Neighbourhoods in Berlin

Publish Time：2017-08-17 17:14:43Source：visitBerlin

【Introduction】：Berlin has many different faces. So you think you’ve discovered Berlin? it’s time for a different side of Berlin: its twelve boroughs. Get out and explore the districts and neighbourhoods. Twelve different faces, different stories, undiscovered places and a side of the city you’ve never seen before – but still unmistakably Berlin!

Lichtenberg

Lichtenberg is an up-and-coming borough, with young families moving to the area around the Rummelsburger Bucht bay and creatives living the dream in charming old industrial buildings. The residents in this former working-class district are hearty and down-to-earth – real Berlin characters. The Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial, a former Stasi remand prison, offers fascinating insights into political persecution in the former East Germany.

Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf

Locals in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf are happy to leave other districts to don the mantle of the party place. They’d rather head the rankings as a touch more elegant and traditionally stylish than elsewhere in Berlin – as you can tell from the side streets of impressive town houses around the Kurfürstendamm boulevard and the resplendent villas in the leafy Grunewald district. This architecture evokes a rich history, while the new buildings set harmoniously in between point the way to the borough’s future. In Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, discover the neighbourhoods of one of Berlin’s more laid-back boroughs!

The centre of City West: Kurfürstendamm boulevard

Kurfürstendamm – known as Ku’damm to the locals – is the acknowledged heart of the borough. During the Berlin Wall years, the Ku’damm was renowned as West Berlin’s vibrant centre with stores and shops, cinemas and discos. Once the Wall fell, things became quieter as the new and cutting-edge clubs and bars opened in former East Berlin, and many cinemas and traditional cafés and shops here had to close.

Over the last few years, though, City West area has enjoyed a renaissance. With the Bikini Haus mall and the Waldorf Astoria close by, the area around the Ku’damm has a sleek new look. Now newly stocked with glitzy outlets and restaurants, galleries and art venues, City West has been reborn as a trendy place to see and be seen, shop and indulge in the night-life. It is an attractive mix – enriched by the magic of the imposing façades and elaborate portals of the solidly upper-class houses in the side-streets around Ku’damm.

Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg

As anyone from Kreuzberg will tell you, this district is not just the coolest in Berlin, but the hippest location in the entire universe. Kreuzberg has long been famed for its diverse cultural life, its experimental alternative lifestyles and the powerful spell it exercises on young people from across Germany. In 2001, Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain were merged to form one administrative borough. When it comes to club culture, Friedrichshain is now out in front – with southern Friedrichshain particularly ranked as home to the highest density of clubs in the city.

Neukölln

Neukölln is renowned for its lively mix of the old and new. This excitingly bustling borough is full of contrasts – from its estates of detached houses in the south to the high-rises in the Gropiusstadt neighbourhood and a vibrant multicultural area around the border to Kreuzberg.

Above all, though, Neukölln is home to people from around the world – as you can easily tell from your choice of street food! Here, the veggie burritos are nestling next to Basque specialities, while US burger outlets rub shoulders with Arabian bakeries, Vietnamese snack bars and upscale restaurants – and yes, Neukölln has those too! For some years, fans of authentic Italian cuisine have raved about the Lavanderia Vecchia, located in an old laundry in the Schiller neighbourhood. Or you could pamper yourself (and your taste buds!) with the fine flavours of sophisticated German-French fusion at the Eins 44 restaurant in a stylishly revamped old distillery.

Spandau

Spandau, one of Berlin’s largest boroughs, has a wealth of history to explore. Its roots go back to the thirteenth century when it was founded as a medieval fortress town. And this birds’-eye-view is not an illusion – Spandau’s forests are perfect for cyclists and hikers, and the lakes ideal for swimmers and canoeists. The water quality is excellent, with many lake shore and river beaches packed with local families in summer. If you’ve always wanted to paddle your own canoe, then this your chance! Hire a kayak or canoe and glide down the narrow meandering channels of the River Havel past lush meadows and areas of natural beauty – stopping for a picnic on the shores of the forested Pichelswerder peninsula. Sports and countryside fans also enjoy cycling along the River Havel, stopping now and then to dip their feet in the water. On the way north, you can also find a fascinating piece of Berlin history – an old East German watchtower.

Steglitz-Zehlendorf

Steglitz-Zehlendorf is renowned for its woodlands and lakes. The spreading Grunewald forest, shared between the Zehlendorf and Wilmersdorf districts, covers nearly 7500 acres! The forest is one of Berlin’s best-loved green spaces for sports and recreation. Ideal for walking and cycling, this woodland is also home to the romantic Grunewald hunting lodge as well as the Brücke Museum with its stunning collection of works by German Expressionist artists.

To the south, the green forest meets the blue waters of the district’s lakes. With Wannsee, Krumme Lanke and Schlachtensee lakes, Zehlendorf boasts three popular bathing lakes where (nearly) all the locals meet in summer. So if you’re heading this way, remember to pack your swimming things!

Pankow

Pankow is Berlin’s most populous borough – a place where everyone feels at home, from families to artists, visitors and revellers. Vibrant Prenzlauer Berg is home to creativity and a cosmopolitan lifestyle – as much in evidence in the many cafés and eateries around the Helmholtzplatz and Kollwitzplatz squares as in the wealth of independent boutiques and quirky shops where you can browse to your heart’s content. Oderberger Straße and Kastanienallee boulevard have long been a treasure trove for Berlin designer fashion and labels.

Treptow-Köpenick

Proportionally, Treptow-Köpenick has the largest area of forest, waterways and lakes of any Berlin borough. And with its rivers and lakes, beautiful parks and the charming old town of Köpenick, the south-east of Berlin is like a weekend trip, every day, any day. But it also has many other fascinating facets, from the history recounted in its old industrial buildings to the popular FEZ leisure centre, renowned as a paradise for families. Treptow-Köpenick is also highly rated for the space it offers for sports, with perfect conditions for windsurfing, sailing, jogging and cycling.

Stretching from the eastern edge of the city to green Treptower Park, Treptow-Köpenick is Berlin's largest borough in terms of area. Its neighbour to the west is Kreuzberg, famed as the heartlands of Berlin’s alternative culture, but Treptow-Köpenick is also home to a vibrant nightlife and arts scene. The Arena is one of the city’s hottest venues for parties, events, and concerts, while the hipsters can be found hunkered down with laptops and coffee in the cafés and bars along Lohmühlenstraße.

Down along the eastern River Spree, the borough becomes increasingly idyllic. Tour boats depart from the Treptower Park jetty for the inner city, and paddle boats often criss-cross the quiet waters at the Insel der Jugend (Island of Youth). If you prefer stargazing to messing about in boats, head for the nearby Archenhold Observatory in Treptower Park to explore the mysteries of the universe.

Towards Schöneweide, the old brick industrial buildings have gained a new lease of life as home to start-ups and the studios of art students. At Berlin’s leading technology park in Adlershof, which attracts scientists from around the world, the future is also high on the agenda.

Mitte

Mitte is more than just the centre and heart of the city. It is also the cradle where Berlin was born, growing from a small settlement founded along the River Spree in the thirteenth century. Mitte has always cultivated its own distinctive character. Not only does it embody Berlin as an open world city more than any other borough, but it also impressively reflects the city’s chequered history. In that spirit, a reconstructed city palace, open to all, is being built on a central site in Mitte where once Prussian kings ruled. With its collections and exhibitions, the Humboldt Forum in the city palace will stand for an equal dialogue between cultures.

The original Reichstag parliament building from the late nineteenth century was designed in a solemn and imposing neo-Renaissance style. In contrast, today’s refurbished building is crowned by an elegant glass dome open to the public – a symbol of a new, politically transparent Germany firmly committed to European ideals. A few steps further on just in front of the parliament building, you can even sit down on some comfortable stone steps in the centre of the government quarter and dangle your feet in the cool water of the River Spree. Or why not ‘boat through the city’? In Berlin, nothing could be easier! Just hop on one of the many boat tours along the river, relax over drinks and snacks on board, glide past government buildings and major sights, and discover Berlin’s riverside landscapes and beaches!

Tempelhof-Schöneberg

On today’s Tempelhofer Feld, locals and visitors gather to enjoy the vast spaces of this inner city park. Once this was the site of the airport where the Candy Bombers landed during the Berlin blockade and cheering crowds greeted John F. Kennedy and the Beatles. Today, the former apron and runways attract skateboarders, kite land boarders and cyclists, as well as kite flyers, mini-golfers and juggers. This spreading green urban space, comparable in size to New York’s Central Park, includes around six acres reserved for picnics and barbecues – so there’s plenty of room for your BBQ as well!

If you prefer unspoilt nature in a unique setting, head for the Südgelände nature park. Established on an old switchyard, the park offers an unusual blend of nature and the remains of the steam engine era where you can stroll through the jungle-like forest and marvel at the park’s impressive flora and fauna. Heading south, the borough has an array of parks, large and small – little oases where you can stroll or read, and children can play.

Reinickendorf

Whether you are a nature or sports lover, keen on quality family time or an architecture buff – Reinickendorf is sure to have what makes your heart beat faster! This is a borough which breathes variety.

In the wake of the 1920 land reform, Reinickendorf was created from six very different villages –the root of today's colourful mix. Here, you can find upscale town houses and working class housing estates, bustling industrial locations and quiet recreational areas, big city lifestyles and spreading natural lakes.

Since the 19th century, the green district of Tegel has attracted day trippers keen to stroll its large forest, laze on idyllic lakeside beaches, relax at the attractive harbour or visit the manor house belonging to the famous Humboldt brothers. The attractions also include the spreading Tegeler See lake with Berlin’s only landing stages for river cruise boats, and the lakeside district of Tegelort which even has a car ferry across the water to Spandau. The mood is rather more eerie at Heiligensee lake. Here, an ancient tale recounts how two bells float across the water at midnight, talking to one another.

Visiting Lübars village, with its charming farms, village school and baroque church, is like travelling back in time to a rural past. The Tegeler Fliess nature conservancy area starts just beyond Lübars – perfect to relax and recharge your batteries! Fully refreshed, head for the lovingly designed Heimatmuseum, the local history museum, or for Wittenau with its carefully maintained village green.

Marzahn-Hellersdorf

Marzahn-Hellersdorf’s Kienberg hill has a stunning view of the generous landscaped park with the Gardens of the World, across the green Wuhletal valley to the urban housing estates, and on to the Brandenburg countryside in the distance. If you prefer a bird’s-eye perspective, the new cable car ride over one and half kilometres from Kienberg hill to the Gardens of the World offers spectacular views of the borough’s many green spaces.

Marzahn-Hellersdorf has changed considerably over the last few years – with the International Garden Show (IGA) Berlin 2017 as a major highlight. For the IGA, the Gardens of the World park has been enlarged to 100 hectares, twice its normal size, to create an impressive panorama of garden design and green spaces nearly ten times the size of Berlin’s Museum Island!

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