Boroughs and neighborhoods of Berlin facts for kids

The districts and neighbourhoods of Berlin

The 12 Berlin Bezirke (districts) - following the 2001 district reform

Berlin is both a city and one of Germany's federated states (city state). Since the 2001 administrative reform, it has been made up of twelve districts (German: Bezirke, pronounced [bəˈtsɪʁkə]), each with its own administrative body. However, unlike the municipalities and counties of other German states, the Berlin districts are not territorial corporations of public law (Gebietskörperschaften) with autonomous competencies and property, but simple administrative agencies of Berlin's state and city government, the City of Berlin forming a single municipality (Einheitsgemeinde) since the Greater Berlin Act of 1920. Thus they cannot be equated to US or UK boroughs in the traditional meaning of the term.

Each district possesses a district representatives' assembly (Bezirksverordnetenversammlung) directly elected by proportional representation and an administrative body called district board (Bezirksamt). The district board, comprising since October 2021 six (until then five) members - a district mayor (Bezirksbürgermeister) as head and five (earlier four) district councillors (Bezirksstadträte) - is elected by the district representatives' assembly, proportionally reflecting its party composition according to popular vote. The district board is in charge of most local administrative matters directly relevant to local citizens; however, all of its decisions can at any moment be revoked by the Berlin Senate. Furthermore, the districts are financially completely dependent on state donations, as they neither possess any taxation power nor own any property. The district mayors form a council of mayors (Rat der Bürgermeister, led by the city's governing mayor), which advises the Senate.

History
Boroughs
Administration
Coats of arms
Localities
See also

History

Main page: Greater Berlin Act

Twenty-three former boroughs (1990–2000)

Each borough is made up of several officially recognized subdistricts or neighborhoods (Ortsteile in German, sometimes called quarters in English). The exact amount of neighborhoods that form a borough varies considerably, ranging from two (Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg) to fifteen (Treptow-Köpenick). These neighborhoods typically have a historical identity as former independent cities, villages, or rural municipalities that were united in 1920 as part of the Greater Berlin Act, forming the basis for the present-day city and state. The neighborhoods do not have their own governmental bodies but are recognized by the city and the boroughs for planning and statistical purposes. Berliners often identify more with the neighborhood where they live than with the borough that governs them. The neighborhoods are further subdivided into statistical tracts, which are mainly used for planning and statistical purposes. The statistical tracts correspond roughly but not exactly with neighborhoods recognized by residents.

When Greater Berlin was established in 1920, the city was organized into twenty boroughs, most of which were named after their largest component neighborhood, often a former city or municipality; others, such as Kreuzberg and Prenzlauer Berg, were named for geographic features. Minor changes to borough boundaries were made in 1938. After World War II, Berlin was divided into four sectors, with the Western sectors controlled by the United States, Britain, and France, and the Eastern sector controlled by the Soviet Union.

In 1961, the SED built the Berlin Wall to divide the city, effectively separating West Berlin from East Berlin and the rest of East Germany. Three new boroughs were created in East Berlin: Marzahn was split off from Lichtenberg in 1979, Hohenschönhausen from Weissensee in 1985, and Hellersdorf from Marzahn in 1986. In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, and the city was reunified. This marked the end of the Cold War and the beginning of a new era in Berlin's history.

After reunification, Berlin underwent a process of rapid transformation, as the city worked to rebuild and modernize its infrastructure and economy. Many new businesses and cultural institutions were established, and the city became a center of creativity and innovation.

By 2000, Berlin comprised twenty-three boroughs, as three new boroughs had been created in East Berlin. Today Berlin is divided into twelve boroughs (Bezirke), reduced from twenty-three boroughs before Berlin's 2001 administrative reform.

Boroughs

An administrative reform in 2001 merged all but three of the existing boroughs into the current 12 boroughs, as listed below. The three boroughs that were not affected were Spandau, Reinickendorf and Neukölln, as the population of each was already exceeding 200,000.

Borough	Bundestag constituency	Population 31 March 2010	Area in km²	Density per km²
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf	Berlin-Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf (excluding Charlottenburg-Nord and the neighbourhood of Kalowswerder)	319,628	64.72	4,878
Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg	Berlin-Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg – Prenzlauer Berg East	268,225	20.16	13,187
Lichtenberg	Berlin-Lichtenberg	259,881	52.29	4,952
Marzahn-Hellersdorf	Berlin-Marzahn-Hellersdorf	248,264	61.74	4,046
Mitte	Berlin-Mitte	332,919	39.47	8,272
Neukölln	Berlin-Neukölln	310,283	44.93	6,804
Pankow	Berlin-Pankow (excluding Prenzlauer Berg east of Prenzlauer Allee)	366,441	103.01	3,476
Reinickendorf	Berlin-Reinickendorf	240,454	89.46	2,712
Spandau	Berlin-Spandau – Charlottenburg North	223,962	91.91	2,441
Steglitz-Zehlendorf	Berlin-Steglitz-Zehlendorf	293,989	102.50	2,818
Tempelhof-Schöneberg	Berlin-Tempelhof-Schöneberg	335,060	53.09	6,256
Treptow-Köpenick	Berlin-Treptow-Köpenick	241,335	168.42	1,406

Administration

The borough government is part of the two-stage administration of the Berlin city-state, whereby the Senate and its affiliated agencies, institutions, and municipal enterprises form the first stage of the so-called Hauptverwaltung (central administration). On the second position, the boroughs enjoy a certain grade of autonomy—though in no way comparable to the German Landkreise districts or independent cities, nor even to the local government of a common municipality as a legal entity, as according to the Berlin Constitution the legal status of the city as a German state itself is that of a unified municipality (Einheitsgemeinde). The power of the borough governments is limited and their performance of assigned tasks is subject to regulatory supervision by the Senate.

Nevertheless, the twelve self-governing boroughs have constitutional status and are themselves subdivided into two administrative bodies: each is governed by the borough assembly (Bezirksverordnetenversammlung, BVV) and a full-time borough council (Bezirksamt), consisting of four councilors (Bezirksstadträte) and headed by a borough mayor (Bezirksbürgermeister). The BVV assembly is directly elected by the borough's population and therefore acts as a borough parliament, though it is officially part of the executive. It elects the members of the borough council, checks its daily administration, and is able to make applications and recommendations. The twelve borough mayors regularly meet in the Council of Mayors (Rat der Bürgermeister), led by the city's Governing Mayor; the council answers to and advises the Senate.

The localities have no local government bodies, and the administrative duties of the former locality representative, the Ortsvorsteher, were taken over by the borough mayors.

Coats of arms

The mural crown of the coats of arms of Berliner Bezirke

All the coats of arms of Berliner boroughs (the current as of the ones in the period 1990 to 2001) have some common points: The shield has a Spanish form and the coronet is represented by a mural crown: 3 towers in red bricks with the coat of arms of Berlin in the middle.

Most of the coats of arms of current boroughs have changed some elements in their field: Some of them have created a "fusion" of themes of the merged Bezirke (Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Lichtenberg, Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Tempelhof-Schöneberg); others have modified their themes taken from one of the two (or more) former merged boroughs (Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Marzahn-Hellersdorf, Mitte and Treptow-Köpenick). Only the unchanged boroughs of Neukölln, Reinickendorf and Spandau haven't changed their field. The coat of arms of Pankow was created with a new design in 2008, having been the only district without an emblem for 7 years.

Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf

Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg

Mitte

Pankow

Spandau

Localities

As of 2012, the twelve boroughs are made up of a total of 97 officially recognized localities (Ortsteile). Almost all of them are further subdivided into several other zones (defined in German as Ortslagen, Teile, Stadtviertel, Orte etc.). The largest Ortsteil is Köpenick (34.9 km² or 13.5 sq mi), the smallest one is Hansaviertel (53 ha or 130 acres). The most populated is Neukölln (154,127 inhabitants in 2009), the least populated is Malchow (450 inhabitants in 2008).

The coats of arms of the Localitys lost their validity with the incorporation into Greater Berlin/in new districts and thus disappeared from official use. The coats of arms listed here are the historically used signs.

(01) Mitte

Locality	Area in km²	Population as of 2008	Density inhabitants per km²
(0101) Mitte	10.70	79,582	7,445
(0102) Moabit	7.72	69,425	8,993
(0103) Hansaviertel	0.53	5,889	11,111
(0104) Tiergarten	5.17	12,486	2,415
(0105) Wedding	9.23	76,363	8,273
(0106) Gesundbrunnen	6.13	82,729	13,496

(02) Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg

Locality	Area in km²	Population as of 2008	Density inhabitants per km²	Map
(0201) Friedrichshain	9.78	114,050	11,662
(0202) Kreuzberg	10.40	147,227	14,184

(03) Pankow

Locality	Area in km²	Population as of 2008	Density inhabitants per km²
(0301) Prenzlauer Berg	11.00	142,319	12,991
(0302) Weißensee	7.93	45,485	5,736
(0303) Blankenburg	6.03	6,550	1,086
(0304) Heinersdorf	3.95	6,580	1,666
(0305) Karow	6.65	18,258	2,746
(0306) Stadtrandsiedlung Malchow	5.68	1,166	205
(0307) Pankow	5.66	55,854	9,868
(0308) Blankenfelde	13.40	1,917	144
(0309) Buch	18.20	13,188	727
(0310) Französisch Buchholz	12.00	18,766	1,560
(0311) Niederschönhausen	6.49	26,903	4,145
(0312) Rosenthal	4.90	8,933	1,823
(0313) Wilhelmsruh	1.37	7,216	5,267

(04) Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf

Locality	Area in km²	Population as of 2008	Density inhabitants per km²
(0401) Charlottenburg	10.60	118,704	11,198
(0402) Wilmersdorf	7.16	92,815	12,963
(0403) Schmargendorf	3.59	19,750	5,501
(0404) Grunewald	22.30	10,014	448
(0405) Westend	13.50	37,883	2,800
(0406) Charlottenburg-Nord	6.20	17,327	2,795
(0407) Halensee	1.27	13,966	10,997

(05) Spandau

Locality	Area in km²	Population as of 2008	Density inhabitants per km²
(0501) Spandau	8.03	33,433	4,164
(0502) Haselhorst	4.73	13,668	2,891
(0503) Siemensstadt	5.66	11,388	2,012
(0504) Staaken	10.90	41,470	3,810
(0505) Gatow	10.10	3,908	386
(0506) Kladow	14.80	13,628	922
(0507) Hakenfelde	20.40	26,337	1,292
(0508) Falkenhagener Feld	6.88	34,778	5,056
(0509) Wilhelmstadt	10.40	37,080	3,558

(06) Steglitz-Zehlendorf

Locality	Area in km²	Population as of 2008	Density inhabitants per km²
(0601) Steglitz	6.79	70,555	10,391
(0602) Lichterfelde	18.20	78,338	4,300
(0603) Lankwitz	6.99	40,385	5,778
(0604) Zehlendorf	18.80	57,902	3,075
(0605) Dahlem	8.36	14,966	1,784
(0606) Nikolassee	19.61	15,899	811
(0607) Wannsee	23.68	9,044	382
(0608) Schlachtensee	4.05	10,573	2,611

(07) Tempelhof-Schöneberg

Locality	Area in km²	Population as of 2008	Density inhabitants per km²
(0701) Schöneberg	10.60	116,743	11,003
(0702) Friedenau	1.65	26,736	16,204
(0703) Tempelhof	12.20	54,382	4,458
(0704) Mariendorf	9.38	48,882	5,211
(0705) Marienfelde	9.15	30,151	3,295
(0706) Lichtenrade	10.10	49,451	4,896

(08) Neukölln

Locality	Area in km²	Population as of 2008	Density inhabitants per km²
(0801) Neukölln	11.70	154,127	13,173
(0802) Britz	12.40	38,334	3,091
(0803) Buckow	6.35	38,018	5,987
(0804) Rudow	11.80	41,040	3,478
(0805) Gropiusstadt	2.66	35,844	13,475

(09) Treptow-Köpenick

Locality	Area in km²	Population as of 2008	Density inhabitants per km²
(0901) Alt-Treptow	2.31	10,426	4,513
(0902) Plänterwald	3.01	10,618	3,528
(0903) Baumschulenweg	4.82	16,780	3,481
(0904) Johannisthal	6.54	17,650	2,699
(0905) Niederschöneweide	3.49	10,043	2,878
(0906) Altglienicke	7.89	26,101	3,308
(0907) Adlershof	6.11	15,112	2,473
(0908) Bohnsdorf	6.52	10,751	1,649
(0909) Oberschöneweide	6.18	17,094	2,766
(0910) Köpenick	34.90	59,201	1,695
(0911) Friedrichshagen	14.00	17,285	1,233
(0912) Rahnsdorf	21.50	8,891	414
(0913) Grünau	9.13	5,482	600
(0914) Müggelheim	22.20	6,350	286
(0915) Schmöckwitz	17.10	4,117	240

(10) Marzahn-Hellersdorf

Locality	Area in km²	Population as of 2008	Density inhabitants per km²
(1001) Marzahn	19.50	102,398	5,240
(1002) Biesdorf	12.40	24,543	1,973
(1003) Kaulsdorf	8.81	18,732	2,126
(1004) Mahlsdorf	12.90	26,852	2,075
(1005) Hellersdorf	8.10	72,602	8,963

(11) Lichtenberg

Locality	Area in km²	Population as of 2008	Density inhabitants per km²
(1101) Friedrichsfelde	5.55	50,010	9,011
(1102) Karlshorst	6.60	21,329	3,232
(1103) Lichtenberg	7.22	32,295	4,473
(1104) Falkenberg	3.06	1,164	380
(1106) Malchow	1.54	450	292
(1107) Wartenberg	6.92	2,433	352
(1109) Neu-Hohenschönhausen	5.16	53,698	10,407
(1110) Alt-Hohenschönhausen	9.33	41,780	4,478
(1111) Fennpfuhl	2.12	30,932	14,591
(1112) Rummelsburg	4.52	17,567	3,887

Codes 1105 and 1108 (this one to former Hohenschönhausen locality) are not assigned

(12) Reinickendorf

Locality	Area in km²	Population as of 2008	Density inhabitants per km²
(1201) Reinickendorf	10.50	72,859	6,939
(1202) Tegel	33.70	33,417	992
(1203) Konradshöhe	2.20	5,997	2,726
(1204) Heiligensee	10.70	17,641	1,649
(1205) Frohnau	7.80	17,025	2,183
(1206) Hermsdorf	6.10	16,503	2,705
(1207) Waidmannslust	2.30	10,022	4,357
(1208) Lübars	5.00	4,915	983
(1209) Wittenau	5.87	22,696	3,866
(1210) Märkisches Viertel	3.20	35,206	11,002
(1211) Borsigwalde	2.03	6,432	3,168