Niederschönhausen (, literally "Lower Schönhausen") is a

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 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. ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is also known as "Pankow-Schönhausen" to differ it from

Hohenschönhausen Hohenschönhausen () was a borough of Berlin, that existed from 1985 until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform. It comprised the localities of Alt-Hohenschönhausen (the core of the borough), Neu-Hohenschönhausen, Malchow, Wartenberg and F ...

in Berlin-

Lichtenberg Lichtenberg () is the eleventh borough of Berlin, Germany. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it absorbed the former borough of Hohenschönhausen. Overview The district contains the Tierpark Berlin in Friedrichsfelde, the larger of Berlin ...

. From 1949 until 1960

Schönhausen Palace Schönhausen Palace (german: Schloss Schönhausen) is a Baroque palace at Niederschönhausen, in the borough of Pankow, Berlin, Germany. It is surrounded by gardens through which the Panke river runs. The palace is maintained by the Prussian Pal ...

and the adjacent

Majakowskiring The Majakowskiring (named after Vladimir Mayakovsky) is an ellipse-shaped street in the Pankow district of Berlin, Germany, in the Niederschönhausen locality. It was famous as the residence of many senior figures in the government of the German D ...

quarter were the residence of several members of the

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

government, commonly referred to as ''Pankow'' by the

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

media.

Geography

Overview

Located north of the Berlin city centre, Niederschönhausen borders with the localities of

Wilhelmsruh Wilhelmsruh () is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') within the borough (''Bezirk'') of Pankow, Berlin. It is the city's smallest locality, after Halensee and Hansaviertel. History In the locality, originally part of Rosenthal, it was built a co ...

, Rosenthal in the north,

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 ...

in the east,

in the south and the

Reinickendorf Reinickendorf () is the twelfth borough of Berlin. It encompasses the northwest of the city area, including the Berlin Tegel Airport, Lake Tegel, spacious settlements of detached houses as well as housing estates like Märkisches Viertel. Subdi ...

locality (in the homonymous borough) along the

Berlin Northern Railway The Berlin Northern Railway (german: Berliner Nordbahn) is a 223-kilometre-long main line route, that runs from Berlin via Neustrelitz and Neubrandenburg to Stralsund on the Baltic Sea coast. Nowadays, long-distance and regional traffic on the ...

line in the west. The locality comprises several green areas, as the Schönholzer Heide, the Brosepark, the Schlosspark Pankow, the Bürgerpark and the cemetery Friedhof Pankow III.

Subdivision

Niederschönhausen is divided into 3 zones (''Ortslagen''): *

* Nordend * Schönholz

Transport

The locality is served by the tramway line M1 and by the bus lines 107, 150, 155 and 250. 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 ...

'' crosses Niederschönhausen at the borders between Schönholz and Reinickendorf and serves it at Schönholz station (lines S1, S25 and S85).

History

A settlement called ''Schonenhusen inferior'' or ''Nydderen Schonhusen'' was, like many others in the

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg (german: link=no, Markgrafschaft Brandenburg) was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe. Brandenburg developed out o ...

, first mentioned in the 1375 doomsday book (''Landbuch'') of Emperor Charles IV. The

linear village Linearity is the property of a mathematical relationship ('' function'') that can be graphically represented as a straight line. Linearity is closely related to '' proportionality''. Examples in physics include rectilinear motion, the linear ...

was probably founded about 1230 by German colonists in the course of the medieval ''

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. The estates were purchased by the Elector Frederick III ("

King in Prussia King ''in'' Prussia (German: ''König in Preußen'') was a title used by the Prussian kings (also in personal union Electors of Brandenburg) from 1701 to 1772. Subsequently, they used the title King ''of'' Prussia (''König von Preußen''). Th ...

" as Frederick I from 1701), who had the local manor house 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 as a Hohenzollern residence. In 1740 the new 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 ...

left Schönhausen Castle (''Schloß Schönhausen'') to his consort Elisabeth Christine who lived here until her death in 1797. Friedenskirche Niederschönhausen 02

The residential area that arose after nearby Berlin had become the German capital is characterised by mansions and dwelling houses, developed primarily around the year 1910 on the former estates of Schönhausen Palace.Infos about the ''Schloß Schönhausen''
This short-lived municipality of the former

Niederbarnim 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 ...

district merged into Berlin with the " Greater Berlin Act" in 1920. 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 ...

during the "

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

", Schönhausen Palace from 1949 served as the seat of East German President

Wilhelm Pieck Friedrich Wilhelm Reinhold Pieck (; 3 January 1876 – 7 September 1960) was a German communist politician who served as the chairman of the Socialist Unity Party from 1946 to 1950 and as president of the German Democratic Republic from 1949 to ...

and later as a guest house of the East German government. Johannes R. Becher and several East German government officials resided in the secluded Majakowskiring quarter, until they moved to

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'', ' ...

in 1960. From 1961 to 1989 the western boundary of Niederschönhausen with

(in

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

) was part of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

. In June 1990 Schönhausen Palace was a site of the Two Plus Four talks that paved the way for

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

. Today the adjacent premises house the German

Federal Academy for Security Policy The Federal Academy for Security Policy (german: Bundesakademie für Sicherheitspolitik, BAKS) is the Federal Republic of Germany’s interministerial institution for advanced studies, education and training in security policy Security policy is ...

. The palace has been restored in its original Baroque condition and since 2009 is open to the public.

Photogallery

File:Max-Delbrück-Gymnasium, Berlin, Ostseite (2009).jpg, Max-Delbrück-Gymnasium File:Schützenhaus Niederschönhausen (2004).jpg, A Club house in the Schönholzer Heide File:Berlin Schlosspark Niederschönhausen.jpg, The Schlosspark

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niederschonhausen Localities of Berlin *