intercultural citiesIntercultural citiesThe Intercultural City programme is a joint project of the Council of Europe and the European Commission. It aims at stimulating new ideas and practice in relation to the integration of migrants and minorities....
programme.