Prenzlauer Berg
Encyclopedia
Prenzlauer Berg is a locality of Berlin
, in the borough of Pankow
.
Until 2001, Prenzlauer Berg was a borough of Berlin; in that year it was included (together with the former borough Weißensee
) in the borough of Pankow.
After German reunification
in 1990 Prenzlauer Berg became a centre for more bohemian
Berlin youth, while more recently it has experienced gentrification
.
, on the south Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
, on the east Lichtenberg
, and on the north Weißensee and Pankow
.
Geologically, the district lays entirely on the Barnim glacial deposit and borders from the southwest (to Mitte) on the Berlin glacier valley, which was formed in the Ice Age
.
The highest point of the district is 91 meters above sea level in the northwest of Volkspark Prenzlauer Berg. This mountain came into being after World War II as one of the debris piles after the gathering of rubble from the city center and the following rebuilding.
In Prenzlauer Berg there are no more green areas except for a small lake in Volkspark Prenzlauer Berg and a public pool in Ernst-Thälmann-Park
.
and the last ruins were cleared away only at the beginning of the 1970s. After the fall of the Berlin Wall
and subsequent German Reunification
, the dilapidated structures in many areas were rehabilitated and empty lots were since the middle of the 1980s closed up.
Today, Prenzlauer Berg forms a nearly homogeneous historic building area. Over 300 buildings remain protected as historic monuments, like the municipal swimming pool at Oderberger Straße and the breweries on Milastraße and Knaackstraße. The central area is characterized by restaurants and bars. The typical Berlin cuisine concentrates especially on Kastanienalle around Kollwitzplatz and Helmholtzplatz. The center of nightlife is the region around the U-Bahn
station Eberswalder Straße
at the intersections of Schönhauser Allee
, Danziger Straße, Eberswalder Straße, Kastanienallee and Pappelallee. These intersections and the surrounding area are called "Ecke Schönhauser" ("Schönhauser Corner"). This older Berlin appellation was used as the title for the DEFA film from 1957 and thereby became generally known:
With regard to urban planning, the district affords a relatively uniform picture. It is predominantly characterized by five-story, multiple dwelling units in closed blocks. Thanks to the long property lots, the blocks, more often than not, are very large and have abundant backyards, some having a perimeter of more than a kilometer.
Notable buildings are the large churches of the district, of which Gethsemane Church
of August Orth at Stargarder Straße (1891–1893) is the best known. Its 66-meter steeple is exceeded by the 79 meters of the steeple of Segenskirche on Schönhauser Allee and the 68-meter steeple of Immanuelkirche on Prenzlauer Allee. Also, the representative school buildings planned by Ludwig Ernst Emil Hoffmann (1852–1932) stand out in the area.
The largest synagogue in Germany is that on Rykestraße
. Construction began at the end of 1903 and it was dedicated on 4 September 1904. The building escaped the November pogrom
in 1938, for the synagogue was tightly surrounded by residential buildings. The synagogue was desecrated and confiscated in April 1940. In July 1945 it reopened for services, underwent several renovations (1952/1953, 1976, 1987/1988) and on the occasion of its 100th anniversary it was restored to its original splendor. In the Jewish Cemetery on Schönhauser Allee, opened in 1827, there are more than 22,500 graves and 750 family tombs, including the graves of David Friedländer
, Max Liebermann
, Leopold Ullstein
, Ludwig Bamberger
, Eduard Lasker
und Giacomo Meyerbeer
.
A Prenzlauer Berg landmark is the former water tower "Thick Hermann" at Rykestraße corner of Knaackstraße from the year 1877, which was the first water tower in Berlin. Another remarkable building is the Zeiss-Großplanetarium on Prenzlauer Allee, opened in 1987.
In the west of the district, north of the Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sportpark
, is Mauerpark
. This public green area was left when the area of the primary freight station was seized for the building of the Berlin Wall between Nordkreuz and Bernauer Straße. Thus, for 40 years another use was prohibited.
design from 1862 by James Hobrecht, the so-called Hobrecht-Plan
for Berlin. Envisioned as a working-class district, its tenement houses (in German: Mietskasernen) were mainly inhabited by intellectuals, artists, and students in the former German Democratic Republic. Since German reunification, Prenzlauer Berg's urban apartment block structures have, for the most part, been renovated. This and rising property values have led to more affluent residents moving into some areas of the borough.
Older buildings like the water tower
, near Kollwitzplatz, or the Prater Beer Garden in Kastanienallee, as well as the old breweries still give an impression of the days when Prenzlauer Berg was part of so-called Steinernes Berlin (Rocky Berlin) as described by author Werner Hegemann
in 1930.
and Mitte
, Prenzlauer Berg is a focal point of the Berlin art scene. Along with Friedrichshain
and Kreuzberg
it is also a popular neighbourhood with the student population.
Prenzlauer Berg is one of the most popular districts in Berlin, is one of Berlin's prettiest neighbourhoods, still central, yet quieter than Berlin Mitte. Much of Prenzlauer Berg escaped damage in the second world war and post war redevelopment. Nowadays Prenzlauer Berg offers trendy shopping with many streetstyle fashion designers selling their wares in trendy boutiques.
Prenzlauer Berg has become famous for being one of the few places in Germany where there has actually been a baby boom in recent years. There is an abundance of playgrounds Helmholtzplatz, Kollwitzplatz, kitas (child daycare centers) and shops selling toys and second hand children's clothing. However, the birthrate is not higher than elsewhere in Germany. Instead, the impression of a high number of children is based on the large percentage of people between 20 and 40 years who are potential parents of young children.
Prenzlauer Berg has recently become a popular area for the current wave of American and European immigrants into Berlin, many of whom are artists who have moved to Berlin in search of the cheap downtown apartments and studio space which are very hard to find in other capital cities and 'centres for the arts' like New York, London and Paris but which are abundant in Berlin. Conversations in English can often be heard in the street cafes along the Kastanienallee.
Kollwitzplatz and Helmholtzplatz have weekly street markets, and the former breweries Kulturbrauerei
, Pfefferberg and Kastanienallee are the hot spots of interest.
Boroughs and localities of Berlin
Berlin is both a city and one of Germany’s federal states. It is made up of twelve boroughs , each with its own borough government, though all boroughs are subject to Berlin’s city and state government.-History:Each borough is made up of several officially recognized localities...
, in the borough of Pankow
Pankow
Pankow is the third borough of Berlin. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was merged with the former boroughs of Prenzlauer Berg and Weißensee; the resulting borough retained the name Pankow.- Overview :...
.
Until 2001, Prenzlauer Berg was a borough of Berlin; in that year it was included (together with the former borough Weißensee
Berlin-Weißensee
Weissensee is a locality in the borough of Pankow in Berlin, Germany, named for the small lake Weißer See within it. Before Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, Weissensee was a borough in its own right, consisting of the localities of Weissensee, Heinersdorf, Blankenburg, Karow and...
) in the borough of Pankow.
After German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
in 1990 Prenzlauer Berg became a centre for more bohemian
Bohemianism
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...
Berlin youth, while more recently it has experienced gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
.
Geography
Prenzlauer Berg is a portion of the Pankow district in northeast Berlin. On the west and southwest it borders MitteMitte
Mitte is the first and most central borough of Berlin. It was created in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by the merger of the former districts of Mitte proper, Tiergarten and Wedding; the resulting borough retained the name Mitte. It is one of the two boroughs which comprises former West and...
, on the south 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...
, on the east Lichtenberg
Lichtenberg
Lichtenberg is the eleventh borough of Berlin, Germany. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it absorbed the former borough of Hohenschönhausen.-Overview:...
, and on the north Weißensee and Pankow
Pankow
Pankow is the third borough of Berlin. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was merged with the former boroughs of Prenzlauer Berg and Weißensee; the resulting borough retained the name Pankow.- Overview :...
.
Geologically, the district lays entirely on the Barnim glacial deposit and borders from the southwest (to Mitte) on the Berlin glacier valley, which was formed in the Ice Age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
.
The highest point of the district is 91 meters above sea level in the northwest of Volkspark Prenzlauer Berg. This mountain came into being after World War II as one of the debris piles after the gathering of rubble from the city center and the following rebuilding.
In Prenzlauer Berg there are no more green areas except for a small lake in Volkspark Prenzlauer Berg and a public pool in Ernst-Thälmann-Park
Ernst-Thälmann-Park
Ernst-Thälmann-Park is a park in the centre of the Prenzlauer Berg district in Berlin. It was laid out in 1986 at the site of a former coal gas plant and named after the former Communist party leader Ernst Thälmann ....
.
Cityscape
Prenzlauer Berg is characterized by old buildings, the majority of which come from the beginning of the 20th century (1889 to 1905). Over 80% of all housing in this area sprung up before 1948, the oldest building still standing being from 1848 at 77 Kastanienallee. In the second World War, relatively few buildings were destroyed in comparison to other areas of the city. The area was neglected in the time of the German Democratic RepublicGerman Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
and the last ruins were cleared away only at the beginning of the 1970s. After the fall 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...
and subsequent German Reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
, the dilapidated structures in many areas were rehabilitated and empty lots were since the middle of the 1980s closed up.
Today, Prenzlauer Berg forms a nearly homogeneous historic building area. Over 300 buildings remain protected as historic monuments, like the municipal swimming pool at Oderberger Straße and the breweries on Milastraße and Knaackstraße. The central area is characterized by restaurants and bars. The typical Berlin cuisine concentrates especially on Kastanienalle around Kollwitzplatz and Helmholtzplatz. The center of nightlife is the region around the U-Bahn
Berlin 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...
station Eberswalder Straße
Eberswalder Straße (Berlin U-Bahn)
Eberswalder Straße is a Berlin U-Bahn station located on the .Opened in 1913 as Danziger Strasse as a iron station on stone columns. Due to war a few months in 1945 closed. In 1950 the name was changed to Dimitroffstrasse...
at the intersections of Schönhauser Allee
Schönhauser Allee
Schönhauser Allee in Berlin is one of the most important streets of the Prenzlauer Berg district.Schönhauser Allee reaches from Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in the south to Pankow in the north...
, Danziger Straße, Eberswalder Straße, Kastanienallee and Pappelallee. These intersections and the surrounding area are called "Ecke Schönhauser" ("Schönhauser Corner"). This older Berlin appellation was used as the title for the DEFA film from 1957 and thereby became generally known:
With regard to urban planning, the district affords a relatively uniform picture. It is predominantly characterized by five-story, multiple dwelling units in closed blocks. Thanks to the long property lots, the blocks, more often than not, are very large and have abundant backyards, some having a perimeter of more than a kilometer.
Notable buildings are the large churches of the district, of which Gethsemane Church
Gethsemane Church
Gethsemane Church is one out of four church buildings of the Evangelical Northern Prenzlauer Berg Congregaton , a member of the Protestant umbrella organisation Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia....
of August Orth at Stargarder Straße (1891–1893) is the best known. Its 66-meter steeple is exceeded by the 79 meters of the steeple of Segenskirche on Schönhauser Allee and the 68-meter steeple of Immanuelkirche on Prenzlauer Allee. Also, the representative school buildings planned by Ludwig Ernst Emil Hoffmann (1852–1932) stand out in the area.
The largest synagogue in Germany is that on Rykestraße
Rykestrasse Synagogue
Rykestrasse Synagogue, Germany's largest synagogue, is located in the Prenzlauer Berg neighbourhood in the Pankow borough of Berlin. Johann Hoeniger built the synagogue in 1903/1904. It was inaugurated on 4 September 1904, on time for the holidays of and around Rosh haShana...
. Construction began at the end of 1903 and it was dedicated on 4 September 1904. The building escaped the November pogrom
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
in 1938, for the synagogue was tightly surrounded by residential buildings. The synagogue was desecrated and confiscated in April 1940. In July 1945 it reopened for services, underwent several renovations (1952/1953, 1976, 1987/1988) and on the occasion of its 100th anniversary it was restored to its original splendor. In the Jewish Cemetery on Schönhauser Allee, opened in 1827, there are more than 22,500 graves and 750 family tombs, including the graves of David Friedländer
David Friedländer
David Friedländer, sometimes spelled Friedlander was a German Jewish banker, writer and communal leader.- Life :Friedländer settled in Berlin in 1771...
, Max Liebermann
Max Liebermann
Max Liebermann was a German-Jewish painter and printmaker best known for his etching and lithography.-Biography:...
, Leopold Ullstein
Leopold Ullstein
Leopold Ullstein was an important German publisher of Jewish heritage from Fürth, Bavaria. He founded or purchased several successful German language newspapers, including B. Z. and Berliner Morgenpost. Many of these are still published today. He also founded Ullstein-Verlag.-External links:* *...
, Ludwig Bamberger
Ludwig Bamberger
Ludwig Bamberger was a German economist, politician and writer.-Early life:Bamberger was born in a Jewish family in Mainz.After studying at Gießen, Heidelberg and Göttingen, he entered law.-Career:...
, Eduard Lasker
Eduard Lasker
Eduard Lasker was a German politician and jurist.-Biography:He was born at Jarotschin, a village in Posen, being the son of a Jewish tradesman. He attended the gymnasium, and afterwards the University of Breslau...
und Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
.
A Prenzlauer Berg landmark is the former water tower "Thick Hermann" at Rykestraße corner of Knaackstraße from the year 1877, which was the first water tower in Berlin. Another remarkable building is the Zeiss-Großplanetarium on Prenzlauer Allee, opened in 1987.
In the west of the district, north of the Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sportpark
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sportpark
The Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark is a sports site in the Prenzlauer Berg district of Berlin. In the south it borders on the Eberswalder Straße, in the north on the Max Schmeling Halle, in the west on the Mauerpark, where part of the Berlin Wall once stood. It includes a football and athletics...
, is Mauerpark
Mauerpark
Mauerpark is a public park in Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg district. The name translates to "Wall Park", referring to its status as a former part of the Berlin Wall and its Death Strip...
. This public green area was left when the area of the primary freight station was seized for the building of the Berlin Wall between Nordkreuz and Bernauer Straße. Thus, for 40 years another use was prohibited.
History
Prenzlauer Berg was developed during the second half of the 19th century based on an urban planningUrban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
design from 1862 by James Hobrecht, the so-called Hobrecht-Plan
Hobrecht-Plan
The Hobrecht-Plan is the binding land-use plan for Berlin in the 19. century. It is named after its main editor James Hobrecht who was serving for the royal-prussian urban planning police . The finalized plan "Bebauungsplan der Umgebungen Berlins" was resolved in 1862 intended for a time frame of...
for Berlin. Envisioned as a working-class district, its tenement houses (in German: Mietskasernen) were mainly inhabited by intellectuals, artists, and students in the former German Democratic Republic. Since German reunification, Prenzlauer Berg's urban apartment block structures have, for the most part, been renovated. This and rising property values have led to more affluent residents moving into some areas of the borough.
Older buildings like the water tower
Water tower
A water tower or elevated water tower is a large elevated drinking water storage container constructed to hold a water supply at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system....
, near Kollwitzplatz, or the Prater Beer Garden in Kastanienallee, as well as the old breweries still give an impression of the days when Prenzlauer Berg was part of so-called Steinernes Berlin (Rocky Berlin) as described by author Werner Hegemann
Werner Hegemann
Werner Hegemann was a city planner, architecture critic, and author.Hegemann began his studies in Berlin, studied art history and economics in Paris and economics at the University of Pennsylvania and in Strasbourg, completing his doctorate in Munich in 1908...
in 1930.
Prenzlauer Berg today
Countless pubs, restaurants, cafés, galleries and little shops create a day and nightlife atmosphere unrivalled in the rest of Berlin. Along with SchönebergSchöneberg
Schöneberg is a locality of Berlin, Germany. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a separate borough including the locality of Friedenau. Together with the former borough of Tempelhof it is now part of the new borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg....
and Mitte
Mitte
Mitte is the first and most central borough of Berlin. It was created in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by the merger of the former districts of Mitte proper, Tiergarten and Wedding; the resulting borough retained the name Mitte. It is one of the two boroughs which comprises former West and...
, Prenzlauer Berg is a focal point of the Berlin art scene. Along with Friedrichshain
Friedrichshain
Friedrichshain is a part of Berlin's borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, and like Kreuzberg across the river it has its own distinct character, with the result that the new double name is hardly ever used outside government administration. From its creation in 1920 until Berlin's 2001...
and Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg, a part of the combined Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte since 2001, is one of the best-known areas of Berlin...
it is also a popular neighbourhood with the student population.
Prenzlauer Berg is one of the most popular districts in Berlin, is one of Berlin's prettiest neighbourhoods, still central, yet quieter than Berlin Mitte. Much of Prenzlauer Berg escaped damage in the second world war and post war redevelopment. Nowadays Prenzlauer Berg offers trendy shopping with many streetstyle fashion designers selling their wares in trendy boutiques.
Prenzlauer Berg has become famous for being one of the few places in Germany where there has actually been a baby boom in recent years. There is an abundance of playgrounds Helmholtzplatz, Kollwitzplatz, kitas (child daycare centers) and shops selling toys and second hand children's clothing. However, the birthrate is not higher than elsewhere in Germany. Instead, the impression of a high number of children is based on the large percentage of people between 20 and 40 years who are potential parents of young children.
Prenzlauer Berg has recently become a popular area for the current wave of American and European immigrants into Berlin, many of whom are artists who have moved to Berlin in search of the cheap downtown apartments and studio space which are very hard to find in other capital cities and 'centres for the arts' like New York, London and Paris but which are abundant in Berlin. Conversations in English can often be heard in the street cafes along the Kastanienallee.
Kollwitzplatz and Helmholtzplatz have weekly street markets, and the former breweries Kulturbrauerei
Kulturbrauerei
The Berlin Kulturbrauerei is a building complex. Originally built and operated as a brewery, its courtyards and unique architecture have been protected as a monument since 1974 and it is one of the few well-preserved examples of industrial architecture in Berlin dating from the end of the 19th...
, Pfefferberg and Kastanienallee are the hot spots of interest.
Places of interest
- Gethsemane ChurchGethsemane ChurchGethsemane Church is one out of four church buildings of the Evangelical Northern Prenzlauer Berg Congregaton , a member of the Protestant umbrella organisation Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia....
, former meeting place of the resistance in the GDR - Helmholtzplatz and Kollwitzplatz on market days
- Jewish cemeteryJewish cemeteryA Jewish cemetery is a cemetery where members of the Jewish faith are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition....
on Schönhauser AlleeSchönhauser AlleeSchönhauser Allee in Berlin is one of the most important streets of the Prenzlauer Berg district.Schönhauser Allee reaches from Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in the south to Pankow in the north...
, where painter Max LiebermannMax LiebermannMax Liebermann was a German-Jewish painter and printmaker best known for his etching and lithography.-Biography:...
and composer Giacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
are buried - MauerparkMauerparkMauerpark is a public park in Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg district. The name translates to "Wall Park", referring to its status as a former part of the Berlin Wall and its Death Strip...
(former location of the Berlin wallBerlin WallThe 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...
) - Rykestrasse SynagogueRykestrasse SynagogueRykestrasse Synagogue, Germany's largest synagogue, is located in the Prenzlauer Berg neighbourhood in the Pankow borough of Berlin. Johann Hoeniger built the synagogue in 1903/1904. It was inaugurated on 4 September 1904, on time for the holidays of and around Rosh haShana...
- Wasserturm Prenzlauer BergWasserturm Prenzlauer BergThe Wasserturm Prenzlauer Berg is Berlin's oldest water tower, completed in 1877 and in use until 1952. It is situated between Knaackstraße and Belforter Straße in Kollwitzkiez, in the Prenzlauer Berg locality of Berlin and worked on the principle of using tubes to supply the rapidly growing...
(water towerWater towerA water tower or elevated water tower is a large elevated drinking water storage container constructed to hold a water supply at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system....
), designed by Henry Gill, constructed by the English Waterworks Company and finished in 1875.
External links
- Map of Prenzlauer Berg in 1836
- Map of Prenzlauer Berg in 1893
- Map of Prenzlauer Berg in 1961
- Map of Prenzlauer Berg in 1989
- tic-berlin: tourist & historical information about Prenzlauer Berg
- Prenzlauer Berg Nachrichten (the local online newspaper in German)
- Virtual e-Tour Mauerpark
- Virtual e-Tour Helmholtzplatz
- Private website about life in the "kiez", history and landmarks (including maps and satellite view)
- Synagogue in Rykestrasse prior to its present restauration
- Photograph of the water tower – Detail 1 Detail 2
- BBC article about the baby boom in Prenzlauer berg
- Herald Tribune Article about Berlin and Prenzlauer Berg