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'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, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990. The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...

, the East German state security service. Prior to the establishment of the

GDR 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 ...

it housed the main office of the Soviet Military Administration in Berlin, and before that it was an officers' mess of the Wehrmacht. The complex is now the location of the

Stasi Museum The Stasi Museum (also known in German as the ''Forschungs- und Gedenkstätte Normannenstraße'') is a research and memorial centre concerning the political system of the former East Germany. It is located in the Lichtenberg locality of Berli ...

. The

Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial The Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial (german: Gedenkstätte Berlin-Hohenschönhausen) 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 Hoh ...

is on the site of the main remand prison of the Stasi. Additionally, Lichtenberg is the location of the

German-Russian Museum The Museum Berlin-Karlshorst, previously named ''German-Russian Museum Berlin-Karlshorst'' (Deutsch-Russisches Museum Berlin-Karlshorst) is dedicated to German-Soviet and German-Russian relations with a focus on the German-Soviet war of 1941–1 ...

, 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, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...

Subdivision

Lichtenberg is divided into 10 localities:

History

The historic village of Lichtenberg together with neighbouring Friedrichsfelde,

Karlshorst Karlshorst (, ; ; literally meaning ''Karl's nest'') is a locality in the borough of Lichtenberg in Berlin. Located there are a harness racing track and the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin (''HTW''), the largest University of Appli ...

, Marzahn,

Biesdorf Biesdorf is a municipality in the district of Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in E ...

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 Mahlsdo ...

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

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 ...

. In the 1970s, the East German government had large pre-fabricated high-rise housing estates ('' Plattenbau'') 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 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 For ...

(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 (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

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

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...

(AfD) , align=left, Karsten Woldeit , 17,528 , 12.0 , 7.2 , 7 , 5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...

(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 , align=left, , 3,744 , 2.6 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Voters , 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 , 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 ( pl, powiat hajnowski) 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 ...

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

Jurbarkas Jurbarkas (; Samogitian dialect, Samogitian: ''Jorbarks'', known also by several #Etymology, alternative names) is a List of cities in Lithuania, city in Tauragė County, in Samogitia, Lithuania. Jurbarkas is located in the historic land of Kar ...

, Lithuania (2003) * Kaliningrad Oblast, 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 journalist and anti-Nazi resistance fighter. She was born and died in Berlin. Life Ilse Stöbe grew up in a working-class home in Berlin. Stöbe was the only daughter of ca ...

(1911–1942), German journalist and resistance fighter *

Hans Kempin SS- Standartenführer (Colonel) Hans Wilhelm Kempin (7 June 1913 – 30 November 1992) was a German Waffen-SS combat and training officer who served in the SS-Standarte ''Deutschland'', SS-Regiment ''Der Führer'' and later commanded the 547. ...

(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 (''Die Linke'') political party. He belonged to the reformist wing of the governing So ...

(born 1948), German politician (SED, The Linke) *

Katja Lange-Müller Katja Lange-Müller (born 13 February 1951) is a German writer living in Berlin. Her works include several short stories and novellas, radio dramas, and dramatic works. The daughter of Inge Lange, an East German party functionary, Katja Lange- ...

(born 1951), German writer *

Gesine Lötzsch Gesine Lötzsch (; born 7 August 1961) is a German politician of the left-wing party '' Die Linke'' ("The Left"). In 2010, with Klaus Ernst, she was elected president of the party. Biography Born at Berlin-Lichtenberg in what then was East G ...

(born 1961), German politician (SED, The Linke) *

Annett Fleischer Annett Fleischer (born 21 June 1979 in East Berlin) is a German presenter and actress. Fleischer was born in East Berlin growing up as an only child in the districts of Lichtenberg and Hoppegarten. After graduation from high school in 1999, she ...

(born 1979), German actress *

Alexander Fehling Alexander Fehling (born 29 March 1981) is a German film and stage actor. He is best known for portraying Staff Sgt. Wilhelm in the 2009 Quentin Tarantino World War II film ''Inglourious Basterds'' and Jonas Hollander in the Showtime original ser ...

(born 1981), German actor *

Christoph Sydow Christoph Sydow (February 11, 1985 – 1 June 2020) was a German journalist who worked for ''Der Spiegel'' as a foreign correspondent in the Middle East. Life Sydow had been interested in political journalism from an early age, often carrying ar ...

(1985–2020), German journalist * Daniel Siebert (born 1984), German football referee * Patrick Hausding (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 sv:Lichtenberg