Berlin districts: history, description, attractions

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

Historical reference

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

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

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

After WWII, Berlin was divided into occupation zones, each of which had its own administrative division. In 1990, there was a reunification of Germany and, accordingly, its capital. Until 2000, 23 districts had the most diverse sizes and population. To level administrative units, in 2001 12 lands were formed with a comparable number of inhabitants.

The best areas of Berlin

It so happened historically that Greater Berlin was formed by the merger of separate equivalent cities. For this reason, there is no center in the usual sense. Rather, there are several historical centers: Old Berlin, Cologne, Friedrichsmitder and other settlements that have developed separately since the Middle Ages and subsequently united under a common administration.

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

Punk

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

When the former students matured, they got rich and “got a gloss”, they wanted to eat better products, go to more respectable restaurants, and spend more cultural leisure time. Ultimately, the area became the refuge of the young elite, and restaurateurs, tenants and hoteliers adapted to the needs of the public.

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

Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg

This area in the very center of the city is an incredible fusion of socialism and capitalism. The municipality of Friedrichshain clearly demonstrates the legacy of the GDR. It used to be the front gate of East Berlin. Kreuzberg, by contrast, was part of the occupation zone of the Western powers. In this area, the most visible was the apparent opposition of systems.

The Spree River symbolically separates the two districts , and the Oberbaumbrucke Bridge with romantic red-brick towers and a gallery in the style of the fortress wall symbolically connects the incredibly beautiful bridge. As a result of administrative reform, two so dissimilar areas of Berlin, it was decided to reunite in one.

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

Mitte

The Mitte district in Berlin is a paradise for shopaholics and at the same time the focus of state power. Here are the main institutions of the Bundesrat, the Bundestag, the federal government, the embassy building. The landmark sights of the district are:

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

But if the politics and history of Germany are not very interesting, welcome to a concert in the Berlin Philharmonic, or on Museum Islet. There are many boutiques with reasonable prices in the vicinity of Rosenthaler Platz, Weinmeisterstr Underground Station and Unter den Linden Boulevard.

List of areas

A complete list of administrative units of the capital with statistics: