Neukölln (locality)

"Berlin-Neukölln" redirects here. For the borough, see Neukölln. For the electoral district, see Berlin-Neukölln (electoral district). For the railway station, see Berlin-Neukölln station. For the David Bowie instrumental work, see Neuköln.

Quarter of Berlin in Germany

Neukölln

Quarter of Berlin

Hasenheide on the western outskirts of Neukölln with St. John's Basilica

Flag

Coat of arms

Location of Neukölln in Neukölln borough and Berlin

Neukölln

Show map of Germany

Neukölln

Show map of Berlin

Coordinates: 52°28′39.3″N 13°26′31.5″E﻿ / ﻿52.477583°N 13.442083°E﻿ / 52.477583; 13.442083
Country| Germany
State| Berlin
City| Berlin
Borough| Neukölln
Founded| 26 June 1360 (official), ca. 1200 (inofficial)
Subdivisions| 9 neighborhoods or 21 regions
Government

• Borough Mayor| Martin Hikel (SPD)
Area

• Total| 11.7 km2 (4.5 sq mi)
Elevation

| 52 m (171 ft)
Population

(2023-12-31)[1]

• Total| 163,735
• Density| 14,000/km2 (36,000/sq mi)
Time zone| UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)| UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes|

12043, 12045, 12047, 12049, 12051, 12053, 12055, 12057, 12059

Vehicle registration| B
Website| https://www.berlin.de/ba-neukoelln/

Neukölln[2] (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,[3] including the historic village of Rixdorf and numerous Gründerzeit estates. With 163,735 inhabitants (2024) the quarter is the second-most densely populated of Berlin after Prenzlauer Berg. Since the early 13th century, the local settlements, villages and cities until present-day Neukölln have always been a popular destination for colonists and immigrants. In modern times, it was originally characterized by mostly working-class inhabitants, but western immigration since the turn of the millennium has led to gentrification.

## Geography

[edit]

Rixdorfer Höhe, Volkspark Hasenheide

Neukölln is situated in the North European Plain, which is typically characterized by low-lying marshy woodlands with a mainly flat topography.[4] 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,[5] a small range of glacial hills rising to the south of Hermannplatz, Rixdorf, and 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 the river Spree.

Landwehr Canal with Neukölln on the right

### Location

[edit]

The quarter is situated south-east of the Berlin city center, in the north of the Neukölln borough. It lies adjacent to the quarter of 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 the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough), to the quarter Tempelhof in the west (in Tempelhof-Schöneberg), and to the quarters Alt-Treptow, Plänterwald and Baumschulenweg in the east and north-east (all part of Treptow-Köpenick).

Neukölln is separated from Kreuzberg by the park Volkspark Hasenheide, the Landwehr Canal, and the streets Kottbusser Damm and Hasenheide as far as 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 Stadtring motorway with the Carl-Weder-Park as well as the Neukölln Ship and Britz canals form the border with the Britz quarter, while the green corridor Heidekamppark with the trench Heidekampgraben, the Kiefholzstraße and several urban streets in the Bouché neighborhood separate Neukölln from the eastern quarters of Treptow-Köpenick.

### Subdivisions

[edit]

#### Neighborhoods

[edit]

Neighborhoods of Neukölln

Neukölln is divided into nine official neighborhoods (Kieze or Stadtquartiere, officially called Ortslagen),[6] among them the historical sites of Neukölln's foundation south-east of the quarters's geographical center, Richardplatz-Süd[7] to the south and south-east of the central plaza Richardplatz, and Böhmisch-Rixdorf[8] 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):

* Reuterkiez,[9]
* Flughafenstraße,[10]
* Schillerpromenade,[11]
* Rollberg,[12]
* Weiße Siedlung,[13]
* Körnerpark,[14] and
* High-Deck-Siedlung.[15]

#### Other sites

[edit]

Hermannplatz Körnerpark High-Deck-Siedlung

Other urban sites not officially named or recognized as neighborhoods, but often distinguished as LORs (see below) or the focus of current or former neighborhood management, are the Donaukiez along Donaustraße between Sonnenallee and Karl-Marx-Straße,[16] Ganghoferstraße around the border between Donaukiez and Böhmisch-Rixdorf,[17] the Weserkiez around Weserstraße between Weigandufer and Sonnenallee,[18] the Warthekiez around Wartheplatz,[19] the Bouchékiez, a larger residential area north of the Neukölln Ship Canal,[20] and neighborhoods south of the Berlin Hermannstraße and Berlin Neukölln stations like Silbersteinstraße.[21] 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,[22] while industrial areas have formed mostly to 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 the official Weiße Siedlung and High-Deck-Siedlung around Köllnische Heide station, namely Schulenburgpark to the south,[23] and the Dammwegsiedlung to the north.[24]

#### Urban planning

[edit]

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, is divided into five regions, each of them further compartmentalized into a total of 21 so-called Lebensweltlich orientierte Räume (LOR) ("lifeworld-oriented regions"):[25]

* Schillerpromenade (01) in the west, comprising Hasenheide (01), Schillerpromenade as Schillerpromenade Nord (02) and Schillerpromenade Süd (03), as well as Wartheplatz (04) and Silbersteinstraße (05);
* Neuköllner Mitte/Zentrum (02) in the center, comprising Flughafenstraße (06), Rollberg (07) and Körnerpark (08), as well as Glasower Straße (09);
* Reuterstraße (03) in the north, comprising Reuterkiez as Maybachufer (10), Reuterplatz (11) and Weichselplatz (12) including the western parts of the Weserkiez, as well as Bouchéstraße (13), plus a minor part of Flughafenstraße, the Donaukiez, as Donaustraße (14);
* Rixdorf (04) in the center to the north-east, comprising Ganghoferstraße (15), Böhmisch-Rixdorf and Richardplatz-Süd as Alt-Rixdorf (16), Braunschweiger Straße (17), the eastern parts of the Weserkiez as Hertzbergplatz (18), as well as Treptower Straße Nord (19); and
* Köllnische Heide (05) in the east, comprising Weiße Siedlung (20), and Schulenburgpark (21) including the High-Deck-Siedlung.

The industrial parks Ederstraße and Köllnische Heide are no longer part of the city's LOR framework as independent regions.

## Nature

[edit]

### Parks and water bodies

[edit]

Tempelhofer Feld Neukölln Harbor and Watergate

As a densely populated urban inner-city quarter, Neukölln has fewer large recreational locations than other quarters of Berlin, not counting active cemeteries.[26] However, 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 green stretches in other spots. Still, smaller parks are found in various neighborhoods, many of which are among Neukölln's historical garden monuments,[27] for example the Anita-Berber-Park (Schillerpromenade), a former cemetery which also connects to the Tempelhofer Feld, the recently decommissioned cemetery Neuer St. Jacobi Friedhof, now used as a park (Schillerpromenade), Lessinghöhe and Thomashöhe (Körnerpark), the Körnerpark itself, a former gravel quarry, with the Rübelandpark connecting Thomashöhe and Körnerpark, the Comenius Garden (Rixdorf), the Von-der-Schulenburg-Park (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 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 former cemetery forest Emmauswald, Neukölln's largest forest, with the Emmauskirchhof, a still active graveyard, connecting to the east. Several inner-city squares and building complexes have been designed with green stretches, for example monuments like Richardplatz and Reuterplatz, other plazas like Weichselplatz, Wildenbruchplatz and Hertzbergplatz, and the atrium of Neukölln's Stadtbad (public bath house).

Like the quarter's parks and forests, all of Neukölln's water bodies are man-made. The most prominent example 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 the Britz Harbor at the south end of the Neukölln Ship Canal. Smaller landing stages are located along the canal until Kiehlufer, and these Neukölln Docklands are currently subject to extensive redevelopment. Several parks contain artificial ponds, for example the Volkspark Hasenheide (Rixdorfer Teich), the Comenius Garden (Weltenmeer), the Karma Culture Garden in Rixdorf, and the Von-Der-Schulenburg-Park (High-Deck-Siedlung).

### Wildlife

[edit]

Like all of inner-city Berlin, Neukölln, despite its high level of urbanization, has a diverse and thriving population of urban wildlife.[28] Berlin ranks among the greenest cities in Germany with only 44.48% of sealed ground and 4.24 m³ per square meter (4.64 cu yd per square yard) of vegetation as of 2024, which not only provides a cooler urban climate, but also promotes the settlement of wildlife.[29] 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 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 vegetated and partially fenced Baumscheiben around road trees instead of tree grates.

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, the beech marten, 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.[30] 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 to the large forests in Berlin's periphery, for example the western parts of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf.[31] To date, no cases have been recorded for the quarter Neukölln.[32]

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 is the sparrow, and Berlin is now regarded as the "sparrow capital" of Germany.[33] Predatory birds, though common to Berlin,[34] 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 policies have been the basis for a slight revival of the urban insect population, 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. 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 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.[35]

## History

[edit]

### Prehistory

[edit]

Germanic equestrian tomb of Neukölln

Archeological finds on the Rixdorf lot point to a Germanic prehistory of Neukölln,[36] 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.[37] Finds from the era of the Roman Empire were ubiquitous in Berlin, which includes West-Germanic wharves and ceramics on the Richardplatz, a Gordianic bronze coin on the Rollberge,[38] 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.[39]

The Germanic tribes that originally settled in the Berlin region belonged to the Semnones. They eventually migrated southwestward during the era of the Barbarian Invasions[40] and were superseded by 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 the Knights Templar and Hospitaller already ruled over nascent Neukölln.

### Early history

[edit]

Templar villages and courts on the Teltow including Rixdorf (29), the Treptow folwark (53), Tempelhof (40), Mariendorf (23) and Marienfelde (24)

After four centuries of German colonization, the region around modern-day Berlin came under lasting German 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 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.[41]

Around the year 1200, a military hamlet, possibly called Richardshove (Richardshof,[42] "Richard's Court"), together with an unnamed folwark near Slavic Trebow, was established[43] at the foot of the Teltow on the edge of the grasslands later known as Cöllnische Wiesen (Cölln Meadows)[44] on the road to Copenic as an eastern stronghold of the Commandery Tempelhof,[45] administered by the Knights Templar from neighboring Tempelhove, Merghenvelde and Mergendorp,[46] which had developed during the early days of the Holy Roman Empire along the old Via Imperii.[47] The Templar functioned as a neutral institution, and after the conflicts had ended in 1231,[48] the stronghold was abandoned by the military and converted into a Templar access yard, probably after the end of the Teltow and Magdeburg Wars between the Houses of Ascania and Wettin (1239–45).

On 21 November 1261, margrave Otto III gifted the forest region Mirica, parts of which would later belong to Rixdorf and Neukölln, to 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 Old 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 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,[49] but different from other Templar possessions, the Tempelhof commandery including Richardshove did not immediately change into Hospitaller ownership,[50] probably because the remaining Knights Templar offered resistance.[51] Instead, the estate was fiducially held by Waldemar the Great for six years, and legally transferred to the Knights Hospitaller only in 1318.[52]

### Rixdorf

[edit]

Richardplatz, Rixdorf

When first mentioned in its foundational charter of 26 June 1360,[53] the angerdorf south-east of Alt-Berlin around the present-day Richardplatz,[54] approximately 3 km (1.86 mi) from the river Spree, was already called Richardsdorp (Richardsdorf, "Richard's Village"),[55] signifying decades of development from yard (hove) to village (dorp), now officially recognized.[56] The historical document containing the Rixdorf charter, itself a mid-15th century copy of the original charter, has been lost since World War II, but its contents have been preserved,[57] and the year 1360 is regarded as the official year of Neukölln's foundation.[58] The village with its twelve farmers was mentioned again in 1375 as Richardstorpp in the Landbuch der Mark Brandenburg.[59] Around the beginning of the 15th century, Richardsdorp erected its first official chapel.[60]

After ongoing border disputes and an ill-fated armed conflict,[61] 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 Richardsdorp, which 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.[62]

Disputes over Ricksdorf continued between Cölln and Berlin,[63] and with a compromise settlement Ricksdorf became the sole fief and a kämmereidorf (treasury village) of Cölln on 24 August 1543.[64] The documents of 1543 already mention 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 Richardsdorf was transferred to the parishes of Cölln and Berlin. On 14 April 1578, a fire destroyed most of the village's infrastructure.

In 1624 the population had grown to 150,[65] and the village had built a forge for traveling blacksmiths, which remains in operation to this day as Berlin's oldest forge. During the Thirty Years' War (1618–48)[66] Ricksdorf was mostly depopulated, with buildings and parts of the chapel destroyed by fire.[67] 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 1678, the Great Elector Frederick William created 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.[68] 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 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 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, the royal administration introduced general compulsory schooling in Berlin, Rixdorf and the rest of Prussia. Rixdorf constructed its first windmill in 1729,[69] and five years later the population had grown to 224.

#### Deutsch-Rixdorf and Böhmisch-Rixdorf

[edit]

View of Hasenheide and Alt-Berlin from the Rollberge, early 19th century

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,[70] where they built new houses, industrial infrastructure[71] and eventually their own chapels[72] off the village center along the road to Berlin, today called Richardstraße. 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, the oldest school building of Neukölln was constructed on the Bohemian Kirchgasse,[73] 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 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. Inspite of its expansion, Deutsch-Rixdorf at first remained the smaller of the two villages, with roughly 200 residents in 1771, while the new Bohemian village Böhmisch-Rixdorf[74] had counted 300 residents already in 1747. Böhmisch-Rixdorf was granted its own administration in 1797, and with consecutive waves of immigration, the village evolved into a distinguished colony of Bohemian settlers.

Hermannstraße and Hermannplatz with Rollkrug, Rixdorf, 1900 Rixdorf in 1908

In 1797, Deutsch-Rixdorf allowed the first blacksmith to settle in the village. The French Army under Napoleon occupied Rixdorf in 1806. The overall population in 1809 was 695.[75] In 1811, Germany's first public outdoor gymnasium was established in the Hasenheide forest by Turnvater Jahn. Rixdorf residents fought in 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. In 1827, the street to Berlin was paved, and by 1830 Rixdorf had already become 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.[76] In 1854, the first bus line opened between Berlin and the two Rixdorf villages, followed in 1876 by a line from Bergstraße, today's Karl-Marx-Straße, to Hallesches Tor. 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 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.[77] On 13 December 1872, Berlin's administration merged both Rixdorf villages and the commune Britz into the 24th Amtsbezirk (bailiwick).

#### Unification and chartering

[edit]

Both villages were united as Rixdorf on 1 January 1874 by royal decree of 11 July 1873,[78] and the new town became a municipality of the Kreis Teltow. In 1874 Rixdorf had 8,000 inhabitants, growing to 15,000 the next year. On 4 February 1874 Hermann Boddin became the first principal municipal magistrate (Amts- und Gemeindevorsteher) of the unified Rixdorf[79] and oversaw its evolution into the largest village of the Prussian monarchy with 90,000 residents in 1895.

Urbanization quickly took off with new residential estates, churches, infrastructure and industrial settlements. The original Amtshaus (administrative building) was 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 first telegraph office in 1882. In 1876, Rixdorf had already had 24 paved roads, 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 the so-called Pferde-Eisenbahn (horse train) from Rollberg to Spittelmarkt in Berlin, and a 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. Infrastructure continued to grow with the introduction of a telephone network in 1885, a new water network connection to the Charlottenburg waterworks in 1887, a new sewage system and drainage facility between 1891 and 1895, the building of a new community hall and poorhouse in 1893, the 1895 reconstruction of Rixdorf station, and the 1899 opening of Hermannstraße station on the Ringbahn.

On 1 April 1899, Rixdorf was chartered as an independent city,[80] and Boddin transitioned into his new role as the city's first mayor. The new city received its coat of arms in 1903, and its population quickly grew to 237,289 in 1910.[81] It 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,[82] the 1912 Stadtbad Neukölln, a public bath house, and many more after 1912 like the Körnerpark's orangerie.[83] The year 1909 saw the inauguration of Rixdorf's first municipal hospital (Rixdorfer Krankenhaus), situated outside of the city near modern-day Buckow.[84]

#### Early neighborhood formation

[edit]

Berlinische Wiesen, 1842 Kottbusser Brücke, Maybachufer (right background), 1894 Mercedes-Palast, Rollberg, 1936 Schillerpromenade, Herrfurthplatz, Genezareth Church, 1933

It was during the 1850s when construction began in what is today the Reuterkiez. After the completion of the Landwehr Canal in 1850 at 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,[85] on and near today's Maybachufer. The Cottbuserdamm (Kottbusser Damm)[86] and several parallel streets like the Friedelstraße,[87] an important street in Berlin's first communal electric tram network,[88] were built shortly afterwards.[89] Between 1871 and 1905, 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 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,[90] and was instead extended southward into and beyond the modern Donaukiez of the Flughafenstraße neighborhood. In 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,[91] tightly packed tenements, small apartments and tiny residential backyards.[92] To this end, and to also furnish raw material for construction in 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. 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 the flattened Rollberge slopes. The working-class tenements, even in the front buildings, were small and overcrowded,[93] 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 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 a large Gründerzeit architectural foundation with broad streets and sidewalks, and Berlin's usual grid plan street layout that originated mostly in this era.[94] 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 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 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 the Werner-Seelenbinder-Sportpark, opened in 1928.

### Neukölln

[edit]

Hermannstraße near Schierker Straße, Körnerpark, 1914

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 the name Neukölln,[95] 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,[96] which themselves referenced Neu-Cölln, a historical district south of the medieval part of Berlin and Cölln proper.[97] The renaming was petitioned by mayor Curt Kaiser and eventually granted by Emperor William I on 27 January 1912. At the time, Neukölln's population stood at 253,000.

6,600 of Neukölln's residents fell serving at the frontlines in World War I (1914–18). 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 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 it never came to that, because the conflict was resolved in 1919 by the Prussian government. The revolutionary council was barred from attending the city's assembly meetings, the Prussian Army's 17th infantry division was sent in and laid siege to Neukölln, which eventually led to the dissolution of the Workers' and Soldiers' Council.

Despite the war years, urban development had continued unabated at first, and Rixdorf had become one of the most important suburban cities outside of Berlin. But the newly forming societies and infrastructures created problems and threatened to thwart further development, because the disparity between the different communities, which naturally aimed to expand beyond the old municipal boundaries, now created cross-border administrative conflicts and gridlock. Therefore, the Greater Berlin Act was passed by the Prussian parliament in the spring of 1920, and the city of Neukölln ceased to exist on 1 October 1920 after only two decades of independence, when it was incorporated as a part of Greater Berlin together with a large number of other suburban communes and cities. Together with the quarters Britz, Rudow and Buckow, Neukölln now formed the new homonymous borough of Neukölln, Berlin's 14th (and since the 2001 reform 8th) administrative district, which eventually added the new quarter of Gropiusstadt in 2002. At the time of the merger, the city of Neukölln had a population of 262,128.[98] The old Rixdorf continued to exist, and is today represented by two neighborhoods in the center of Neukölln, Böhmisch-Rixdorf and Richardplatz-Süd. Many of the traditional landmarks are still intact, and several areas and streets like the Bohemian Kirchgasse have retained their idyllic and rural character.

### Berlin-Neukölln

[edit]

Bloody May barricades at the Briesestraße, Rollberg, 1929

In the Weimar Republic, Neukölln's population eventually grew to 278,208 in 1930.[99] In order to relieve the older tram networks, the Berlin S-Bahn was electrified starting in 1926, while Neukölln's Südring (south ring) lines were modernized in 1928. Additionally, two lines of the Berlin U-Bahn, the Nord-Süd-Bahn and the GN-Bahn, were extended through Neukölln between 1925 and 1930.[100]

Neukölln remained a working-class quarter and communist stronghold, especially in the Rollberg neighborhood. This led to increasing tensions between left-wing radicals like the KPD and the Berlin police, culminating in the Bloody May riots of 1929 (Blutmai) with 14 fatalities and 17 injured. The Nazis viewed the quarter as "Red Neukölln", and tensions with the rivaling socialist and communist groups ensued as early as November 1926, when Joseph Goebbels sent over 300 men of the Sturmabteilung (SA) on a propaganda march through Neukölln, ending in clashes on the Hermannplatz. The beer hall Neue Welt on Hasenheide near Hermannplatz was the 1930 location of one of Adolf Hitler's early speeches in Berlin.[101] The conflicts eventually intensified until the end of the republic, leading to occasional armed engagements like the Rixdorf shootout of October 1931, when communists attacked the Richardsburg, a Sturmlokal of the SA.

Karstadt, Hermannplatz, 1936 Memorial plaque for Ursula Goetze

After Hitler's Machtübernahme in 1933, the SA extended their campaigns and also targeted rallies and events by moderate parties like the SPD.[102] Neukölln's borough mayor Alfred Scholz (SPD) and all officials of Neukölln's district office had to resign under pressure from the new ruling Nazi Party and the enactment of the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service.[103] In time for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Turnvater Jahn was honored with a commemorative grove and statue in the park Hasenheide. Neukölln's only synagogue on Isarstraße (Flughafenkiez) was demolished during the Kristallnacht of 1938; today, only a commemorative plaque remains. Many of Germany's resistance fighters and activists against Nazi rule operated from "red Neukölln", for example Heinz Kapelle and Ursula Goetze.[104]

Commemorative light installation at the location of the Rixdorf concentration camp, Sonnenallee Sonnenallee border crossing, 1964

After the onset of World War II in 1939, the Rixdorf factories of the Krupp-Registrierkassen-Gesellschaft and American company National Cash Register, which had merged as the National Krupp Registrierkassen GmbH during the Weimar Republic, were transformed into military production facilities.[105] In 1942 a forced labor camp for up to 865 mainly Jewish and Romani women from the conquered Eastern territories was established on the factory grounds. In 1944 it was absorbed as one of several Berlin outposts (Außenlager[106]) of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, primarily for female Jewish-Polish forced laborers, who had been transferred from the Łódź Ghetto and Auschwitz respectively.[107] The camp's last remaining barracks stood until the year 1957.[108] At the end of the war, Neukölln's population had decreased by roughly 30,000, and 9% of the quarter's buildings had been destroyed, with 12% severely damaged by allied bombing raids, including the Mercedes-Palast in the Rollberg neighborhood, which since 1927 had housed Europe's largest movie theater.[109]

Following the withdrawal of the occupying Soviet forces in 1945, Neukölln became part of the American sector of Berlin from 1945 to 1949, encompassing the south and south-east of what would later become West Berlin, an enclave of West Germany within Communist East Germany from 1949 until German reunification in 1990. The Sonnenallee, connecting Neukölln with Baumschulenweg in former East Berlin, was the site of a border crossing of the Berlin Wall from 1961 to 1990.[110] In 1966, Neukölln's last remaining tram line was shut down. During the Cold War Neukölln retained its status as a traditional working-class area and one of Berlin's red-light districts. Many gastarbeiter, especially from Turkey and Greece, settled in Kreuzberg and Neukölln since the 1950s, later followed by Palestinian and Arabic refugees from the Lebanese Civil War.[111] Neukölln's current U-Bahn network into the southern quarters via the U7 was constructed between 1970 and 1972, while the final U8 section between Leinestraße and the S-Bahn wasn't implemented until 1996. The Neukölln Opera was founded in 1972 and received its own venue in 1988, one of Berlin's four opera houses. Another important cultural venue, the Saalbau Neukölln, opened in 1990 at the location of the former Bürgersalon Niesigk ("citizens' parlor"), and is today known as Heimathafen Neukölln.

Since the 1970s and 80s, Neukölln, like the neighboring Kreuzberg, has embraced alternative forms of living and an often anti-establishment and anti-fascist culture that is still active to this day. In the 1990s late repatriates from formerly Soviet states like Ukraine and Russia resettled in Germany, many of them in Berlin, and in Neukölln specifically. The decade after German reunification mainly transformed the eastern parts of the city, but western quarters like Neukölln were able to benefit as well. In 1994, the Estrel Hotel with convention center opened in Rixdorf's former industrial outskirts on the eastern shore of the Neukölln Ship Canal, and many new cultural locations and shopping malls sprung up all over Neukölln.

#### Modern neighborhood formation

[edit]

Neues Bauen at Ossastraße, Reuterkiez, 2014

Over the generations, all of Neukölln's southern neighborhoods of Rixdorf, Körnerpark and Schillerpromenade have gradually expanded south- and southeastward, while the Reuterkiez was finally expanded onto the marshy areas to the east. Major settlement constructions occurred as part of the new objective movement of the 1920s and '30s, in Germany often called Neues Bauen (New Building). In that era, many modern estates were constructed within Neukölln proper, for example the areas around Ossastraße, a 1927 Reuterkiez housing estate by Bruno Taut, or around the crossing of Innstraße and Weserstraße in Rixdorf (1924–26), but a notable example for a complete early modern settlement is the Dammwegsiedlung south-east of Rixdorf, which was constructed between 1920 and 1922, based on earlier designs by Reinhold Kiehl.

After World War II, almost a quarter of the buildings in Neukölln were destroyed or severely damaged. This affected all neighborhoods except the Schillerkiez, where the destruction remained minimal, though the quarter, like Körnerpark, was eventually expanded and compacted further south beyond the Ringbahn. Other neighborhoods quickly began to rebuild in the bombing gaps from the war, but naturally had to disregard the classical models of Neukölln's original architecture. Quick modern construction was the order of business, at best with a social reformist slant. In the 1960s, however, a public housing boom ensued in Berlin, which also changed the face of many parts of Neukölln's neighborhoods. Most older Gründerzeit areas were only expanded with compacting measures and discreet perimeter block development, but the bulk of Rollberg and the new quarters southeast of Rixdorf were built during this era.

Die Ringe, Rollberg, 2024 Weiße Siedlung, 2019

Flächensanierung (district redevelopment)[112] in the Rollberg neighborhood began in the 1960s,[113] which meant completely demolishing and reconstructing most of its old working-class estates. Of Rollberg's more than 5,000 apartments, only about 340 remained, 200 of them in Gründerzeit estates, and 140 in existing houses from pre-war developments and initial post-war reconstructions. Furthermore, Berlin's historical grid plan street layout was partially dismantled. The modernist meandering block structures (Mäanderbauten) in the eastern part were constructed first, while the rest of the newly designed quarter, including Die Ringe ("The Rings") in the western part, was finished in the mid to late 1970s.[114] Approximately 2,000 new apartments were constructed, but many of the original residents had left and never returned, opening up rental space for Neukölln's new immigrant population. These developments created new problems, which persist to this day, because the new neighborhood is neither urbanistically nor socially integrated with the rest of Neukölln.

During the same era, the Weiße Siedlung southeast of Rixdorf was built as a typical 1970s modernist suburban housing estate north of the older Dammwegsiedlung. Due to its distinctive high-rise design, the quarter is widely visible. Construction of the youngest neighborhood further south, the High-Deck-Siedlung, began in 1975 and ended in 1984 as a follow-up to the earlier large-scale housing developments Gropiusstadt and Märkisches Viertel. Both settlements suffer from a fate similar to that of Rollberg, being foreign architectural bodies with geographical and social separation from the rest of urban Neukölln.

After the end of Neukölln's public housing wave, the Schillerpromenade neighborhood at last became part of the borough's official urban renewal programs in 1990. At first, the focus was on modernizing the deficits of the old infrastructure, but from 1996 onward, specific emphasis was placed on conservation and neighborhood management, in order to counter gentrification and the displacement of the old-established citizenry. This proved complicated, as many former tenements had already been converted into condominiums. In addition, more recent gentrification could not be blocked completely, since the neighborhood, beside the Reuterkiez, became one of the most popular destinations for 21st century western immigrants.

##### Future development

[edit]

In the 21st century, further residential development in Neukölln is still possible by repurposing many of the garden allotments, the largest of which have primarily formed on or near the historical border to former East-Berlin. However, important recreational areas would be lost, and there are no plans by the administration to let the relevant leases expire. Alternative plans to clear green spaces like the former cemetery forest Emmauswald regularly encounter strong resistance.[115] Similarly, the plans for a residential boundary development of the Tempelhofer Feld are a recurring topic of contention in Berlin politics.[116] Unconfrontational development mainly has to rely on compacting measures by covering the last remaining bombing gaps from World War II, on redeveloping former industrial neighborhoods like the Neukölln Docklands,[117] and on perimeter block development, where possible. A recent example can be found in the Bouché neighborhood, where the mainly industrial block Harzer Straße/Elsenstraße will be undergoing residential redevelopment.[118]

#### Berlin-Neukölln in the 21st century

[edit]

Following a decade as a typical inner-city hot spot with high rates of immigration, poverty, crime, educational discrimination[119] and inadequate asylum laws,[120] 21st century Neukölln has experienced an influx of students, creatives and other young professionals of mostly Western origin avoiding higher rents charged in other parts of Berlin. The trend increased after the 2008 financial and 2010 European debt crises, when many young EU citizens left their home countries for Germany in search of work, leading to rapid cultural shifts in certain neighborhoods within Neukölln, especially the neighborhoods to the north and west from Reuter- to Schillerkiez. Coupled with increasing domestic and foreign real estate investments, this has caused a knock-on effect of rents to rise in many parts of Neukölln.[121]

As of 2023, the unemployment rate in Neukölln was at 14.1%. The poverty rate was at 29%, and the borough is currently the only German district with its own poverty commissioner.[122] In 2019 46% of Neukölln's residents had been first or second-generation immigrants,[123] with roots in 155 countries.[124] The percentage rose to 48% in 2021 due to the ongoing European migrant crisis,[125] with the most recent migration originating mostly in Muslim countries.[126] Due to the quarter's dense urban character, however, only far less than five percent of Berlin's refugees can be accommodated in Neukölln.[127] As of 2024, the percentage of foreigners without German citizenship is 21.8% on the low end in Bouchéstraße (LOR 100313), and as high as 40.9% in both Donaustraße (LOR 100314) and Glasower Straße (LOR 100209).[128] Over the years, this development and a strong local left-wing bedrock has led to a significant increase in antisemitism[129] and pro-Palestinian propaganda.[130] Two out of Berlin's seven so-called "crime-burdened locations" are in Neukölln, Hermannplatz with Donaukiez including Sonnenallee,[131] and Hermannstraße around Hermannstraße Station,[132] and especially in these neighborhoods, Neukölln is also characterized by social and religious conflicts,[133] manifesting in educational challenges,[134] violent felonies,[135] organized crime by Islamic clans with recurring gang and drug violence,[136] occasional rioting,[137] transphobia and homophobia.[138]

Nevertheless, the vibrant immigrant culture and recent cosmopolitan evolution, especially in the northern Reuterkiez neighborhood, have turned the centuries-old melting pot Neukölln into one of the trendiest districts of Berlin and the epitome of gentrification and socioeconomic change in the city,[139] steadily ranking as one of the world's most desirable places to visit and live.[140]

## Coat of arms

[edit]

Neukölln

Maltese cross

Cölln eagle[141]

Hussite flag with chalice

Mural crown of Berlin's boroughs

Berlin

Neukölln's coat of arms is a modern variant of Rixdorf's original coat, which had been approved in 1903 by emperor Wilhelm II after the city's independence on 1 April 1899. Awarded to the borough of Neukölln in 1956, it is today used by the quarter of Neukölln, together with the borough's other quarters of Britz, Buckow, Rudow and Gropiusstadt.

The most prominent heraldic element is at the bottom of the coat, the silver on red Maltese Cross, which signifies the official foundation of the historic village of Richardsdorf on 26 June 1360 under the sovereignty of the Catholic Johannite Knights Hospitaller, who had assumed the angerdorf from the Knights Templar in the year 1318.

In the upper right is the red and gold heraldic eagle on silver background, which is actually a double reference, mainly to Rixdorf's feudal parent city of Cölln (23 September 1435 – 17 January 1709[142]), but also to the later Province of Brandenburg, which likewise used Cölln's historical eagle on its coat of arms.[143]

In the upper left is the silver on black common chalice of the Protestant Hussite colonists, who began to settle on the Rixdorf lot in the year 1737 and eventually built their own village, which as Böhmisch-Rixdorf was granted its own administration in 1797, before both Rixdorf villages were united on 1 January 1874. A representation of Rixdorf's historical Hussite chalice can be found in the pediment of the 1753 Bohemian school building on Kirchgasse.

The original red and black mural crown was similar to the modern variant, but contained a city gate as its central element, signifying Rixdorf's 1899 independence. The historical coat of arms remained in use at first, after Rixdorf, then already renamed to Neukölln, joined the new Neukölln borough of Greater Berlin on 1 October 1920. On 12 April 1956, the coat of arms was slightly redesigned, and the only major change was applied to the crown, which was altered into the official mural crown used by all of Berlin's boroughs, including the silver shield with black bear, as found in Berlin's own coat of arms.

## Population

[edit]

Population of the early settlements Richardshof, Richardsdorf and Rixdorf  Year  | Population[144] | Toponym  | Notes

|
|
|

1200 | 020 | *Richardshof[145] | Knights Templar military hamlet
1245 | 030 | *Richardshof | Templar access yard
1360 | 050 | Richardsdorf | Knights Hospitaller angerdorf; 14 farmers and families
1375 | 040 | Richardsdorf | 12 farmers and families
1624 | 150 | Ricksdorf | fief of Cölln
1652 | 020 | Ricksdorf | Thirty Years' War and Second plague pandemic; 7 farmers and families
1734 | 224 | Rixdorf | treasury village of Berlin
Population of the two Rixdorf villages Deutsch- and Böhmisch-Rixdorf  Year  | Deutsch-Rixdorf  | Böhmisch-Rixdorf  | Total[146] | Notes

|
|
|
|

1747 | 0210 | 0300 | 0510 | approximate; first Bohemian settlement in 1737
1771 | 0200 | 0350 | 0550 | approximate
1805 | 0376 | 0319 | 0695 | Böhmisch-Rixdorf (1797 administration)
1840 | 2,146 | 0520 | 2,666 |
1858 | 3,077 | 1,014 | 4,091 |
1867 | 5,007 | 1,506 | 6,513 |
1871 | 5,996 | 2,129 | 8,125 |
Population of the unified and later independent Rixdorf and Neukölln  Year  | Population[147] | Notes

|
|

1874 | 008,000 | approximate; Rixdorf unification
1875 | 015,000 | approximate
1880 | 018,729 |
1890 | 035,702 |
1895 | 059,945 |
1900 | 090,422 | independent city (1899)
1905 | 153,572 |
1910 | 237,289 |
1912 | 253,000 | approximate; renamed Neukölln
1919 | 262,128 | final census (8 October 1919)
1919 | 262,414 | population at year's end
Population of the quarter Neukölln in the Neukölln borough (until 2000)  Year  | Population[148] | Notes

|
|

1925 | 271,658 | borough formation (1 October 1920)
1930 | 278,208 | quarter's highest ever population count
1935 | 248,658 |
1938 | 242,704 |
1946 | 213,486 | World War II (1939–45)
1950 | 222,533 |
1960 | 199,097 |
1970 | 159,362 |
1987 | 139,930 |
1995 | 158,436 | German reunification (1990)
2000 | 146,522 |
Population of the quarter Neukölln in the Neukölln borough (21st century)  Year  | Population[149] | Notes

|
|

2007 | 149,466 |
2010 | 154,066 | start of modern immigration
2015 | 168,035 |
2020 | 164,636 |
2021 | 163,852 |
2022 | 164,809 |
2023 | 163,735 |

## Transport

[edit]

### Public transport

[edit]

In Berlin, urban railway services are managed by the S-Bahn Berlin GmbH, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, while all other public transport systems are managed by the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), which together with the Brandenburg providers form the Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB).

#### U-Bahn

[edit]

Hermannplatz U-Bahn station

Neukölln is served by two U-Bahn (subway) rail lines, the northwest-to-southeast U7 (Rathaus Spandau ↔ Rudow) and the north-to-south U8 (Wittenau ↔ Hermannstraße), with an interchange between the two at Hermannplatz.[150] Within Neukölln, the U7 has three additional eastbound stations along the Karl-Marx-Straße: Rathaus Neukölln, Karl-Marx-Straße and Neukölln, the latter being an interchange between U- and S-Bahn. The U8 has three additional southbound stations along the Hermannstraße: Boddinstraße, Leinestraße and Hermannstraße, the latter being the quarter's second interchange between U- and S-Bahn.

Three U-Bahn stations just outside of the quarter offer quicker access to certain neighborhoods of Neukölln: Südstern (U7) to the western parts of Hasenheide, Schönleinstraße (U8) to the Reuterkiez, and Grenzallee (U7) to the southern and south-eastern industrial parks including the Neukölln Harbor.

During workday nights, approximately between 1:00 and 4:00, Berlin's subways are not operational, but are replaced by buses. In Neukölln, the U7 and U8 are replaced by the bus lines N7 and N8 respectively. During nights before Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, the U-Bahn lines operate continuously.

#### S-Bahn

[edit]

Neukölln S-Bahn station

Neukölln is served by five S-Bahn (urban railway) lines, with U-Bahn interchanges at Berlin-Hermannstraße (U8) and Berlin-Neukölln (U7), each for all of the five lines. The S45 connects Neukölln and the airport (see below). Two additional important services are the Ringbahn circle lines S41 (clockwise) and S42 (counter-clockwise), connecting i.a. to Südkreuz, Westkreuz, Gesundbrunnen (Nordkreuz) and Ostkreuz. The other two lines are the S47 via Niederschöneweide to Spindlersfeld in the south-east, and the S46, which connects Neukölln to Westend in the far west and the town Königs Wusterhausen south-east of Berlin via Adlershof, Grünau and the town Zeuthen. Overall, Neukölln has four S-Bahn stations, the aforementioned Hermannstraße and Neukölln as well as Sonnenallee on the Ringbahn at the outskirts of Rixdorf, and Köllnische Heide on the southeastbound railway, providing S-Bahn access to the inhabitants of Weiße Siedlung, High-Deck-Siedlung and Schulenburgpark.

#### Bus

[edit]

Due to sufficient access to U- and S-Bahn for most areas of Neukölln, the quarter is currently not served by any of Berlin's ExpressBus lines. Still, Neukölln has several regular bus lines, connecting for example Marzahn (194) and Marienfelde (277). There are also four MetroBus lines, the most important ones being the M29 connecting to the western city center including Kurfürstendamm, the M41 to Berlin Central Station, and the southbound M44 to Buckow-Süd, the destination of a potential extension of the U-Bahn line U8 (see below). In addition to the U-Bahn replacement bus lines during night hours, Neukölln is served by several regular night bus lines, for example the N47 connecting Hermannplatz and Berlin East railway station (Ostbahnhof).

#### Airport connections

[edit]

Since the closing of the airports Tegel and Tempelhof, whose airfield was partially situated in Neukölln, Berlin only has one remaining international airport, Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), the former (and greatly extended) Berlin Schönefeld Airport just outside of Berlin. As of 2024, BER passengers to or from Neukölln can only use buses or the S-Bahn for direct connections.[151]

When using the U-Bahn, an interchange between subway and the airport express bus lines X7 and X71 is necessary at the U7 terminus Rudow.[152] For S-Bahn access, an interchange is necessary between U-Bahn and the S45 at the stations Hermannstraße (U8) or Neukölln (U7). As of 2024, the S45 operates every 20 minutes from 5:00–24:00 and 7:00–24:00 on Sundays respectively. During the night, the U-Bahn service is replaced by the night bus line N7, which directly connects Neukölln and the airport.[153]

#### Future

[edit]

There are concrete medium-term plans to extend the U7 south beyond Rudow in order to directly connect the airport BER to Neukölln and the rest of Berlin via U-Bahn, adding at least three additional stations inbetween, Rudow-Süd (Neuhofer Straße), Lieselotte-Berger-Platz and Schönefeld for an S-Bahn interchange. As of 2024, a performance audit for the extension is under way.[154] As Greater Berlin has been steadily growing since German reunification to now almost 4.8 million inhabitants, with extensive residential construction happening in Berlin's immediate surrounding regions, public transport extensions to the city's periphery are propagated frequently. With regard to Neukölln, an internal 2023 BVG feasibility study on long-term U-Bahn network expansion included a southbound extension of the U8 beyond Hermannstraße, terminating in Buckow-Süd just outside of Berlin.[155]

##### Bus and DRT

[edit]

Two new MetroBus and ExpressBus lines are planned, the M94 to Friedrichsfelde-Ost via Treptow and Ostkreuz station, and the X77 from Hermannstraße to Marienfelde via Alt-Mariendorf.[156]

Mainly two neighborhoods of Neukölln are insufficiently connected to the Berlin public transportation system, either because they were never developed (Schillerpromenade), or because the old and small streets prevent the establishment of bus lines (Alt-Rixdorf). Therefore the Berlin Senate and the BVG plan to create a network of DRT bus lines (Rufbus) for large parts of Neukölln, from the western neighborhoods at the Tempelhofer Feld to the Sonnenallee in the east, covering Schillerpromenade, Flughafenstraße, Rollberg, Körnerpark and both Rixdorf neighborhoods.[157]

##### Tram

[edit]

Neukölln currently has no connection to the Berlin MetroTram network, and due to the Teltow slopes and narrower streets in places like Flughafenstraße, only Neukölln's northern neighborhoods in the glacial valley are immediately suitable for tram expansion. A long-gestating plan proposes to extend Berlin's so-called "party tram"[158] line M10 by the year 2030,[159] from Kreuzberg (SO 36) through the Görlitzer Park and crossing the Landwehr Canal into Neukölln, with stations planned at Framstraße, Pannierstraße and Urbanstraße near Hermannplatz via Sonnenallee.[160] This would create a direct public transport connection from Neukölln (Reuterkiez) to Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain, Prenzlauer Berg, Mitte and Moabit via Berlin Central Station.[161]

### Individual transport

[edit]

#### Motorized individual transport

[edit]

Columbiadamm

Since Neukölln is densely populated and highly urbanized, most of its streets come with a speed limit of 30 km/h for motorized vehicles, including more aggressive measures in recent years aimed at reducing traffic with one-way roads and concepts like the Spielstraße ("play street") or the Kiezblock (fixed or modular diverters). Furthermore, in 2024 the Senate of Berlin and the borough's administration have begun to monetize public parking space in the northern neighborhoods in order to steer away some of the excess traffic.[162]

Nevertheless, several main roads function as important arterial connections to other parts of Berlin: Columbiadamm, Urbanstraße and Hasenheide connect to the western parts of Berlin south of the city center via Tempelhof and the eastern neighborhoods of Kreuzberg (61) respectively, while Sonnenallee, Karl-Marx-Straße and Hermannstraße connect to southern and south-eastern parts of Berlin via Britz and Baumschulenweg respectively. The Kottbusser Damm is the main road to the SO 36 neighborhood of Kreuzberg in the north, but traffic calming measures have reduced its importance in recent years. Except for the Columbiadamm, all of the above arterial roads converge at Hermannplatz.

The A100 autobahn just outside of Neukölln's border with Britz connects to the western parts of Berlin, with an eastern extension through parts of Neukölln to Alt-Treptow under construction, and a highly contended final stage planned to extend further east into Friedrichshain and Lichtenberg via Ostkreuz. At the interchange Autobahndreieck Neukölln, the A100 connects to the A113 autobahn, which leads south to BER airport and the A10, Berlin's orbital autobahn.

#### Bicycle traffic

[edit]

Most of Neukölln's one-way streets are two-way for cyclists. In recent years, several side streets have been rededicated as bicycle boulevards, especially in the Reuterkiez. In 2017, the western parts of Weserstraße opened as Neukölln's first bicycle boulevard. Larger main roads have been reconstructed to include properly separated bike lanes, for example Kottbusser Damm and Hasenheide, with plans for more reconstruction in the coming years.

#### Pedestrian traffic

[edit]

Heidekamppark

Due to Berlin's usually broad sidewalks, extensive speed limits, especially on side streets, and other measures like play streets and an increasing number of one-way streets, Neukölln has become a rather safe environment for pedestrians. However, compared to other German cities, very few pedestrian zones exist in Neukölln, currently only the "youth street" Rütlistraße (Reuterkiez) and the Tempelhofer Feld. There are proposals and concrete plans to rededicate certain locations as either pedestrian zones or mixed zones for pedestrians and cyclists, for example the Elbestraße and Weichselstraße in the Reuterkiez.

Several hiking trails exist along the waterways within or bordering Neukölln, primarily the Landwehr Canal, parts of the Neukölln Ship Canal, the Britz Canal, and the Heidekampgraben in the east. Other green trails are limited to Neukölln's parks, especially the Hasenheide, the Tempelhofer Feld, the Carl-Weder-Park, and the eastern garden plots. However, due to Neukölln's highly urbanized and partially industrialized character, few of the trails are sufficiently interconnected, as it is often found in the suburban quarters of Berlin.

### Freight transport

[edit]

Neukölln-Mittenwald industrial railroad Industrial through track, Lahnstraße, Neukölln Harbor

Almost all of Neukölln's industrial parks are situated in the southern and eastern parts of the quarter. Both the A100 and A113 highways function as vital access ways, not least for connecting to the BER airport's freight terminals. The Neukölln Harbor alongside Berlin's waterways also plays a prominent role in the transportation of goods, because all major canals of Berlin are part of the network of German Federal Waterways, which connects many German industrial regions, all important international maritime and inland ports, the North and Baltic Sea, and all of Germany's neighboring countries.

Besides S-Bahn services, the stations Hermannstraße, Sonnenallee with its northern terminals along the western shore of the Neukölln Ship Canal into the Treptow freight yards,[163] and especially Neukölln offer additional capacities for freight traffic via railways. The main lines connect eastbound via Köllnische Heide and westbound alongside Berlin's orbital S-Bahn infrastructure, continuing either westbound via Südkreuz or southbound and southwestbound via Tempelhof.

A smaller historical railroad, parts of which are still in use today, is the Neukölln-Mittenwald railroad (NME), which branches off in the Tempelhof quarter south of the Tempelhofer Feld between the stations Hermannstraße and Tempelhof and traverses the Teltow Canal in order to connect other industrial areas in the southern quarters of the Neukölln borough, eventually leading back east to the Teltow Canal on the Rudow industrial through track east of Gropiusstadt via Zwickauer Damm and Stubenrauchstraße.[164]

Furthermore, industrial through tracks, which are managed by the Industriebahn Berlin, connect Neukölln station via the Treptow freight yards north of Sonnenallee to several terminals within the Neukölln quarter. These include the industrial park Nobelstraße north of the Britz Canal near High-Deck-Siedlung, and the northern and eastern docks of the Neukölln Harbor, with an auxiliary track to the western dock.[165] Since railway freight transport in Berlin has lost its former importance, many direct connections to the main industrial lines do not exist anymore, and freight trains need to be switched and shift directions several times.[166]

## Main sights

[edit]

* 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,[167] finished in 2005 by the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DİTİB).
* Neuköllner Oper: Opera house that hosts a wide range of performances including musicals, baroque opera, operetta, or experimental music theatre. Famous for its aim to bring elitist culture to a wider audience.[168]
* Stadtbad Neukölln, the local swim hall which consists of antique thermal baths inspired by Greek temples and basilicas.
* Körnerpark: Park in neobarock style with fountains, orangerie, exhibition rooms and a cafe, founded 1910 by Franz Körner as a present to Rixdorf.

## Notable people

[edit]

* Bruno Bauer

* Hermann Boddin

* Lena Braun

* Horst Buchholz

* Jutta Limbach

* Inge Meysel

* Antonio Rüdiger

* Engelbert Zaschka

List of notable natives and current or former residents or associates of Rixdorf, Neukölln and Berlin-Neukölln  Name  | Profession  | Status  | Born  | Died  | Notes

|
|
|
|
|

Werberg, Hermann von | other  | associated  | 1341 (taq)  | 1371  | Knights Hospitaller commander, governor of Brandenburg, co-founder of Richardsdorf
Sasar, Dietrich von  | other  | associated  | 1360 (taq)  | 1360 (tpq)  | commander of Tempelhof's Knights Hospitaller, co-founder of Richardsdorf
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg | other  | associated  | 1620-02-16  | 1688-04-29  | nobility, general; built a public garden in the forest Hasenheide
Liberda, Johann  | other  | associated  | 1700-09-05  | 1742-08-09  | theologian, immigrant leader, Bohemian-Lutheran priest
Frederick William I of Prussia | other  | associated  | 1688-08-14  | 1740-05-31  | nobility, king of Prussia; patron of the Moravian refugees in Böhmisch-Rixdorf
Bewert, Johann Wolfgang  | industrialist  | native  | 1700 (taq)  | 1721  | brewer, distributor, proprietor of Rixdorf's schultheiß court
Hertzberg, Ewald Friedrich von | politician  | associated  | 1725-09-02  | 1795-05-22  | statesman, proprietor of Rixdorf's schultheiß court (since 1760)
Charles, Prince of Prussia | other  | associated  | 1801-06-29  | 1883-01-21  | nobility, general; built a public garden in the forest Hasenheide
Bauer, Bruno | scientist  | resident  | 1809-09-06  | 1882-04-13  | theologian, historian, philosopher, Bible critic
Müller, Eduard | politician  | associated  | 1818-11-15  | 1895-01-05  | priest, state representative; initiated the foundation of Rixdorf's St. Edward parish
Pannier, Rudolf | jurist  | associated  | 1821-08-31  | 1897-12-12  | president of the Landgericht Berlin (state court); initiated the establishment of Rixdorf's municipal court
Wrede, Wilhelm August Julius | industrialist  | resident  | 1822-01-23  | 1895-12-28  | liquor factory owner, banker; built Neukölln's Juliusburg estate
Kranold, Viktor Ferdinand von | other  | associated  | 1838-09-19  | 1922-09-22  | railroad executive, KED Berlin president; built Hermannstraße station
Jonas, Ernst Wilhelm Karl Ehrenfried  | other  | native  | 1842-09-01  | 1914-07-24  | theologian, Protestant priest at Rixdorf's Church of Mary Magdalene, founder of Rixdorf's first Froebelian kindergarten
Ziegra, Hugo  | industrialist  | resident  | 1852-03-25  | 1926-12-28  | director of the Kindl brewery (Rollberg), city councilor (until 1919), city elder (1924)
Weigand, Hermann | architect  | resident  | 1854-02-02  | 1926-10-16  | Rixdorf/Neukölln building officer (1904–21), Neukölln city elder (1924)
Moras, Walter | artist  | native  | 1856-01-20  | 1925-03-06  | painter
Arons, Leo | scientist  | resident  | 1860-02-15  | 1919-10-10  | physicist, inventor, politician
Geyger, Ernst Moritz | artist  | native  | 1861-11-08  | 1941-12-29  | sculptor, medalist, painter, etcher
Poppe, Oskar | industrialist  | resident  | 1866-07-09  | 1918-08-08  | chemist, chemical factory manager
Rungius, Carl | artist  | native  | 1869-08-18  | 1959-10-21  | painter
Silberstein, Raphael | politician  | associated  | 1873-03-19  | 1926-08-23  | Berlin city councilor (1899–1918); motivated the construction of the Stadtbad Neukölln
Kiehl, Reinhold | architect  | resident  | 1874-04-22  | 1913-03-10  | director of Rixdorf's Hochbauamt (public works service, 1905–12)
Martens, John | architect  | resident  | 1875-05-04  | 1936-06-04  | director of the Hochbauamt's design office (until 1908)
Franke, Otto | politician  | native  | 1877-09-15  | 1953-12-12  | unionist, politician, peace activist
Wittbrodt, Wilhelm | other  | resident  | 1879-11-08  | 1961-05-12  | reform pedagogue, politician
Taut, Bruno | architect  | associated  | 1880-05-04  | 1938-12-24  | Rixdorf building official (1908–09)
Taut, Max | architect  | associated  | 1884-05-15  | 1967-02-26  | Rixdorf building official (until 1912)
Hoffmann, Franz | architect  | associated  | 1884-06-13  | 1951-07-15  | Rixdorf building official (1908–09)
Nathan, Helene | other  | resident  | 1885-08-23  | 1940-10-23  | librarian, director of Neukölln's borough library
Karsen, Fritz | other  | resident  | 1885-11-11  | 1951-08-25  | reform pedagogue
Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig | architect  | associated  | 1886-03-27  | 1969-08-17  | Rixdorf building official (1904–05); born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies
Glaeser-Wilken, Lisbeth | artist  | resident  | 1887-04-01  | 1977-04-11  | actor, teacher; born Lisbeth Wirtson
Künstler, Franz | politician  | resident  | 1888-05-13  | 1942-09-10  | mechanic, unionist, politician, resistance fighter
Sahlberg, Clara | other  | native  | 1890-07-03  | 1977-04-13  | tailor, unionist, resistance fighter
Zobelitz, Gerda von | other  | native  | 1891-06-09  | 1963-03-29  | tailor; one of the first recognized German transgender persons
Seiler, Robert | artist  | native  | 1891-12-06  | 1971  | painter, illustrator, professor
Sorge, Reinhard | artist  | native  | 1892-01-29  | 1916-07-20  | dramatist, poet
Zaschka, Engelbert | scientist  | resident  | 1895-09-01  | 1955-06-26  | engineer, technical designer, inventor, helicopter pioneer
Meisel, Will | artist  | native  | 1897-09-17  | 1967-04-29  | composer, film composer, dancer, publisher
Ley, Gritta | artist  | native  | 1898-08-23  | 1986-12-17  | actor
Baberske, Robert | artist  | native  | 1900-05-01  | 1958-03-27  | cinematographer
Bischoff, Fritz | other  | native  | 1900-07-01  | 1945-05-03  | communist activist, resistance fighter
Kühn, Bruno | other  | native  | 1901-12-17  | 1944 (approx.)  | communist activist, resistance fighter; brother of Lotte Ulbricht
Riefenstahl, Leni | artist  | resident  | 1902-08-22  | 2003-09-08  | film director, photographer, actor; born Helene Bertha Amalie Riefenstahl
Ulbricht, Lotte | other  | native  | 1903-04-19  | 2002-03-27  | socialist party official; wife of Walter; born Charlotte Kühn
Scholz, Arno | journalist  | native  | 1904-02-22  | 1971-07-30  | journalist, publicist, publisher
Seelenbinder, Werner | other  | associated  | 1904-08-02  | 1944-10-24  | wrestler, resistance fighter; trained and is buried in Neukölln
Schröder, Georg | other  | native  | 1904-10-10  | 1944-09-11  | blacksmith, welder, resistance fighter
Riefenstahl, Heinz | scientist  | native  | 1906-03-05  | 1944-07-20  | engineer; brother of Leni
Schmidt, Charles | politician  | native  | 1906-06-03  | 1971-12-02  | tobacco merchant, Berlin state representative
Hübner, Walter | other  | native  | 1906-08-24  | 1969  | precision engineer, major of the Neukölln SA
Winkler, Gerhard | artist  | native  | 1906-09-12  | 1977-09-25  | composer, film composer, songwriter
Borchert, Wilhelm | artist  | native  | 1907-03-13  | 1990-06-01  | actor, voice actor
Haegert, Wilhelm | jurist  | native  | 1907-03-14  | 1994-04-24  | lawyer, NS ministry official
Bluhm, Walter | artist  | native  | 1907-08-05  | 1976-12-02  | actor, voice actor
Loll, Ferdinand | other  | native  | 1910-03-08  | 1986-08-05  | shipping agent, Communist activist, resistance fighter, GDR police officer; convicted for the Richardsburg attack (1931)
Lehnert, Martin | scientist  | native  | 1910-05-20  | 1992-03-04  | anglicist, professor
Meysel, Inge | artist  | native  | 1910-05-30  | 2004-07-10  | actor, voice actor
Ludwig, Hermann | artist  | native  | 1911-07-27  | 1982-02-22  | film editor, film production manager
Gysi, Klaus | other  | native  | 1912-03-03  | 1999-03-06  | journalist, publisher, resistance fighter, politician; father of Gregor
Meudtner, Ilse | other  | resident  | 1912-11-01  | 1990-07-18  | dancer, diver
Hoffmann, Friedel | other  | native  | 1912-12-14  | 1997-12-26  | resistance fighter, East German political official
Walter, Grete | other  | native  | 1913-02-22  | 1935-10-21  | Communist youth worker, resistance activist
Voelker, Alexander | politician  | native  | 1913-08-01  | 2001-02-24  | industrial business manager, Berlin state representative, city elder of Berlin (1980)
Kapelle, Heinz | other  | resident  | 1913-09-17  | 1941-07-01  | pressman, resistance fighter, Communist politician
Bergmann, Erika | other  | native  | 1915-01-03  | 1996  | concentration camp guard, murderer
Rahl, Mady | artist  | native  | 1915-01-03  | 2009-08-29  | actor, voice actor, singer
Goetze, Ursula | other  | resident  | 1916-03-29  | 1943-08-05  | stenographer, resistance fighter
Szelinksi-Singer, Katharina | artist  | resident  | 1918-05-24  | 2010-12-20  | sculptor; born Katharina Singer
Walter, Irene | other  | native  | 1919-01-23  | 1942-08-18  | secretary, resistance fighter
Ihle, Hans Joachim | artist  | native  | 1919-12-21  | 1997-12-15  | sculptor
Wolff, Friedrich | jurist  | native  | 1922-07-30  | 2024-06-10  | lawyer, East German official
Kieling, Wolfgang | artist  | native  | 1924-03-16  | 1985-10-07  | actor, voice actor
Möller, Gunnar | artist  | native  | 1928-07-01  | 2017-05-16  | actor
Buchholz, Horst | artist  | native  | 1933-12-04  | 2003-03-03  | actor, voice actor
Limbach, Jutta | jurist  | native  | 1934-03-27  | 2016-09-10  | jurist, professor, Berlin Senator of Justice, president of the Federal Constitutional Court and Goethe-Institut
Jercha, Heinz | other  | resident  | 1934-07-01  | 1962-03-27  | butcher, Berlin Wall escape agent
Bosetzky, Horst | artist  | resident  | 1938-02-01  | 2018-09-16  | author, novelist, sociologist
Giesen, Traugott | other  | resident  | 1940-05-06  |  | theologian, priest, Christian author
Radeke, Winfried | artist  | resident  | 1940-11-30  |  | composer, cantor, conductor, director; founder and art director of the Neukölln Opera
Zander, Frank | artist  | native  | 1942-02-04  |  | singer, presenter, actor
Schmitt, Walfriede | artist  | native  | 1943-03-26  |  | actor, voice actor, author
Roski, Ulrich | artist  | resident  | 1944-03-04  | 2003-02-20  | musician, singer-songwriter
Vogel, Peter | scientist  | native  | 1947  |  | pedagogue, professor
Buchholz, Werner | scientist  | native  | 1948-01-25  |  | historian, professor
Weckman, Joachim | other  | resident  | 1953  |  | entrepreneur, organic food pioneer
Wendt, Michael | politician  | resident  | 1955-12-01  | 2011-12-22  | mechanical engineer, foundational member of the Berlin Alternative Liste
Krawczyk, Stephan | artist  | resident  | 1955-12-31  |  | author, songwriter, East-German dissident
Knie, Andreas | scientist  | resident  | 1960-12-12  |  | sociologist, professor, traffic researcher
Braun, Lena | artist  | resident  | 1961-04-04  |  | performance and visual artist, curator, author
Heisig, Kirsten | jurist  | associated  | 1961-08-24  | 2010-06-28  | Neukölln judge, author; propagated the procedural Neukölln Model
Tuckermann, Anja | artist  | resident  | 1961-11-24  |  | author, novelist, journalist
Soraya, Juwelia | artist  | resident  | 1963-01-14  |  | drag queen, singer, painter, gallery owner; born Stefan Stricker
Benedict, Peter | artist  | resident  | 1963-07-13  |  | actor, director; born Christian Riss
Liescheid, Uwe  | other  | resident  | 1963-09-21  | 2006-03-21  | murdered chief superintendent, Neukölln police
Betz, Martin | artist  | resident  | 1964-06-17  |  | political satirist, musician, author
Hannemann, Uli | artist  | resident  | 1965-08-25  |  | author, columnist
Meißner, Tobias Oliver | artist  | resident  | 1967-08-04  |  | novelist, cartoonist
Cukrowski, Gesine | artist  | native  | 1968-10-23  |  | actor
Wagner, Jan | artist  | resident  | 1971-10-18  |  | poet, essayist, translator
Blomberg, Sebastian | artist  | resident  | 1972-05-24  |  | actor
Dege, Timo  | artist  | resident  | 1973  |  | street poet, author
Burns, Barry | artist  | resident  | 1974-11-14  |  | musician
Krömer, Kurt | artist  | native  | 1974-11-20  |  | comedian, actor, presenter, author; born Alexander Bojcan
Balcı, Güner Yasemin | journalist  | native  | 1975-02-09  |  | journalist, author, documentary film director; Neukölln's integration commissioner (since 2020)
Alexander, Robin | journalist  | resident  | 1975-05-13  |  | reporter, journalist, author
Khani, Behzad Karim | artist  | resident  | 1977  |  | author, journalist
Zillmann, Daniel | artist  | native  | 1981-01-18  |  | actor, voice actor, singer
Jagla, Jan | other  | resident  | 1981-05-25  |  | basketball player
Schazad, Graziella | artist  | resident  | 1983-07-02  |  | musician, singer-songwriter
Bumaye, Ali | artist  | resident  | 1985-01-11  |  | musician, rapper; born Ali Alulu Abdul-razzak
Stokowski, Margarete | artist  | resident  | 1986-04-14  |  | author, essayist
Juju | artist  | resident  | 1992-11-20  |  | musician, rapper; born Judith Wessendorf
Rüdiger, Antonio | other  | native  | 1993-03-03  |  | footballer
Lou, Alice Phoebe | artist  | resident  | 1993-07-19  |  | musician, singer-songwriter; born Alice Matthew
Juno, Madeline | artist  | resident  | 1995-08-11  |  | musician, singer-songwriter; born Madeline Obrigewitsch

### Mayors and other local politicians

[edit]

Rixdorf became an independent city in 1899 and was incorporated as a borough of Berlin in the 1920 Greater Berlin Act, so the city of Rixdorf (later Neukölln) has only had three mayors and lord mayors respectively.[169] The Boddinstraße is named after Rixdorf's first mayor, Hermann Boddin. None of Rixdorf's and Neukölln's three city mayors were natives. As part of the borough Neukölln, the quarter of Neukölln has been administered by the borough mayor since 1920. As of 2024, the incumbent is Martin Hikel (SPD).[170]

Name  | Title  | City  | Term  | Party  | Born  | Died  | Notes

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Boddin, Hermann | Mayor, First Mayor, Lord Mayor  | Rixdorf  | 1899–1907  |  | \-  | 1844-05-16  | 1907-07-23  | in office until his death[171]
Kaiser, Curt | Mayor, Lord Mayor  | Rixdorf, Neukölln  | 1907–1919  |  | \-  | 1865-01-26  | 1940-04-25  | often spelled Kurt Kaiser[172]
Scholz, Alfred | Lord Mayor  | Neukölln  | 1919–1920  |  | SPD | 1876-05-15  | 1944-11-02  | transitioned to Neukölln's first borough mayor[173]
List of other notable local politicians of Rixdorf, Neukölln and Berlin-Neukölln  Name  | Status  | Born  | Died  | Notes

|
|
|
|

Manitius, Adolph Gebhard  | resident  | 1682  | 1754-12-27  | Rixdorf hofmeister, proprietor of the schultheiß fief court (1704–37)
Pflüger, Karl Friedrich Wilhelm  | native  | 1784-12-12  | 1833-06-27  | schultheiß of Deutsch-Rixdorf (1814–30)
Wanzlick, Daniel Friedrich | native  | 1819-02-15  | 1877-06-19  | last Bohemian schultheiß of Böhmisch-Rixdorf (until 11 June 1873)
Schinke, Johann Friedrich  | native  | 1826-11-20  | 1875-08-03  | schultheiß of Deutsch-Rixdorf (1863–74)
Maresch, Daniel  | resident  | 1833-09-11  | 1923-12-23  | Rixdorf municipal and city administrator
Barta, Carl Friedrich  | resident  | 1833-12-10  | 1914-09-25  | innkeeper, Böhmisch-Rixdorf's principal municipal magistrate (1871–73), municipal magistrate under Hermann Boddin (1874–88)
Jansa, Wilhelm  | native  | 1834-12-20  | 1909-04-20  | farmer, municipal magistrate (1878–99)
Mier, Friedrich Wilhelm  | resident  | 1836-02-18  | 1912-12-19  | Rixdorf/Neukölln city councilor
Schudoma, Johann  | native  | 1840-02-19  | 1903-10-04  | only Bohemian municipal magistrate of the unified Rixdorf authorities (1874–99), city councilor (1899–1903)
Sander, Hermann | resident  | 1845-07-14  | 1939-03-12  | industrialist, Rixdorf municipal councilor (1887–96), municipal administrator (1896–98), Rixdorf/Neukölln city administrator and honorary council president (1899–1919)
Bürkner, August  | native  | 1847-01-06  | 1914-12-27  | Rixdorf municipal representative (1889–99), Rixdorf/Neukölln city councilor (1899–1914)
Thiemann, August  | native  | 1849-09-10  | 1923-05-17  | Rixdorf/Neukölln city magistrate and councilor (1899–1919)
Leyke, Gustav Adolf | resident  | 1851-09-10  | 1910-07-28  | merchant, Rixdorf municipal administrator (1892–98), city councilor (1899–1910)
Niemetz, Daniel Benjamin  | resident  | 1853-06-25  | 1910-05-09  | gardener, Rixdorf municipal magistrate (1886–99), city councilor (1899–1909), city elder (1909)
Wutzky, Emil | resident  | 1871-10-04  | 1963-12-30  | unionist, cooperativist, Rixdorf/Neukölln city councilor (1899-1917)
Löwenstein, Kurt | resident  | 1885-05-18  | 1939-05-08  | socialist reform pedagogue, borough councilor (1921–33)
Raddatz, Erich | resident  | 1886-11-28  | 1964-02-16  | locksmith, borough representative (1926–30)
Fechner, Max | native  | 1892-07-27  | 1973-09-13  | toolmaker, borough representative (1921–25)
Samson, Kurt | resident  | 1900-05-08  | 1947-03-09  | jurist, National Socialist borough mayor (1933–45)
Exner, Kurt | native  | 1901-05-15  | 1996-11-12  | unionist, borough mayor (1949–59), Berlin senator for Labor and Social Welfare under Willy Brandt (1959–67)
Weise, Martin | resident  | 1903-05-12  | 1943-11-15  | journalist, resistance fighter, borough representative (1929–33)
Bielka, Frank | native  | 1947-10-22  |  | business economist, borough mayor (1989–91), Degewo board chairman (until 2002)
Buschkowsky, Heinz | native  | 1948-07-31  |  | public manager, author, borough mayor (2001–15)
Giffey, Franziska | resident  | 1978-05-03  |  | public manager, borough mayor (2015–18), governing mayor of Berlin (2021–23)

## International relations

[edit]

* Neukölln, as part of the borough Neukölln, is a pilot city of the Council of Europe and the European Commission Intercultural Cities program.[174]
* Neukölln, as part of the borough Neukölln, has several twin communes and cities, among them Boulogne-Billancourt, Hammersmith and Fulham, Çiğli, Bat Yam, Marino and Prague 5.[175]
* Neukölln, as part of Berlin, has several twin cities, among them London, Istanbul, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Tokyo and Windhoek.[176]

## Rixdorf and Neukölln in media and popular culture

[edit]

### Literature

[edit]

As an urban hotspot and important quarter of Berlin, Neukölln has always been the focus of many nonfiction books and academic works in the fields of history, education, social and political sciences. A few prominent natives and residents of Neukölln received biographies, such as architect Reinhold Kiehl and actor Horst Buchholz, or have written memoirs, for example actor Inge Meysel. Many consumer nonfiction books about Neukölln exist as well. A notable example is the satirical Gebrauchsanweisung für Neukölln (1988) by Johannes Groschupf, which he wrote as a student under the pseudonym Olga O'Groschen, while the most popular book to this date has been the critical Neukölln ist überall (2013) by former borough mayor Heinz Buschkowsky. In fiction, several authors have written about or set their stories in Neukölln, for example Hund, Wolf, Schakal (2022) by Behzad Karim Khani, Allegro Pastell (2020) by Leif Randt, or Jesus von Neukölln (2022) by Wolfgang Priewe. Over the decades, urban lyricists have written many poems about Neukölln and Rixdorf, for example Ede Petermann aus Rixdorf singt in der Verbannung by Otto Julius Bierbaum, published in Ausgewählte Gedichte (1921).

### Film and television

[edit]

Neukölln Unlimited (2010)

Neukölln has been a favored location for national and international film and television productions. Some works, however, have focused primarily on Neukölln, for example the 2006 motion picture Tough Enough (Knallhart) by Detlev Buck, Zoran Drvenkar and Gregor Tessnow, the 2007 motion picture Straight by Nicolas Flessa, the 2014 television movie The Limits of Patience (Das Ende der Geduld) by Christian Wagner and Stefan Dähnert, the 2017 television series 4 Blocks by Marvin Kren, Oliver Hirschbiegel, Hanno Hackfort, Bob Konrad and Richard Kropf, the 2015 TV miniseries Ecke Weserstraße by Johannes Hertwig, Hayung von Oepen and Mireya Heider de Jahnsen, and also a few documentary films, for example Neukölln Unlimited (2010) by Agostino Imondi and Dietmar Ratsch, or Survival in Neukölln (2017, Überleben in Neukölln) by Rosa von Praunheim.

### Music

[edit]

Songs referencing Neukölln are mostly from German artists, for example the 2017 hip hop song Sonnenallee by AOB and Said, the 2022 farewell hymn Neukölln by Madeline Juno or the satirical proletarian love letter Dit is Neukölln ("This is Neukölln") by Kurt Krömer and Gabi Decker, originally from a television skit and sung to the tune of I Got You Babe, while tangential references are usually found in Deutschrap songs, for example the 2019 U7 Freestyle by Luvre47. Several instrumental works also reference Neukölln, the 1977 David Bowie and Brian Eno track Neuköln [sic!], the 1983 electronic composition Hasenheide by Dieter Moebius, the 2004 track Neukölln 2 by Miss Kittin, and the 2011 Mogwai release Hasenheide.

The song that cemented Rixdorf's infamy as a city of vice across Germany, which eventually prompted the renaming to Neukölln, is the 1889 satirical polka march Der Rixdorfer by Eugen Philippi (music) and Oskar Klein (lyrics), also known as In Rixdorf ist Musike,[177] which was later immortalized in a recording by actor Willi Rose.[178] The lyrics, recited with a strong Berlin German dialect in the first person by a protagonist called Franz, describe his free and easy Sunday partying and dancing spree in Rixdorf, and his meeting his long-time companion, an older woman called Rieke, who insinuates to also be a prostitute.[179]

## Gallery

[edit]

* Hermannplatz, Karstadt department store

* County Court

* City hall

* Buddy Bear Neukölln in front of the City hall

* Landwehr Canal (2005)

* Border crossing at Sonnenallee, 1964

* Stadtbad Neukölln

* Volkspark Hasenheide in winter (2013)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Einwohnerinnen und Einwohner im Land Berlin am 31. Dezember 2023". Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg. February 2024.
2. ^ Translated "New Kölln", and etymologically "New Colony" from lat. colonia; cf. also Roman Cologne. Not to be confused with Berlin's historical district of Neu-Cölln.
3. ^ The quarter of Neukölln is known in German as an Ortsteil or Stadtteil (lit. "city part"), 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 the quarter from the borough, the former is also called Berlin-Neukölln or Nord-Neukölln, while the borough of Neukölln is sometimes informally called Groß-Neukölln ("Greater Neukölln"). Over the years there have been several petitions to reestablish the historical name Rixdorf; cf. Kai Ritzmann, "Aus (Nord-)Neukölln soll wieder Rixdorf werden", 1 July 2019, B.Z..
4. ^ See also Topography of Berlin.
5. ^ Lit. rollende Berge, "rolling hills"; one of Neukölln's neighborhoods was named after the Rollberge range (see below). See also the Kreuzberg, which is Berlin's most prominent glacial hill and (together with the Rollberge and the slopes near the former Mühlenberg in Schöneberg) forms the larger northern Teltow range called Tempelhofer Berge.
6. ^ Cf. i.a. "Neukölln", Berlin.de – Das offizielle Stadtportal, 5 September 2023.
7. ^ Also known as Richardkiez; the original Richarsdorp/Rixdorf, later Deutsch-Rixdorf; possibly named after an unknown knight or administrator called Richard (see below).
8. ^ Also known as Böhmisches Dorf (Bohemian Village).
9. ^ Also known as Reuterquartier; named after the central town square Reuterplatz, itself named after novelist Fritz Reuter. Together with the adjacent parts of Kreuzberg, the neighborhood is sometimes jokingly referred to as Kreuzkölln (cf. Johannes Schneider, "Sagt endlich Kreuzkölln!", 12 April 2016, Der Tagesspiegel), a portmanteau of "Kreuzberg" and "Neukölln", the former's SO 36 and Kreuzberg 61 quarters bordering to the north and west respectively. The short hand X-Kölln is also in use.
10. ^ Often called Flughafenkiez, seldomly Flughafenstraßenkiez; the name refers to the former airport nearby.
11. ^ Also called Schillerkiez; named after Friedrich Schiller.
12. ^ Also called Rollbergkiez or Rollbergsiedlung; named after the Rollberge, a range of glacial hills (see above); not to be confused with the Rollberge estates, which is the alternative name for the Schwarzwaldsiedlung in Berlin Reinickendorf.
13. ^ Lit. "white estates"; named after the white faces of most of the neighborhood's high-rise buildings; not to be confused with the World Heritage Site Weiße Stadt in Berlin Reinickendorf. The Weiße Siedlung is often lumped together with (and even called) the Dammwegsiedlung; however, the latter is a distinct 1920s settlement further south (see below).
14. ^ Sometimes referred to as Körnerkiez; named after the Körnerpark, itself named after Franz Körner, the former owner of the gravel quarry, in which the park was created.
15. ^ Named after the architectural concept of using a close network of pedestrian skyways between the estate buildings; also called Sängerviertel ("Singers' Quarter") due to several street names, e.g. the Michael Bohnen beltway.
16. ^ Part of Flughafenstraße; named after the river Donau, the German name for the Danube.
17. ^ Named after German author Ludwig Ganghofer.
18. ^ Part of both Reuterkiez and Rixdorf, with the Wildenbruchstraße forming the official border; named after the river Weser.
19. ^ Including the cemetery park Neuer St. Jacobi Friedhof; part of Schillerpromenade; named after the river Warthe, the German name for the Warta.
20. ^ Also called Harzer Straße; nominally part of Reuterkiez, but locally dominated by the Kungerkiez in Alt-Treptow close-by; named after the Bouchéstraße, itself named after German politician Johann Bouché (1759–1846).
21. ^ Also called Silbersteinkiez; part of Schillerpromenade; named after German politician Raphael Silberstein.
22. ^ Part of Schillerpromenade; derived from the old Hasenheide forest of Rixdorf, now a park, literally "hares' heath".
23. ^ Part of High-Deck-Siedlung; named after the Schulenburg dynasty.
24. ^ Part of Weiße Siedlung; also called Siedlung am Dammweg; named after a historical Dammweg (path on a dam) across the Cöllnische Heide to the former landing stages at the river Spree.
25. ^ Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg, "Adressverzeichnisfür die lebensweltlich orientierten Räume", Berlin, January 2024; official neighborhoods' LORs emphasized; official neighborhoods in emphasized italics.
26. ^ Still, due to their old age, many of Neukölln's cemeteries now double as recreational parks or tourist locations during opening hours; the most famous and oldest ones are the 1751 Moravian cemetery, the small Böhmischer Gottesacker in Rixdorf, and the 1813 Garnisonsfriedhof (garrison cemetery) on Columbiadamm, while the largest one, situated between the neighborhoods Rollberg and Körnerpark, is a cemeterial ensemble consisting of St. Thomas, Neue Luisenstadt and St. Michael, of which the former is one of Neukölln's historical garden monuments, originally built in 1872. Four additional active or former cemeteries are now historical monuments, namely the 1888 Emmauskirchhof in the far south, St. Jacobi on Karl-Marx-Straße (1852), the 1866 Turkish cemetery on Columbiadamm (see below), and the western part of St. Thomas (1872), present-day Anita-Berber-Park.
27. ^ For the complete list, cf. "Denkmalliste" with download, Landesdenkmalamt Berlin, Berlin 2023.
28. ^ Selmar Schülein, "Die Waschbär-Chroniken", fluter 88, 22 September 2023.
29. ^ "Zu viel Grau, zu wenig Grün: Viele deutsche Städte fallen durch im ersten Hitze-Check der Deutschen Umwelthilfe", Deutsche Umwelthilfe, 30 July 2024 (with download).
30. ^ Victoria Atanasov, "Biber und Baum am Landwehrkanal müssen geschützt werden", Berliner Morgenpost, 29 November 2022.
31. ^ For sightnings of wild boar on the Kurfürstendamm, see e.g. Cay Dobberke, "Wildschweinplage: Schweine am Ku'damm", Tagesspiegel, 25 March 2011.
32. ^ "Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Danny Freymark (CDU) und Stephan Schmidt (CDU) vom 01. März 2018 zum Thema 'Wildschweinplage in Berliner Bezirken' und Antwort vom 14. März 2018", Abgeordnetenhaus Berlin, 14 March 2018.
33. ^ Astrid Kinateder in: "Wildtiere in Berlin: Artenvielfalt im Hinterhof", So wohnt Berlin (Gewobag), 11 August 2022.
34. ^ "Greifvögel in Berlin und Brandenburg: Da flattert einiges", Tip, 12 October 2021.
35. ^ Jörn Hasselmann, "Aale sollen invasive Art in Berlin bändigen – US-Sumpfkrebse gibt's jetzt auch im Teltowkanal", Der Tagesspiegel, 19 March 2023.
36. ^ Prehistorical overview and historical chronology, settlement history and monuments i.a. in Berlin-Neukölln, seine Geschichte und Denkmale: Rixdorf, Bezirksamt Neukölln, Berlin 1999; online copy.
37. ^ Gundakkar Klaussen, "Rixdorf, Preußens jüngste Stadt", in: Adolf Kröner (ed.), Die Gartenlaube 8, Leipzig 1899, p. 246 sq.
38. ^ Originally minted in Singidunum, it was either a coeval monetary import or reused in more recent times as a pendant.
39. ^ I.a. Albert Kiekebusch, "Ein germanisches Reitergrab aus der späten Völkerwanderungszeit von Neukölln (Rixdorf) bei Berlin", Praehistorische Zeitschrift IV 3/4, 1912. Today, the Reitergrab is on display at the Märkisches Museum.
40. ^ Starting in the third century A.D., almost all of the Semnonic tribes migrated from Germania Magna across the limes to the Upper Rhine region and became part of Alemannic culture.
41. ^ In the wake of the Northern Crusades, Albert was appointed margrave of the Northern March, including the Teltow, in 1134 by Lothair III after a testamentary contract between Albert and Hevellian prince Pribislav-Henry (1129). When Pribislav-Henry died in 1150, Albert became his successor and proclaimed the new margraviate in 1157 after a short war of succession, when Jaxa laid claim to Brandenburg and occupied the region, but retreated without a fight in the same year after transfer negotiations. Pomerania became part of Brandenburg only decades later (see below).
42. ^ Proposed toponym; cf. Heike Schroll, Das Landesarchiv Berlin und seine Bestände: Übersicht der Bestände aus der Zeit bis 1945 (Tektonik-Gruppe A), Berliner Wissenschaftsverlag, Berlin, 2003, p. 134.
43. ^ Tempelhof and other previously Slavic villages were conquered or founded around 1190, and the surrounding Teltow region was incorporated in two planned-out phases between 1190 and 1230; cf. Winfried Schich, "Das mittelalterliche Berlin (1237–1411)", in: Wolfgang Ribbe (ed.), Veröffentlichung der Historischen Kommission zu Berlin: Geschichte Berlins. 1. Band, München, 1987, p. 157. Richardshove was probably part of the second colonization wave, beginning with the year 1200. While Ascanian rule over the Teltow is well attested for that time, there is still debate over who had actually initiated the foundation of the Teltow villages, whether the House of Ascania, or their direct rivals, the bishops of Magdeburg, e.g. Ludolf von Kroppenstedt, or the dukes of Silesia, e.g. Bolesław I the Tall, or the House of Wettin, which would imply a later conquest by the Ascanians and Knights Templar; cf. Ulrich Waack, "Die frühen Herrschaftsverhältnisse im Berliner Raum. Eine neue Zwischenbilanz der Diskussion um die 'Magdeburg-Hypothese'", in: Jahrbuch für brandenburgische Landesgeschichte 54, 2005, pp. 7–38.
44. ^ In later centuries renamed Berlinische Wiesen (Berlin Meadows); these grasslands were the north-western part of the Mirica, a forest region later known as Cöllnische Heide (Cölln Heath).
45. ^ After the era of Jaxa, one of the remaining adversaries of the Ascanian margraviate in the eastern Teltow periphery was the House of Wettin, which had ruled over Copenic since (depending on the source) 1178 or 1210, which required a military presence in Richardshove. Therefore, the Templar stronghold was established somewhere between 1190 and 1210.
46. ^ A reference to a Templar commander called Hermann (magister Hermannus de Templo, "master [commander] Hermann of the [Knights] Templar") dated 29 April 1247 underlines the order's command over Tempelhof and the Teltow region; cf. i.a. Hans Eberhard Mayerm, "Zum Itinerarium peregrinorum – Eine Erwiderung", in: id. (ed.): Kreuzzüge und lateinischer Osten 3, London 1983, p. 210 sq. However, no records exist of the Knights' direct involvement in the foundation of any of the Teltow settlements, but the 1247 record and later transfer of ownership implies at least their lasting sovereignty. The identity of Rixdorf's eponymous Richard is unknown, allegedly a Knight Templar, commander or bailiff from Tempelhof, or the original administrator of Richardshove; exaggerating folk etymologies have also connected the toponym to Richard of Cornwall, Richard Lionheart, Richard the Pilgrim and primarily Richard of Chichester, who became a popular saint, but too late to have influenced Richardsdorf's toponym; see below for the alternate etymology from Ryke.
47. ^ The Via Imperii also functioned as one of the Medieval European St. James pilgrims' ways; within the southern parts of Berlin, it ran from the old central towns of Alt-Berlin and Cölln, now Mitte, either through Friedrichswerder, Friedrichstadt, south along i.a. the Lindenstraße, or through Neu-Cölln am Wasser along Alte Jakobstraße, then via Hallesches Tor, Tempelhof, Mariendorf, Marienfelde, Teltow and Stahnsdorf further south in the direction of Beelitz and Wittenberg.
48. ^ Following the victory over the Danes at the second battle of Bornhöved (1227), Brandenburg secured their claim on Pomerania, which Frederick II gave as a suzerainty to the (at this time still dependent) Ascanian margraves, followed by a 1231 treaty between Barnim I of Pomerania-Stettin, due to his young age represented by his regent Samboride mother Miroslava of Pomerelia, and the margraves John I and Otto III, which legally confirmed the Ascanian's dominion i.a. over the Barnim and Teltow, and therefore Richardshove, with the region's transfer following in 1237 after the Treaty of Kremmen; the subsequent Ascanian-Pomeranian conflicts had no recorded effect on the Tempelhof commandery and the village's political status.
49. ^ See also Vox in excelso.
50. ^ See also Ad providam.
51. ^ Heinz-Dieter Heimann, Klaus Neitmann, Winfried Schich (eds.), Brandenburgisches Klosterbuch. Handbuch der Klöster, Stifte und Kommenden bis zur Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts, 2.1276 sq., Berlin 2007.
52. ^ The Johannite Hospitaller history of the commandery was expressly documented for the first time in 1344; after the Reformation, the Catholic Brandenburg Hospitallers evolved into the Protestant Order of Saint John (Johanniterorden), which still exists today.
53. ^ It is the only known foundational charter for a Brandenburg village.
54. ^ Due to the fire of 1578 (see below), the exact locations of the village's original buildings could never be archeologically determined.
55. ^ Usually pronounced "rickasdorp" with mostly elided or shifted consonants; the earliest Low German spellings, already found in the foundational charter, were Richarsdorp, Richarstorp and Richardstorff; alternate spellings of the 14th century were Richardsdorp and Richardstorpp; early spellings of the 15th century were Reicherstorff, Richerstorp and Rigerstorp (1435), then vernacularly contracted forms from the 16th century onward—compare e.g. engl. Richard or Rickard → Rick—as Ricksdorf (1525), Reichstorff (1541), Richstorff, Rigstorff (1542) and Richsdorf (1543), and in the 17th and 18th century as Rechsdorff, Rechsdorp, Risdorf, Reichsdorp, Rieksdorf, Rixdorf (ca. 1709) and Riechsdorf (1737). The spellings Reichsdorp et al. spawned secondary folk etymologies different from Richard, namely from Reich ("empire") or the surname Reich; the latter hypothesis was propagated by Friedrich Nicolai in his work Beschreibung der königlichen Residenzstädte Berlin und Potsdam (1779), alleging an origin from the Ryke (Reiche) family, one of Cölln's and Berlin's old patrician dynasties; in 1344, Johannes Ryke, a patrician citizen of Cölln, had been given the schultheiß court of Marienfelde by Herrenmeister (Lord of the Knights) Hermann von Werberg, bailiff and Statthalter (Governor) of Brandenburg, who in turn would play an important role in the foundation of Richardsdorf (see below), which is why it was theorized that the family name Ryke is the toponym's origin, though no primary sources exist.
56. ^ In the charter, the authorities were represented by Hermann von Werberg (see above) and Komtur Dietrich von Sasar, Commander of Tempelhof, on the advice of and attested by Jacob von Detz, the incumbent priest at Tempelhof, and further attested by i.a. Hans Schuler, the Küster (Sexton) at Tempelhof. The charter already mentions a schultheiß, a municipal magistrate, to be inaugurated. The size of the new village's allocated area was 25 Hufe, i.e. 425.5 hectares (4.255 square kilometers) or 1501.5 acres (1.64 square miles), and it offered a home to 14 families of mostly farmers with (depending on the source) 50 to 100 residents; e.g. "Chronik und Geschichte Neuköllns", Bezirksamt Neukölln.
57. ^ Cf. e.g. this digitized facsimile with transliteration. One striking sentence in the charter foreshadows Rixdorf's and Neukölln's diverse, ephemeral and changeful history; nds.: Alle ding, dy geschyen jn der tydt, dy vorgan mit der tydt. Hirumme ist id not, dat man sy stetige vnd veste met briuen vnd hantuestigen; ger.: Alle Dinge, die in der Zeit geschehen, vergehen mit der Zeit. Darum ist es notwendig, sie stetig zu machen und zu festigen mit Urkunden und Handfestigen; eng.: "All things which occur through time, vanish with time. Therefore, it is necessary to make them steady, and to cement them, in deeds and tangible form".
58. ^ Cf. the 650-years anniversary edition "Rixdorf – 650 – Neukölln" of Mitteilungen des Vereins für die Geschichte Berlins (Vol. 3, 2010).
59. ^ The number of farmers is not referenced directly, but was calculated from the appended tribute register.
60. ^ Richardsdorp's chapel is first mentioned in the 1435 contract between the Hospitallers and the cities of Cölln and Alt-Berlin (see below). The original 1360 charter and later documents attest that the Richardsdorp farmers still belonged to the Tempelhof parish, and the Landbuch does not mention a chapel for the year 1375 either; furthermore, before 1400 the village had to pay tributes to the priest at Tempelhof, which also rules out a church in Richardsdorp during these early times. This would refute unsourced claims that a chapel already stood long before and even received its church bell as early as 1322. However, the foundational charter explicitly orders Richardsdorp's farmers to adhere to the Tempelhof parish; this suggests that the farmers had already built a Flurkapelle ("field chapel"), which had never been officially consecrated by the Church authorities.
61. ^ In 1435 the Knights Hospitaller were accused of having secretly moved boundary stones in the area around the Johannistisch, in modern-day Kreuzberg near the road Am Johannistisch, which prompted the Johannite Hospitaller commandery to launch a military attack against Cölln and Berlin at the Roßstraßenbrücke south of Cölln, the so-called Tempelhofer Fehde (Feud of Tempelhof), but their battalion was quickly defeated; cf. Frank Eberhardt, "Verziert mit Ross und Meerjungfrauen: Die Roßstraßenbrücke im Bezirk Mitte", Berlinische Monatsschrift 4, p. 11 sq., Berlin 2001.
62. ^ Already in 1521, the councils, guilds and schools of Berlin had absented themselves from Roman processions like Corpus Christi.
63. ^ Cölln and Berlin had formed an administrative unity in 1432, but the despotism of Margrave Frederick Irontooth in the 1440s with the ensuing Berliner Unwille (lit. "the reluctance of Berlin") had resulted i.a. in the annulment of the shared administration, which soured relations over many generations, and complicated their joint fiefdom over Richardsdorf.
64. ^ The contract was signed on 4 January 1543; Herbert Schwenk, 2001, "Alle ding… vorgan mit der tydt – Die Verwandlungen von Rixdorf und Neukölln", Berlinische Monatsschrift 4, pp. 43–50, Berlin 2001.
65. ^ The village's tax register lists 12 farmers, 8 cotters (Kossäten), a herdsman and his serf, a blacksmith, and two pairs of domestic serfs.
66. ^ See also Swedish Pomerania.
67. ^ The chapel's roof and spire were destroyed in 1639, but rebuilt the same year; in 1912 the chapel was renamed Bethlehem Church. Many parts of today's church building have preserved the original late Gothic architecture of 15th century Margraviate churches.
68. ^ The tavern was located at Richardplatz 16, later known as Zum Goldenen Adler (1840), Winkelmanns Salon (1872), and today Herr Lindemann (2024).
69. ^ All in all, Rixdorf would construct 15 additional windmills between 1737 and 1865.
70. ^ Bohemia became primarily catholic again after the Battle of White Mountain, which led to persecutions of the Protestant minorities, many of whom subsequently left the country. Most of Rixdorf's Hussite settlers were part of a group of 700 refugees, 500 of whom had originally fled to Saxon Gerlachsheim near Marklissa, modern-day Gmina Leśna, from the regions around the villages of Landskron, Leitomischl, Rothwasser and Hermanitz in Roman northern Moravia and north-eastern Bohemia; when Joseph Wenzel I, the Regent of Liechtenstein, guardian of Prince Johann Nepomuk Karl and manorial lord of Rothwasser as part of the Gundakarian Majorat, demanded the repatriation of his serfs, to which the Saxon government consented, 300 Bohemians fled again to Prussian Cottbus in the winter of 1736/37 under the guidance of their priest Augustin Schulz; when the landlord of Gerlachsheim confiscated the possessions of the 200 Bohemians, who had stayed behind, as compensation for the loss of much of his workforce, the remaining Bohemians migrated to Cottbus in February of 1737, where they eventually met up with 200 more Bohemian refugees; their settlement in the Berlin region including Rixdorf was granted shortly afterwards at the behest of Bohemian priest Johann Liberda, who in the same year had managed to flee to Berlin from Waldheim Prison, where he had been incarcerated for sedition since late 1732. Liberda had already been a central figure of the first Bohemian immigration wave; as leader of a Bohemian delegation in the fall of 1732, he had managed to persuade the (initially reluctant) King to grant asylum to the first 500 refugees, who had originally fled to Großhennersdorf near Herrnhut in Upper Lusatia, ruled by lady of the manor Baroness Catharina von Gersdroff, who was an early patroness of the Moravian Church of Herrnhut, but were suffering from harsh serfdom and diminishing income due to subsequent immigration; after experiencing the Bohemians' proficiency, the King's mistrust changed into consistent support, which paved the way for Rixdorf's Bohemian settlement. Cf. Otmar Liegl, "250 Jahre Böhmen in Berlin", Mitteilungen des Vereins für die Geschichte Berlins 79 (1), Berlin 1983, pp. 2–15 (5 sq.).
71. ^ The Königliche Domänenverwaltung (Royal Domain Administration) bought five Hufe of farmland including Rixdorf's fiefdom court of the schultheiß and the yard belonging to Adolph Manitius, the court's proprietor (1704–37); the plots were then assigned as emphyteutic leases and transferred to the new settlers for later services to Berlin's industrialists; the Crown also provided construction materials and the necessary industrial and agricultural equipment free of charge, and helped in the construction of nine duplex houses with barns for the families, whereas each two families received between 12 and 14 morgen of land for gardening and agriculture; many of the barns received chambers for later subtenant worker families. The Bohemian settlers were exempt from military service, received immunity from taxes for five years, and the Crown carried their rents for two years; they were granted free citizenship and master craftsmanship. The court of the schultheiß remained under Bohemian administration until 1874.
72. ^ Overall, the Bohemian immigrants formed three distinct parishes, a traditional Moravian, a Bohemian-Lutheran, and a Reformed Protestant, whose relations were at times strained by religious controversies, especially in the early 19th century. Construction of a Moravian oratory on the Kirchgasse began in 1750 and was finished in 1761 (Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine), but the building was destroyed in World War II and rebuilt as a late-modernist oratory and parish hall in 1962; church services in the oratory were held in the Czech language until shortly before World War I. The Reformed Protestant parish settled on the Richardstraße. The original chapel in Deutsch-Rixdorf east of Richardplatz remained the main church of both Rixdorf villages; it was at first used by both the original German Catholic and newly immigrated Bohemian-Lutheran Christians, and only later became an exclusively Protestant church.
73. ^ The Kirchgasse was originally called Mala ulicka, Czech for "narrow alley", a name in use until the early 20th century. The old school is one of the few buildings that survived the fire of 1849. A representation of the Hussite Protestants' common chalice can be found in the building's pediment. Today, the building houses a museum of local history.
74. ^ The Czech-speaking Moravian refugees and their descendants called it Český Rixdorf; the Czech lingual culture in Böhmisch-Rixdorf remained prominent until the beginning of the 19th century.
75. ^ Schneider R. 1993. Neukölln – Ein Bezirk von Berlin. Berlin.
76. ^ Two other large fires had already occurred in 1803 (on Richardplatz) and 1827, which accelerated the Gründerzeit development phase; conversely, many older places were forever lost to history, especially most of the older Bohemian settlement; see below for the Reuterkiez firestorm of 1886.
77. ^ It was constructed together with a pedestrian overpass, which the people called Der Galgen ("the gallows").
78. ^ The decree was first published on 31 July 1873; cf. Amtsblatt der Königlichen Regierung zu Potsdam und der Stadt Berlin, Potsdam 1873, p. 230, s.v. #130. For many decades Böhmisch-Rixdorf had resisted plans for unification; the Gesetz über die Landgemeinde-Verfassungen (Law on the Constitution of rural Communes) of 14 April 1856 created the legal basis for the 1871 establishment of the two Rixdorf municipal councils, which paved the way for more cooperation and eventually unification. The principal municipal magistrate in charge of Böhmisch-Rixdorf, who had conducted the unification affairs on the Bohemian side, was Carl Friedrich Barta, who had been in office since the formation of the councils in 1871, and he remained a municipal magistrate under Boddin from 1874 to 1882; the Bartas had been one of Neukölln's most prominent families, among the very first Bohemian settlers of 1737.
79. ^ One of the more important ordinances of 1874 was to revoke the herding warrant for the Berlinische Wiesen, formerly called Cöllnische Wiesen, which created a large area for residential development.
80. ^ Voted on by the Brandenburg Provincial Assembly on 30 January 1899; the sum of acquittance to the Kreis Teltow was 1 million gold mark (approx. $27.8 million in 2024). Today, Rixdorf's independence day is still regarded as an important date in Neukölln's history.
81. ^ Friedrich Leyden, Gross-Berlin. Geographie der Weltstadt, Breslau 1933.
82. ^ The original Amtshaus was eventually destroyed in World War II; Susanne Schilp, "Das Rathaus hatte einen Vorläufer, der von einer Bombe getroffen wurde", Berliner Woche, 17 March 2018.
83. ^ Wolfgang Krawczynski, Architekt Reinhold Kiehl, Stadtbaurat in Rixdorf bei Berlin – Biographie, Werkverzeichnis, Beiträge, Berlin 1987.
84. ^ The new hospital was built to relieve Teltow's preexisting hospital in Britz, and the two eventually merged in the 1990s.
85. ^ This area was part of the Berlinische Wiesen, originally called Cöllnische Wiesen, and on some maps named Niederländer Wiesen (lowland meadows).
86. ^ Named after the city of Cottbus; it was built sometime between 1850 (terminus post quem) and 1874 (terminus ante quem) as a replacement for the old elevated road through the Cöllnische Wiesen into Cölln and Alt-Berlin via present-day Kottbusser Tor, originally called Ricksdorfscher Damm and Ricksdorfsche Straße, which had existed there since the 16th century. It was part of the old road from Cölln via present-day Hermannplatz and through Rixdorf along present-day Karl-Marx-Straße to Mittenwalde (Brandenburg); in 1712, a second southern extension of the Ricksdorfscher Damm to Dresden along present-day Hermannstraße had been built as a postal, trade and military road, the Dresdener Heerstraße, which was often used as a pars pro toto name for the Ricksdorfscher Damm before its renaming in the 19th century.
87. ^ Named after Ernst Friedel (1837–1918), a Berlin politician, jurist and historian; for the first decades only designated Straße 12 c ("12th Street c"), parts of the southern section were named Friedelstraße already in 1895, while the northern section, which had replaced a preexisting meadow trail, was originally called Wiebestraße before 1900, named after Hermann Wiebe, engineer, millwright and president of the Berlin Bauakademie (building academy).
88. ^ See Tramway of the city of Berlin (Straßenbahnen der Stadt Berlin, SSB); until then, Rixdorf's own tram lines had been horse-drawn (Pferde-Eisenbahn), and the electric tram network development had been managed by the Südliche Berliner Vorortbahn (SBV).
89. ^ Today, the Friedelkiez, the area around the Friedelstraße, which is mainly part of the LORs Maybachufer and Reuterplatz, is of central significance with regard to gentrification in the north of Neukölln's Reuterquartier, and forms an urban cultural hub between the Weserkiez and Kreuzberg's SO 36 neighborhood, which is accessible via the Hobrechtbrücke across the Landwehr Canal.
90. ^ "Spurensuche am Maybachufer", Karlson 9, 2022, p. 8.
91. ^ Due to Berlin's unusually high ground water level, much of the older industry had to settle to the north and south of the glacial valley on the Barnim and Teltow plateaus to be able to construct deep basements for manufacturing and storage, especially attracting breweries like Rixdorf's Vereinsbrauerei (association brewery) of the Berliner Gastwirte Aktiengesellschaft (Berlin Innkeepers joint-stock company), the predecessor of the Kindl-Brauerei, which needed large underground fermentation vaults.
92. ^ Due to redevelopment in the late 20th century, most of these early structures were eventually torn down (see below).
93. ^ The rents were comparatively high, so most of the regular tenants had to sublet to additional Schlafgänger (part-time lodgers).
94. ^ Cf. Mark Twain, "The Chicago of Europe", Chicago Daily Tribune, 3 April 1892, with relevant parts emphasized: "Berlin […] is newer to the eye than is any other city, and also blonder of complexion and tidier; no other city has such an air of roominess, freedom from crowding; no other city has so many straight streets; and with Chicago it contests the chromo for flatness of surface and for phenomenal swiftness of growth. Berlin is the European Chicago. The two cities have about the same population—say a million and a half. […] But now the parallels fail. Only parts of Chicago are stately and beautiful, whereas all of Berlin is stately and substantial, and it is not merely in parts but uniformly beautiful."
95. ^ Some representatives had different reservations regarding the city's name, arguing that the last syllable -dorf ("village") had become unbefitting of Prussia's largest town, while some had even taken offense at the unaesthetic sound of the first syllable Rix-; one of the alternative renaming proposals had been Hermannstadt; Herbert Schwenk, "Alle ding… vorgan mit der tydt – Die Verwandlungen von Rixdorf und Neukölln", Berlinische Monatsschrift 8, p. 43, Berlin 2001.
96. ^ Construction of these estates had begun in 1874 in the Berlinische Wiesen (Berlin Meadows), formerly known as Cöllnische Wiesen (Cölln Meadows), after Hermann Boddin's 1874 ordinance to revoke the herding warrant (see above).
97. ^ The historical Neu-Cölln (sometimes Neu-Cöln or neu Cölln) was at first also called Neu-Cölln am Wasser ("New Cölln by the water"). It was built in 1662 as the southern 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. Today the area is part of the Luisenstadt neighborhood (named after the historical Luisenstadt), and it is almost never called by its historical name, but places like the Köllnischer Park, originally a military bastion in Neu-Cölln, still point to the origin of the toponym Neukölln.
98. ^ Census of 8 October 1919.
99. ^ Friedrich Leyden, Gross-Berlin. Geographie der Weltstadt, Breslau 1933.
100. ^ The Nord-Süd-Bahn, today the U6, originally had a junction to a secondary eastbound branch into Neukölln at the historical Belle-Alliance-Straße station, and this Neukölln branch later became part of today's U7. The GN-Bahn (Gesundbrunnen–Neukölln line) became the U8; its final extension from the old terminus Leinestraße to the S-Bahn interchange Hermanstraße had already been planned in 1910, but wasn't implemented until the year 1996.
101. ^ 4 December 1930; in his speech to mainly students, Hitler also touched on his aesthetic visions for the future, and further pursuaded the assistant professor Albert Speer, who was also in attendance, on his national socialist path; Albert Speer, Erinnerungen, Frankfurt am Main 1969, 32 sq.; cf. also Constantin Goschler (ed.), Hitler: Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen 4 (1), Munich 1994, s.v. "Dok. 37", p. 145 with n. 2. One other speech by Hitler from the Nazis' so-called Berliner Kampfzeit ("Berlin time of struggle") was allegedly given in 1931 across the street on the Kreuzberg side of Hasenheide in Kliems Festsäle, but no sources exist; his speech on 10 September 1930 in the Orpheum, also on Hasenheide, was canceled at the last minute; cf. ibid. 3 (3), s.v. "Dok. 110", p. 408, n. 2.
102. ^ Bernhard Sauer, "Goebbels 'Rabauken': Zur Geschichte der SA in Berlin-Brandenburg", in: Landesarchiv Berlin, Berlin in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Jahrbuch des Landesarchivs Berlin 2006, Berlin 2006, 107-64 (114 with n. 77, 132, 141).
103. ^ Scholz was succeeded as borough mayor by Nazi politician Kurt Samson, who remained in office until the end of the war and died in the Soviet POW camp Buchenwald in 1947.
104. ^ Some activists also moved to socialist East Germany after the war and became prominent state officials and politicians, for example Klaus Gysi and Friedel Hoffmann.
105. ^ Between Weigandufer 39–45 at the Neukölln Ship Canal and Sonnenallee 181–89, at the time renamed to Braunauer Straße.
106. ^ "KZ-Außenlager Sonnenallee", Bezirksamt Neukölln
107. ^ Megargee, Geoffrey P. (2009). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume I. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. p. 1279\. ISBN 978-0-253-35328-3.
108. ^ Daniel Bosch & Lisanne Tholeikis, "Das vergessene KZ Neuköllns", Neuköllner, 26.08.2017
109. ^ Parts of the building were saved and used as a theater, a smaller movie theater and a music venue until the 1960s.
110. ^ Featured prominently in the 1999 comedy film Sonnenallee.
111. ^ Shahd Wari: Palestinian Berlin: Perception and Use of Public Space. In: Habitat–International. Schriften zur Internationalen Stadtentwicklung, Band 22. Lit-Verlag 2017: p. 72-74.
112. ^ From a modern standpoint now derided as Kahlschlagsanierung (clear-cut redevelopment).
113. ^ Berlin's first urban restructuring program of 1963 already included Rollberg as a redevelopment target, and the formal regulation was passed in 1972.
114. ^ "Die Rollbergsiedlung", Brandenburgische Stadterneuerungsgesellschaft, s.v. "Geschichte".
115. ^ José-Luis Amsler, "Bäume oder Bauen? Senat will Neuköllns größten Wald roden – Anwohner protestieren", Berliner Zeitung, 18 March 2024 (archived).
116. ^ Rainer Rutz, "Schwarz-rote Felderwirtschaft", taz, 19 April 2024.
117. ^ E.g. the non-residential project DOXS NKLN; Dominik Bardow, "'Docks Neukölln': Das entsteht in Berlins neuem Hafenviertel", Berliner Zeitung, 13 June 2023 (archived).
118. ^ The infrastructure is currently used by i.a. film industry laboratories and studios; cf. "Hier plant der Berliner Senat plant elf neue Wohngebiete", Berliner Zeitung, 29 May 2018, s.v. "Neukölln, Harzer Straße".
119. ^ At the time, former borough mayor Heinz Buschkowsky had named Neukölln as an example for the "failed multicultural society" (Tijs van den Boomen, "Die unsichtbare Mauer", Der Spiegel, 21 August 2011), and judge Kirsten Heisig et al. initiated the so-called Neukölln Model for swift criminal prosecution of juvenile delinquents (Jutta Schütz, "Neuköllner Modell – schnelle Strafen für junge Täter", Die Welt, 6 April 2010).
120. ^ Werner Schiffauer (transcript) in: "Es geht nicht um einen Dialog. Integrationsgipfel, Islamkonferenz und Anti-Islamismus. Werner Schiffauer und Manuela Bojadzijev im Gespräch", in: Sabine Hess, Jana Binder & Johannes Moser (eds.), No integration?! Kulturwissenschaftliche Beiträge zur Integrationsdebatte in Europa, Bielefeld 2009, pp. 171–86 (182).
121. ^ As of 2017, in Berlin-Neukölln "the [gentrification] boom [was] in full swing or, in some places, complete (no more big hikes in rent here)"; cf. Meier J, RealXData. 2019. "Zeitraum Mietentwicklungen 2013–2017". In: Bruns H. 2019. "At A Glance: Which Berlin Districts are Going to Get More Expensive". B.Z. – Berliner Zeitung. 19 November 2019.
122. ^ Anja Martin, "Der Sichtbarmacher", fluter – Magazin der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, 22 September 2023.
123. ^ Bruns, Hildburg (19 July 2019). "Berlin wird immer bunter und internationaler". Berliner Zeitung.
124. ^ "Die Bevölkerungsstruktur Neuköllns", Bezirksamt Neukölln, 2021.
125. ^ "Hauptstadt 2021 um 5000 Einwohner gewachsen: Migrationsanteil in Berlin steigt auf 36,6 Prozent". Der Tagesspiegel. 4 February 2022.
126. ^ As of June 2024, approximately 800–900 refugees have been reaching Berlin every month, with the majority arriving from Turkey, Syria, Afghanistan, Vietnam and Moldova; "Hauptherkunftsländer im Juni 2024 – Berlin", Landesamt für Flüchtlingsangelegenheiten, 7 July 2024.
127. ^ As of July 2024, the whole borough of Neukölln houses only 1,703 of Berlin's refugees (4.68%); "Überblick über die Flüchtlingsunterkünfte in Berlin", Landesamt für Flüchtlingsangelegenheiten, 7 July 2024. As of January 2024, of the borough's seven refugee centers, only two were in the quarter Neukölln, a larger one on Karl-Marx-Straße in Neukölln's southern dockland area just north of Grenzallee, and a smaller one at the Kiefholzstraße near the eastern border to Plänterwald.
128. ^ "Einwohnerbestand Berlin", s.v. Regionaldaten, Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg, 31 December 2023
129. ^ This is a historically intrinsic part of the Islamic religion and an "almost self-evident part of [immigrant and especially Muslim] cultural identity"; cf. Güner Balcı, "'Zu viele meist muslimische Einwandererkinder wachsen mit den Geboten der Unfreiheit auf'", Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 8 February 2024 (archived); see also Güner Balcı, Neukölln's Integrationsbeauftragte (integration commissioner), in Katrin Elger, "Muslim Anti-Semitism in Berlin: 'Wide Swaths of Arab-Speaking Population Harbor Sympathies for Terrorists'", Der Spiegel, 11 October 2023
130. ^ Culminating during the Israel–Hamas war; Katrin Elger, "I Actually Don't Like Hamas, But…" , Der Spiegel, 23 October 2023; see also Migrantifa.
131. ^ Due to the recent cultural changes induced by migration, the Sonnenallee is jokingly also called Arabische Straße ("Arabic Street").
132. ^ Kriminalitätsbelastete Orte or kbOs; "Kriminalitätsbelastete Orte in Berlin", Polizei Berlin, 2024. The police's special authorities, for example warrantless searches, extend into the trains and stations of the U-Bahn line U8, which directly connects Neukölln's kbOs and two other kbOs, Kottbusser Tor in Kreuzberg and Alexanderplatz in Mitte, with two other kbOs close by, the Görlitzer Park with Wrangelkiez in Kreuzberg and (via the U-Bahn line U1) Warschauer Brücke in Friedrichshain; Jörn Hasselmann, "Dreck, Drogen, Obdachlosigkeit: Wie die BVG Berliner U-Bahnhöfe sauberer machen will", Der Tagesspiegel, 14 February 2024.
133. ^ For some modern authors, mirroring the criticism from almost two decades prior, Neukölln today still serves as a prime example of a society burdened by immigration and dwindling fiscal resources; cf. Falko Liecke, Brennpunkt Deutschland: Armut, Gewalt, Verwahrlosung – Neukölln ist erst der Anfang, Berlin/Cologne 2022.
134. ^ E.g. Julia Schaaf, "Was eine Sozialarbeiterin in Neukölln erlebt", Frankfurter Allgemeine, 27 April 2024 (archived); Frederick Schindler, "Religiöses Mobbing an Schulen? Grüne und Linke halten Studie für antimuslimisch", Welt, 28 December 2021; "Das will Neukölln gegen Religions-Konflikte im Bezirk unternehmen", B.Z., 2 June 2021
135. ^ Crime statistics only exist for the borough of Neukölln, and in 2023, crime overall rose slightly to 13,794 registered cases, but still remains below the previous decade's maximum of 14,406 in 2015. Generally, Neukölln, in relation to its population size, has fewer registered criminal cases than, for example, the boroughs Mitte and Kreuzberg-Friedrichshain. However, as in all of Berlin, violent felonies in Neukölln have been steadily rising for the last decade to a new high of 1,393 in 2023, especially aggravated assaults, which, compared to the pre-pandemic high, rose by more than 10% from 383 in 2020 to 423 cases; for the full statistics, see e.g. "Kriminalitätsatlas Berlin", Polizei Berlin.
136. ^ E.g. Andreas Kopietz & Alexander Schmalz, "Escalation between Berlin's rival drug gangs", Berliner Morgenpost, 9 November 2020; see also Clan-Kriminalität.
137. ^ Paul Kirby, "German new year riots prompt calls for firework ban", BBC, 4 January 2023
138. ^ Carolina Schwarz, "Wie bunt ist Neukölln wirklich?", die tageszeitung, 12 February 2024; see also LGBT people and Islam; according to official 2024 numbers for the whole of Berlin, queerphobic felonies have risen eightfold since 2014, with more than 71% committed against male victims, while 80% were committed for indeterminate reasons, 12% due to right-wing and 6% due to foreign or religious ideologies, with the latter having increased significantly over the past decade, especially with regard to insults, harassment and property damage; within the quarter Neukölln, only a few streets and neighborhoods are potentially queerphobic hotspots, but those have still raised the whole borough to the fifth rank compared to other boroughs of Berlin; Alexander Fröhlich, "Mehr queerfeindliche Taten: Berliner Polizei meldet Höchststand", Der Tagesspiegel, 27 July 2024.
139. ^ Moises Mendoza, "Foreigners Feel Accused in Berlin Gentrification Row", 11 March 2011, Der Spiegel.
140. ^ E.g. Grace Beard (ed.), "The 40 coolest neighbourhoods in the world", Time Out, 17 October 2023.
141. ^ This specific coat of arms belonged to the historical Neu-Cölln am Wasser, which was a southern military extension of the old city of Cölln (see above).
142. ^ At first, Rixdorf existed in a shared fiefdom of Cölln and Alt-Berlin, and became the sole fief of Cölln on 24 August 1543 (see above).
143. ^ Herbert Schwenk, 2001, "Alle ding… vorgan mit der tydt – Die Verwandlungen von Rixdorf und Neukölln", Berlinische Monatsschrift 4, pp. 43–50, Berlin 2001.
144. ^ Early population statistics do not exist; these numbers are approximations, taken from various historical sources.
145. ^ Proposed toponym; Heike Schroll, Das Landesarchiv Berlin und seine Bestände: Übersicht der Bestände aus der Zeit bis 1945 (Tektonik-Gruppe A), Berliner Wissenschaftsverlag, Berlin, 2003, p. 134.
146. ^ I.a. Richard Schneider, Neukölln – Ein Bezirk von Berlin, Berlin 1993.
147. ^ I.a. Friedrich Leyden, Gross-Berlin. Geographie der Weltstadt, Breslau 1933; with Prussian communal lexicons.
148. ^ Statistisches Jahrbuch von Berlin.
149. ^ Since 2007: Einwohnerbestand in Berlin – Grunddaten Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg.
150. ^ For an overview including their history of construction, cf. e.g. Alexander Seefeldt, Robert Schwandl, Berliner U-Bahn-Linien: U7 – Quer durch den Westen, Berlin, 2013; Axel Mauruszat, Alexander Seefeldt, Berliner U-Bahn-Linien: U8 – Von Gesundbrunnen nach Neukölln, Berlin, 2015.
151. ^ Long-distance trains like the Regional-Express also connect the airport and Berlin, but do not cross Neukölln itself.
152. ^ The minimum frequency in off-hours is every 10 minutes (X7 and X71 combined), while the X7 itself runs every 5 minutes in peak time.
153. ^ Since the closing of the old Terminal 5 near Schönefeld, the daytime bus line 171 between Hermannplatz and BER has not been extended to reach the operational terminals 1–4: using this line, passengers need to interchange either at Rudow (X7/71) or at the terminus Schönefeld (S-Bahn). Furthermore, line 171 is eventually set to terminate at Rudow; cf. "Nahverkehrsplan Berlin 2019–2023", Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, Verkehr und Klimaschutz, p. 282.
154. ^ "U7 Rudow – BER: Netzerweiterung vom U-Bahnhof Rudow zum Flughafen BER", Senatsverwaltung für Mobilität, Verkehr, Klimaschutz und Umwelt, 2024.
155. ^ "Expressmetropole Berlin"; "BVG 2050+" in: "BVG-Konzept sieht Verlängerung aller Berliner U-Bahnlinien vor", RBB 24, 19 March 2023.
156. ^ "Nahverkehrsplan Berlin 2019–2023", Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, Verkehr und Klimaschutz, p. 276 sq.
157. ^ "Nahverkehrsplan Berlin 2019–2023", Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, Verkehr und Klimaschutz, p. 309.
158. ^ Per Gülzow, "Döner, Koffer und Erbrochenes – ein Abend in der Partytram M10", Berliner Morgenpost, 27 February 2024 (archived).
159. ^ Construction is not set to begin before 2028; Oliver Noffke, "Bau der M10-Verlängerung zum Hermannplatz soll nicht vor 2028 beginnen", RBB24, 13 June 2024.
160. ^ Due to the part-time function of the Hermannplatz as a marketplace (see below), its relatively small space and the large motorized traffic volume, the M10 will terminate just north of the plaza on Kreuzberg's Urbanstraße; "Weiterbau der Tramlinie M10: Neue Endhaltestelle an der Urbanstraße", Entwicklungsstadt Berlin, 17 November 2022.
161. ^ Rainer Rutz, "Sie kam, sah und prüfte", taz, 16 October 2023.
162. ^ "Parkraumbewirtschaftung in Neukölln startet am 1. Februar 2024", Verkehrsinformationszentrale (VIZ), 2024; see also Parkraumbewirtschaftung.
163. ^ Despite the name, the Güterbahnhof Treptow is part of the Neukölln quarter; it is operated by VEPAS bahnservice.
164. ^ Of the NME's four industrial train stations and terminals, only two are still in operation, Berlin Teltowkanal in the Britz quarter, and Berlin Rudow-Nord just before the through track junction. The remaining tracks, which historically led south through Rudow proper into Brandenburg, were dismantled along with the terminals and stations.
165. ^ The industrial track east of the Neukölln Ship Canal to Dieselstraße, which had also serviced the Estrel Hotel north of Sonnenallee, was closed down due to extensive development in the Neukölln Docklands; the remaining tracks now end at the site of the Estrel Tower, and are still reserved as a potential supply route.
166. ^ For connections from the eastern dock of the Neukölln Harbor to the industrial main line through Baumschulenweg, six directional changes are necessary. For the daily transports from the ports of Bremen to Neukölln's Jacobs Douwe Egberts production facilities on Nobelstraße, trains only need to change directions twice, first at the Treptow freight yards, then at Neukölln Harbor; however, due to the now shortened length of the northern Neukölln Harbor track, trains first need to be split into smaller groups at the Treptow freight yards.
167. ^ 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.
168. ^ Berlin Guide – Neukölln City Getaway Guide – Berlin
169. ^ The term Lord Mayor is only a rough translation of the German Oberbürgermeister, literally "Chief Mayor".
170. ^ For a list of all historical mayors and borough mayors, see: "Ehemalige Bürgermeister des Bezirkes", Bezirksamt Neukölln.
171. ^ Before Rixdorf was chartered, Boddin had already been the town's principal municipal magistrate (Amts- und Gemeindevorsteher) since 4 February 1874, following the unification of Deutsch- and Böhmisch-Rixdorf (see above); Boddin transitioned to the role of mayor in 1899, received the honorary title Erster Bürgermeister (First Mayor) in 1904, and later became Oberbürgermeister auf Lebenszeit (Lord Mayor for Life).
172. ^ His nickname among the people was Kaiser von Rixdorf ("emperor of Rixdorf") as a pun on his surname; Kaiser was awarded the title Oberbürgermeister (Lord Mayor) by Wilhelm II in 1908; he was in office, when the city was renamed Neukölln (1912) and resigned during the November Revolution.
173. ^ Scholz remained in office until 1933, when he was forced to resign as borough mayor under pressure from the new ruling NSDAP; see also Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service.
174. ^ Council of Europe (2010). "Projekt Intercultural Cities – Berlin.de". berlin.de. Archived from the original on 30 May 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
175. ^ For a complete list, see "Neuköllner Städtepartnerschaften". Bezirksamt Neukölln. 2024.
176. ^ For a complete list, see "Städtepartnerschaften". Der Regierende Bürgermeister / Staatskanzlei. 2024.
177. ^ The German figure of speech da ist Musik [drin] (lit. "it contains music") has a more general meaning of something having verve and energy.
178. ^ For an online copy, see e.g. "In Rixdorf ist Musike / Der Rixdorfer / Willi Rose" on YouTube.
179. ^ Signified by the words: Kost'n Groschen nur für die ganze Tour. Rieke lacht und sagt: "Na ja, dazu sind wir auch noch da!" ("It'll cost only a Groschen for the whole shebang. Rieke laughs and says: 'Well, that's what we're there for, too!'"). For the complete German lyrics, see e.g. "In Rixdorf ist Musike - Der Rixdorfer - Willi Rose", rixdorf.info. The character's name Rieke is a pun on the Rix in Rixdorf, chosen to personify the city and its vice; see above for the toponym's alternate spelling as Rieksdorf.

## External links

[edit]

Media related to Berlin-Neukölln at Wikimedia Commons

* v
* t
* e

Boroughs and neighborhoods of Berlin

Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf (4)|

* Charlottenburg
* Charlottenburg-Nord
* Grunewald
* Halensee
* Schmargendorf
* Westend
* Wilmersdorf

Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg (2)|

* Friedrichshain
* Kreuzberg

Lichtenberg (11)|

* Alt-Hohenschönhausen
* Falkenberg
* Fennpfuhl
* Friedrichsfelde
* Karlshorst
* Lichtenberg
* Malchow
* Neu-Hohenschönhausen
* Rummelsburg
* Wartenberg

Marzahn-Hellersdorf (10)|

* Biesdorf
* Hellersdorf
* Kaulsdorf
* Mahlsdorf
* Marzahn

Mitte (1)|

* Gesundbrunnen
* Hansaviertel
* Mitte
* Moabit
* Tiergarten
* Wedding

Neukölln (8)|

* Britz
* Buckow
* Gropiusstadt
* Neukölln
* Rudow

Pankow (3)|

* Blankenburg
* Blankenfelde
* Buch
* Französisch Buchholz
* Heinersdorf
* Karow
* Niederschönhausen
* Pankow
* Prenzlauer Berg
* Rosenthal
* Stadtrandsiedlung Malchow
* Weißensee
* Wilhelmsruh

Reinickendorf (12)|

* Borsigwalde
* Frohnau
* Heiligensee
* Hermsdorf
* Konradshöhe
* Lübars
* Märkisches Viertel
* Reinickendorf
* Tegel
* Waidmannslust
* Wittenau

Spandau (5)|

* Falkenhagener Feld
* Gatow
* Hakenfelde
* Haselhorst
* Kladow
* Siemensstadt
* Spandau
* Staaken
* Wilhelmstadt

Steglitz-Zehlendorf (6)|

* Dahlem
* Lankwitz
* Lichterfelde
* Nikolassee
* Schlachtensee
* Steglitz
* Wannsee
* Zehlendorf

Tempelhof-Schöneberg (7)|

* Friedenau
* Lichtenrade
* Mariendorf
* Marienfelde
* Schöneberg
* Tempelhof

Treptow-Köpenick (9)|

* Adlershof
* Alt-Treptow
* Altglienicke
* Baumschulenweg
* Bohnsdorf
* Friedrichshagen
* Grünau
* Johannisthal
* Köpenick
* Müggelheim
* Niederschöneweide
* Oberschöneweide
* Plänterwald
* Rahnsdorf
* Schmöckwitz

* Districts
* Localities
* Zones
* Greater Berlin Act
* Former boroughs

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* 2
* Israel
* United States
* Czech Republic

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template