Lichtenberg () is the eleventh

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In

Berlin's 2001 administrative reform Berlin is divided into boroughs or administrative districts (). In Berlin, the term is officially shortened to (districts). The boroughs are further divided into quarters (). These smaller localities are officially recognised, but have no admini ...

it absorbed the former borough of Hohenschönhausen. The borough was formerly part of

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

Overview

The district contains the

Tierpark Berlin The Tierpark Berlin is one of two zoos located in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1955 and is located in Friedrichsfelde on the former grounds of Friedrichsfelde Palace, which is situated within the zoo. , the zoo houses 7,250 animals fro ...

Friedrichsfelde Friedrichsfelde () is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') within the borough (''Bezirk'') of Lichtenberg, Berlin. History The locality was first mentioned in a document of 1265 with the name of ''Rosenfelde''. In 1699 it was renamed Friedrichsfelde ...

, the larger of Berlin's two zoological gardens. During the period of Berlin's partition between West and East, Lichtenberg was the location of the headquarters of the

Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the (, an abbreviation of ), was the Intelligence agency, state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive pol ...

, the

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

state security service. Prior to the establishment of the

GDR East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

it housed the main office of the Soviet Military Administration in Berlin, and before that it was an officers' mess of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

. The complex is now the location of the

Stasi Museum The Stasimuseum (also known in German as the ) is a research and memorial centre concerning the political system of the former East Germany. It is located in the Lichtenberg locality of Berlin, in the former headquarters of the Stasi (officia ...

. The

Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial The Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial () is a museum and memorial located in Berlin's north-eastern Lichtenberg district in the locality of Alt-Hohenschönhausen, part of the former borough of Hohenschönhausen. It was opened in 1994 on th ...

is on the site of the main remand prison of the Stasi. Additionally, Lichtenberg is the location of the German-Russian Museum, the historical venue of the unconditional surrender of the German armed forces (Wehrmacht) on

8 May 1945 Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945; it marked the official surrender of all German military operations ...

. The population is ethnically diverse, and has a significant

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

community.

Subdivision

Lichtenberg is divided into 10 localities:

History

The historic village of Lichtenberg together with neighbouring

Karlshorst Karlshorst (, ; ; literally meaning ''Karl's nest'') is a locality in the borough of Lichtenberg in Berlin. It is home to a harness racing track, the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin (''HTW''), the largest University of Applied Scien ...

Marzahn Marzahn () is a locality within the boroughs and localities of Berlin, borough of Marzahn-Hellersdorf in Berlin. Berlin's 2001 administrative reform led to the former boroughs of Marzahn and Hellersdorf fusing into a single new borough. In the ...

, Biesdorf,

Hellersdorf Hellersdorf () is a locality in the borough of Marzahn-Hellersdorf in Berlin. Between 1986 and Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, it was a borough in its own right, consisting of the current area of Hellersdorf as well as Kaulsdorf and Mahls ...

, Kaulsdorf and Mahlsdorf was incorporated as the 17th borough of Berlin by the 1920

Greater Berlin Act The Greater Berlin Act (), officially Law Regarding the Creation of the New Municipality of Berlin (), was a law passed by the Prussian state government in 1920, which greatly expanded the size of the Prussian and German capital of Berlin. Hist ...

. In the 1970s, the

government had large pre-fabricated high-rise

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision (land), subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to count ...

s (''

Plattenbau A large-panel-system building is a building constructed of large, prefabricated concrete slabs. Such buildings are often found in housing developments. Although large-panel-system buildings are often considered to be typical of Eastern Bloc c ...

'') built in the east of the Lichtenberg borough. This area was separated off and became the new borough of Marzahn, which included Biesdorf, Hellersdorf, Kaulsdorf and Mahlsdorf in 1979. In 1986, this district in turn was split into the two boroughs of Marzahn and Hellersdorf in 1986, and again merged as

Marzahn-Hellersdorf Marzahn-Hellersdorf () is the tenth Boroughs of Berlin, borough of Berlin, formed in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, 2001 by merging the former boroughs of Marzahn and Hellersdorf. The borough was formerly part of East Berlin. Geography It ...

by the 2001 administrative reform.

Politics

District council

The governing body of Lichtenberg is the district council (''Bezirksverordnetenversammlung''). It has responsibility for passing laws and electing the city government, including the mayor. The most recent district council election was held on 26 September 2021, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Lead candidate ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (LINKE) , align=left, Michael Grunst , 36,283 , 24.8 , 5.0 , 15 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD) , align=left, Jutta Feige , 28,739 , 19.6 , 2.0 , 12 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , align=left, Martin Schaefer , 19,224 , 13.1 , 0.5 , 8 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

(Grüne) , align=left, Daniela Ehlers , 19,057 , 13.0 , 4.8 , 8 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

(AfD) , align=left, Karsten Woldeit , 17,528 , 12.0 , 7.2 , 7 , 5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , align=left, Rico Apitz , 8,009 , 5.5 , 2.5 , 3 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Tierschutzpartei , align=left, Katja Michel , 6,528 , 4.5 , New , 2 , New , - , colspan=8 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Die PARTEI (''Party for Labour, Rule of Law, Animal Protection, Promotion of Elites and Grassroots Democratic Initiative''), or Die PARTEI (''The PARTY''), is a German political party. It was founded in 2004 by the editors of the German satirical magazine ...

, align=left, , 3,744 , 2.6 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Free Voters Free Voters (, FW) is a political party in Germany. It originates as an umbrella organisation of several Free Voters Associations (), associations of people which participate in an election without having the status of a registered party. These a ...

, align=left, , 3,214 , 2.2 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, dieBasis , align=left, , 2,179 , 1.5 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Pirate Party Germany The Pirate Party Germany (), commonly known as Pirates (), is a political party in Germany founded in September 2006 at c-base. It states general agreement with the Swedish Piratpartiet as a party of the information society; it is part of the i ...

, align=left, , 1,124 , 0.8 , 2.1 , 0 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, National Democratic Party , align=left, , 433 , 0.3 , 0.7 , 0 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Liberal Conservative Reformers , align=left, , 214 , 0.1 , New , 0 , New , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 146,276 ! 98.8 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 1,767 ! 1.2 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 148,043 ! 100.0 ! ! 55 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 216,202 ! 68.5 ! 8.4 ! ! , - , colspan=8, Source
Elections Berlin

District government

The district mayor (''Bezirksbürgermeister'') is elected by the Bezirksverordnetenversammlung, and positions in the district government (''Bezirksamt'') are apportioned based on party strength. Michael Grunst of the Left was elected mayor on 16 December 2016. Since the 2021 municipal elections, the composition of the district government is as follows:

Twin towns – sister cities

Lichtenberg is twinned with: * Białołęka (Warsaw), Poland (2000) *

Hajnówka County __NOTOC__ Hajnówka County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Podlaskie Voivodeship, north-eastern Poland, on the border with Belarus. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local g ...

, Poland (2001) * Hoàn Kiếm (Hanoi), Vietnam (2015) *

Jurbarkas Jurbarkas (; Samogitian: ''Jorbarks'', known also by several alternative names) is a city in Tauragė County, in Samogitia, Lithuania. Jurbarkas is located in the historic land of Karšuva. It is on the right-hand shore of the Nemunas at its c ...

, Lithuania (2003) *

Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast () is the westernmost federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of the Russian Federation. It is a Enclave and exclave, semi-exclave on the Baltic Sea within the Baltic region of Prussia (region), Prussia, surrounded by Pola ...

, Russia (2001) * KaMubukwana (Maputo), Mozambique (1995) * Margareten (Vienna), Austria (2015)

People

Ilse Stöbe Ilse Frieda Gertrud Stöbe (17 May 1911 – 22 December 1942) was a German left-wing journalist, Soviet GRU (Soviet Union), GRU agent and German resistance to Nazism, anti-Nazi resistance fighter. As a young woman, Stöbe was exposed to communism, ...

(1911–1942), German journalist and resistance fighter * Hans Kempin (1913–1992), German Waffen-SS combat and training officer *

Bommi Baumann Michael "Bommi" Baumann (August 25, 1947 – July 19, 2016) was a German author and former militant. After growing up in Berlin, he was radicalised by the police shooting of Benno Ohnesorg and founded the Movement 2 June with his best friend Ge ...

(born 1947), German construction worker, co-founder of the German organization Movement 2 June and author *

Gregor Gysi Gregor Florian Gysi (; born 16 January 1948) is a German attorney, former president of the Party of the European Left and a prominent politician of The Left () political party. He belonged to the reformist wing of the governing Socialist Unity ...

(born 1948), German politician (SED, The Linke) * Katja Lange-Müller (born 1951), German writer * Gesine Lötzsch (born 1961), German politician (SED, The Linke) * Annett Fleischer (born 1979), German actress *

Alexander Fehling Alexander Fehling is a German film and stage actor. He is best known for portraying Master Sgt. Wilhelm in the 2009 Quentin Tarantino World War II film '' Inglourious Basterds'', and as Jonas Hollander season 5 in the Showtime original series ' ...

(born 1981), German actor * Christoph Sydow (1985–2020), German journalist * Daniel Siebert (born 1984), German football referee *

Patrick Hausding Patrick Hausding (born 9 March 1989) is a German diver. At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, with his teammate Lars Rüdiger, Hausding won a bronze medal in the men's synchronized 3 metre springboard competition. However, he did not repeat h ...

(born 1989), German diver

References

External links

* *
Official homepage

Official homepage of Berlin

Event- und Informationportal of Berlin Lichtenberg
{{Authority control Districts of Berlin Former boroughs of Berlin