Buch () is a German

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

(''Ortsteil'') within the Berlin borough (''Bezirk'') of

Pankow Pankow () is the most populous and the second-largest borough by area of Berlin. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, it was merged with the former boroughs of Prenzlauer Berg and Weißensee; the resulting borough retained the name Pankow. P ...

. Situated on the

Panke The Panke is a small river in Brandenburg and Berlin, a right tributary of the Spree, originating from the Barnim plateau. It has a length of 29 km, of which 20,2 are within the area of Berlin. Consequently, the Panke is the third longest ...

river, it is the city's northernmost quarter, chiefly known for its historic village centre and extended hospital premises.

Geography

The settlement area is located on the

Barnim Plateau The Barnim Plateau is a plateau which is occupied by the northeastern parts of Berlin and the surrounding federal state of Brandenburg in Germany. Boundaries and Subdivision Boundaries The limits of the plateau are easily definable. The souther ...

stretching in the northeast of the Berlin city centre up to the

Oder–Havel Canal The Oder–Havel Canal is a German canal built between 1908 and 1914, originally known as the Hohenzollern Canal, mostly replacing the Finow Canal. Together with Hohensaaten-Friedrichsthaler Wasserstraße, the ''Oderhaltung'' and the ''Schwedter ...

and the

Oderbruch The Oderbruch ( pl, Kotlina Freienwaldzka) is a landscape located at the Oder river in eastern Germany on the Polish border, with a small part also in Poland. It extends from the towns Oderberg and Bad Freienwalde in the north to Lebus in the south, ...

delta. Berlin's northernmost point is at the ''Rieselfelder'' meadows, a former

sewage farm Sewage farms use sewage for irrigation and fertilizing agricultural land. The practice is common in warm, arid climates where irrigation is valuable while sources of fresh water are scarce. Suspended solids may be converted to humus by microbes an ...

transformed into a rural area, part of the Buch Forest within the

Barnim Nature Park Barnim Nature Park () is a nature park and reserve in the state of Brandenburg, and partly in Berlin, Germany. It covers an area of 750 km2 (290 sq mi). It was established on September 24, 1998. Overview The park is located between the north ...

. The landscape is marked by

hill chain A hill chain, sometimes also hill ridge, is an elongated line of hills that usually includes a succession of more or less prominent hilltops, domed summits or ''kuppen'', hill ridges and saddles and which, together with its associated lateral ri ...

s, sandurs and small lakes such as the Bogensee. Along its border with the state of

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

, Buch is surrounded by the municipalities of

Wandlitz Wandlitz is a municipality in the district of Barnim, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 25 km north of Berlin, and 15 km east of Oranienburg. The municipality was established in 2004 by merger of the nine villages ''Basdorf'', ' ...

and

Panketal Panketal is a municipality in the district of Barnim, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 15 km northeast of Berlin (centre). History Panketal emerged in 2003 by merging the municipalities Zepernick and Schwanebeck. Since 1996, the popu ...

(with the civil parishes of Zepernick, Röntgental and Neu Buch), both in the district of

Barnim Barnim () is a district in Brandenburg, Germany. It is bounded by (from the east and clockwise) Poland, the district of Märkisch-Oderland, the city state of Berlin and the districts of Oberhavel and Uckermark. History The name "Barnim" emerge ...

. The Berlin localities bordering with Buch in the south are

Blankenfelde Blankenfelde () is a locality (''Ortsteil'') located within the Berlin borough (''Bezirk'') of Pankow. Of the city's 95 localities, it is the least densely populated. History Blankenfelde was founded around 1375 and was integrated into Berlin in ...

Französisch Buchholz Französisch Buchholz (), also known simply as Buchholz, is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') within the Berlin borough (''Bezirk'') of Pankow. History First mentioned in 1242 as ''Buckholtz'' in a document, it became the property of Frederick Wi ...

and Karow. In Karow, a neighbourhood exists which is named ''Stadtrandsiedlung Buch''. The quarter is centred around

Berlin-Buch station Berlin-Buch (in German Bahnhof Berlin-Buch) is a railway station in the borough of Pankow, in Berlin, Germany. It is served by the Berlin S-Bahn The Berlin S-Bahn () is a rapid transit railway system in and around Berlin, the capital city of ...

on the

Berlin–Szczecin railway The Berlin–Szczecin railway, also known in German language, German as the Stettiner Bahn (Stettin Railway) is a mainline railway built by the ''Berlin-Stettin Railway Company'' between the German capital of Berlin and the now Poland, Polish city ...

line and the adjacent historic village centre in the east. An extended

Plattenbau (plural: , german: Platte + Bau, lit=panel/slab' + 'building/ construction) is a building constructed of large, prefabrication, prefabricated concrete slabs. The word is a compound of (in this context: panel) and (building). Such buildings ...

housing area stretches along the railway in the south; around the centre, several large hospital and sanatorium areas were laid out in the early 19th century, built according to plans designed by

Ludwig Hoffmann Ludwig Hoffmann or Hofmann may refer to: * Ludwig Hoffmann (architect) (1852–1932), German architect * Ludwig Hoffmann (Waffen-SS) (1908–1945), Hauptsturmführer (Captain) in the Waffen-SS * Ludwig Hofmann (footballer) (1900–1935), German ...

, with

retirement home A retirement home – sometimes called an old people's home or old age home, although ''old people's home'' can also refer to a nursing home – is a multi-residence housing facility intended for the elderly. Typically, each person or couple i ...

s, psychiatric institutions, and a cemetery. Many of the premises have been converted to residential areas.

History

The Barnim Plateau was already settled in the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...

era. The village of ''Wendeschen Buk'' (" Wendish", i.e. " Slavic Buch") was first mentioned in a 1342 deed;Historical chronicles about Buch
it is also documented as ''Buch slavica'' in the 1375 register of Emperor Chales IV. Probably founded by

Sprevane The Sprevane or Sprevani (; Slavonic: ''Sprevjane'') were a Slavic tribe who lived around the river Spree, where Berlin is now, in the Brandenburg area of eastern Germany. They were first recorded in 948 and again in 965 as living in the territ ...

tribes, Buch gradually became a German village during the ''

Ostsiedlung (, literally "East-settling") is the term for the Early Medieval and High Medieval migration-period when ethnic Germans moved into the territories in the eastern part of Francia, East Francia, and the Holy Roman Empire (that Germans had al ...

'' migration, instigated by the

Ascanian The House of Ascania (german: Askanier) was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Anhalt. The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ''Schloss ...

margraves

John I John I may refer to: People * John I (bishop of Jerusalem) * John Chrysostom (349 – c. 407), Patriarch of Constantinople * John of Antioch (died 441) * Pope John I, Pope from 523 to 526 * John I (exarch) (died 615), Exarch of Ravenna * John I o ...

and Otto III of Brandenburg from the early 13th century onwards. The

linear settlement A linear settlement is a (normally small to medium-sized) settlement or group of buildings that is formed in a long line. Many of these settlements are formed along a transport route, such as a road, river, or canal. Others form due to physical re ...

around the village church and Buch manor, parallel to the Panke river with a

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

. The Slavic affix fell into disuse during the 16th century. Devastated during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

, the Buch area was quickly redeveloped under the rule of the "Great Elector" Frederick William. The manor became am aristocratic estate, which about 1700 was inherited by the later adventurer and writer Baron

Karl Ludwig von Pöllnitz Karl Ludwig Freiherr von Pöllnitz (25 February 1692 – 23 June 1775) was a German adventurer and writer from Issum. Life His father, Wilhelm Ludwig Freiherr von Pöllnitz (d. 1693), was in the military service of the elector of Brandenb ...

(1692–1775). In the 18th century, the manor house and the church were rebuilt in a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style. In the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

, the premises were plundered by

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

troops under General

Gottlieb Heinrich Totleben Gottlob Curt Heinrich Graf von Tottleben, Herr auf Tottleben, Zeippau und Hausdorf im Saganschen (also ''Tottleben'', ''Todtleben'' ''Todleben''; russian: Готлиб-Генрих Тотлебен) (21 December 1715 – 20 March 1773) was a Ele ...

during his

Raid on Berlin The Raid on Berlin took place in October 1760 during the Third Silesian War (part of the Seven Years' War) when Austrian and Russian forces occupied the Prussian capital of Berlin for several days. After raising money from the city, and with the ...

in 1760. After the war, King

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...

promoted

sericulture Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, ''Bombyx mori'' (the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth) is the most widely used and intensively studie ...

for a recovery of the local economy. Then held by the Voss noble family, the fate of Julie von Voss (1766–1789), lady-in-waiting and spouse of King

Frederick William II of Prussia Frederick William II (german: Friedrich Wilhelm II.; 25 September 1744 – 16 November 1797) was King of Prussia from 1786 until his death in 1797. He was in personal union the Prince-elector of Brandenburg and (via the Orange-Nassau inherita ...

, was perpetuated in the ''

Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg ''Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg'' ("Ramblings through Brandenburg", "Rambles in Brandenburg" or "Walks through the March of Brandenburg") is a five-volume travelogue by the German writer Theodor Fontane, originally published in 1862&ndash ...

'' by

Theodor Fontane Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he is best known toda ...

. In 1815 Buch was incorporated into the newly established Prussian

Province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg (german: Provinz Brandenburg) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1945. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg ...

. The station on the Berlin–Stettin railway line was inaugurated on 26 June 1879. The manor estates were purchased from the Voss family by the City of Berlin in 1898, in order to lay out the ''Rieselfelder'' sewage area according to plans by

James Hobrecht James Friedrich Ludolf Hobrecht (31 December 1825 in Memel – 8 September 1902 in Berlin) was a Prussian director for urban planning. His development plan of 1862 for a million-sized Berlin was soon to be simply called the Hobrecht-Plan. His ...

. At the same time, it became the site of several municipal hospitals designed by Ludwig Hoffmann and Martin Wagner. Buch remained a Brandenburg municipality until 1920, when it merged into Berlin with the "

Greater Berlin Act The Greater Berlin Act (german: Groß-Berlin-Gesetz), officially Law Regarding the Creation of the New Municipality of Berlin (german: Gesetz über die Bildung einer neuen Stadtgemeinde Berlin), was a law passed by the Prussian state government i ...

". The hospital area from 1928 hosted the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Brain Research led by neurologists

Oskar Vogt Oskar Vogt (6 April 1870, in Husum – 30 July 1959, in Freiburg im Breisgau) was a German physician and neurologist. He and his wife Cécile Vogt-Mugnier are known for their extensive cytoarchetectonic studies on the brain. Personal life He wa ...

Cécile Vogt-Mugnier Cécile Vogt-Mugnier (27 March 1875 – 4 May 1962) was a French neurologist from Haute-Savoie. She and her husband Oskar Vogt are known for their extensive cytology, cytoarchetectonic studies on the brain. Professional life Education and caree ...

and biologist

Nikolay Timofeev-Ressovsky Nikolaj Vladimirovich Timofeev-Resovskij (also Timofeyeff-Ressovsky; russian: Николай Владимирович Тимофеев-Ресовский; – 28 March 1981) was a Soviet biologist. He conducted research in radiation genetics ...

; from 1931 it had its seat in a newly erected building designed by

Carl Sattler Carl Sattler (6 November 1877 - 13 January 1966) was a German architect and university lecturer. Life Carl(o) Sattler was born in Florence. His father, the painter Ernst Sattler, was originally from the Schweinfurt area, but had, like other ...

. During the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

era, headed by

Hugo Spatz Hugo Spatz (2 September 1888 – 27 January 1969) was a German neuropathologist. In 1937, he was appointed director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Brain Research. He was a member of the Nazi Party, and admitted to knowingly performing much ...

and

Julius Hallervorden Julius Hallervorden (21 October 1882 – 29 May 1965) was a German physician and neuroscientist. Hallervorden was born in Allenburg, East Prussia (Druzhba, Znamensk, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia) to psychiatrist Eugen Hallervorden. He studied m ...

from 1937/38, it played a vital role in

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...

and racist research, and also in the ''

Aktion T4 (German, ) was a campaign of mass murder by involuntary euthanasia in Nazi Germany. The term was first used in post-war trials against doctors who had been involved in the killings. The name T4 is an abbreviation of 4, a street address of ...

'' "euthanasia" program. From 1949 to 1990 Buch was part of

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

Transport

The locality is served by the urban rail line S2, part of the ''

S-Bahn The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban- suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble co ...

'', at the station of

Buch Buch (the German word for book or a modification of the German word '' Buche'' for beech) may refer to: People * Buch (surname), a list of people with the surname Buch Geography ;Germany: *Buch am Wald, a town in the district of Ansbach, Bavaria * ...

. It is also traversed, at its southern borders, by the Berliner

beltway A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

( A10, known as "''Berliner Ring''"). Nearest exit to Buch is the n.36, "

Berlin-Weißensee () is a quarter in the borough of in Berlin, Germany, that takes its name from the small lake (literally 'White Lake') within it. Before Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, was a borough in its own right, consisting of the quarters of , , , ...

Photogallery

File:Schlossparkteich Berlin-Buch 01.jpg, Panke river at the Schlosspark Buch File:S-Bahnhof Berlin-Buch (2009).jpg, Berlin-Buch train station File:Heizkraftwerk Berlin-Buch (2009).jpg,

Combined heat and power plant Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elect ...

Berlin-Buch. File:Berlin_Buch_sanatorium.jpg, Former sanatorium File:Schlosskirche Berlin-Buch 01.jpg, Schlosskirche

References

Literature

* : "''Geschichte der Berliner Vororte Buch und Karow''", Berlin 1927

External links

Buch official site
{{Boroughs of Berlin Localities of Berlin * Populated places established in the 1340s