Neukölln () is one of the twelve

boroughs of Berlin 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, ), each with its own administrative body. However, unlike the municipali ...

. It is located in the southeastern part from the city centre towards

Berlin Schönefeld Airport Berlin Schönefeld Airport () (formerly ) was the secondary international airport of Berlin, the capital of Germany. It was located southeast of Berlin near the town of Schönefeld in the state of Brandenburg and bordered Berlin's southern bo ...

. It was part of the former American sector under the Four-Power occupation of the city. It features many Gründerzeit buildings and is characterized by having one of the highest percentage of immigrants in Berlin. In recent years an influx of students and creative types has led to

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ...

History

Neukölln's independence ended on 1 October 1920 when it was incorporated into Berlin. In September 1929, Goebbels led his men into Neukölln, a KPD stronghold, and the two warring parties exchanged

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, a ...

and revolver fire. From 1966 to 1975 the Gropiusstadt was built, a "Trabantenstadt" or city-within-a-city

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States ...

, designed by architect Walter Gropius.

Locality subdivisions

Neukölln is subdivided into five localities: Berlin Neukölln

Public transport

Berlin Neukoelln Hermannplatz asv2021-03 img1

Neukölln is served by three operational sections of urban rail. U-Bahn: * U7: Rathaus Spandau ↔ Rudow (running northwest–southeast) * U8: Wittenau ↔ Hermannstraße (running north–south) Part of each of the following

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 c ...

routes share an east–west-running section of Ringbahn track through Neukölln: * S41S41 "Bahnhofs- und Linieninformationssystem" s-bahn-berlin.de accessed 19 March 2018
/ref>/ S42:S42 "Bahnhofs- und Linieninformationssystem" s-bahn-berlin.de accessed 19 March 2018
/ref> Südkreuz → Gesundbrunnen → Südkreuz (clockwise ↔ anti clockwise circular) * S45:S45 "Bahnhofs- und Linieninformationssystem" s-bahn-berlin.de accessed 91 march 2018
/ref> Südkreuz ↔ Berlin Schönefeld Flughafen (only from Monday till Friday). An extension of the S45 is projected to run beyond the current terminus at Schönefeld Airport to the under construction

Berlin Brandenburg Airport Berlin Brandenburg Airport ''Willy Brandt'' (german: Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg "Willy Brandt", , ) is an international airport in Schönefeld, just south of the German capital Berlin in the state of Brandenburg. Named after the former ...

. * S46:S45 "Bahnhofs- und Linieninformationssystem" s-bahn-berlin.de accessed 19 March 2018
/ref>

Westend Westend may refer to: * Westend (Trevilians, Virginia), an historic house in Virginia listed on the NRHP * Westend (Berlin), a locality of Berlin in Germany * Westend (Frankfurt am Main), a borough of Frankfurt am Main in Germany * Westend, Espoo, ...

↔ Königs Wusterhausen * S47:S47 "Bahnhofs- und Linieninformationssystem" s-bahn-berlin.de accessed 19 March 2018
/ref> Spindlersfeld ↔ Hermannstraße Among the numerous rail stations in Neukölln three act as interchanges: * Hermannplatz - U7 / U8 * Hermannstraße - U8 / S-Bahn * Berlin-Neukölln - U7 / S-bahn

Demographics

As of 2010, the borough had a population of 310,283, of whom 121,000 (38.9%) were of non-German ethnicity. The percentage is significantly higher in the locality of the same name, Neukölln. The borough is known for its large Turkish,

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

and Kurdish communities, which together make up roughly 18% of the borough's population. Recently, there has been an influx of

Romani people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic Itinerant groups in Europe, itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have Ro ...

and

Sub-Saharan Africans Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the African co ...

Gentrification

A trend is the rapid

of certain neighbourhoods within the borough. There has been an influx of students, creatives and other young professionals of mostly Western origin avoiding higher rents which are charged in other parts of Berlin. This has caused a knock-on effect, with rents rising in some parts of Neukölln. Northern Neukölln, just to the south of the

Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in 1990 it h ...

area, has become informally referred to as "Kreuzkölln" as the area becomes increasingly fashionable."Sagt endlich Kreuzkölln!" 12 April 2016 Der Tagesspiegel
/ref>

Politics

District council

The governing body of Neukölln 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,

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, Martin Hikel , 41,104 , 28.7 , 1.7 , 18 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) , align=left, Susann Worschech , 25,238 , 17.6 , 2.7 , 11 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , align=left, Falko Liecke , 24,191 , 16.9 , 0.6 , 10 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (LINKE) , align=left, Sarah Nagel , 21,525 , 15.0 , 2.8 , 9 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alternative for Germany (AfD) , align=left, Julian Potthast , 10,125 , 7.1 , 5.7 , 4 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , align=left, Roland Leppek , 6,971 , 4.9 , 0.6 , 3 , 1 , - , colspan=8 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Tierschutzpartei , align=left, , 4,101 , 2.9 , 0.7 , 0 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Die PARTEI , align=left, , 2,909 , 2.0 , 0.4 , 0 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, dieBasis , align=left, , 1,787 , 1.2 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Klimaliste , align=left, , 1,451 , 1.0 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Volt Germany , align=left, , 1,431 , 1.0 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Voters , align=left, , 1,061 , 0.7 , New , 0 , New , - , , align=left, We are Berlin , align=left, , 843 , 0.6 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Ecological Democratic Party , align=left, , 235 , 0.2 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Liberal Conservative Reformers , align=left, , 192 , 0.1 , New , 0 , New , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 143,164 ! 98.9 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 1,655 ! 1.1 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 144,819 ! 100.0 ! ! 55 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 225,767 ! 64.1 ! 6.5 ! ! , - , 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. Martin Hikel of the SPD was elected mayor on 21 March 2018. Since the 2021 municipal elections, the composition of the district government is as follows:

Notable people

* Edgar Froese (1944–2015), musician, founder of the electronic music group Tangerine Dream * Leo Arons (1860–1919), physicist, social democrat and supporter of the trade union movement * Sebastian Blomberg (born 1972), actor * Horst Buchholz (1933–2003), actor * Heinz Buschkowsky (born 1948), politician (SPD), former district mayor of Neukölln *

Christiane F. Christiane Vera Felscherinow (born 20 May 1962) is a German actress and musician who is best known for her contribution to the 1978 autobiographical book ''Christiane F.'' (original title: ), and the film and television miniseries based on the ...

(born 1962), author of the book '' Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo'' * Ursula Goetze, anti-Nazi activist (1916–1943) * Alexander Hacke, musician, born 1965 in Neukölln * Kirsten Heisig (1961–2010), juvenile magistrate in Neukölln, created the ''Neuköllner Modell'', applying rapid intervention procedures to deal with juvenile offenders before they embarked on a criminal lifestyle *

Kurt Krömer Kurt Krömer (stage name for ''Alexander Bojcan'') (born 20 November 1974) is a German television presenter, comedian and actor. Life Krömer was born in Berlin. He works as actor and comedian in German television and film. From 2003 to 200 ...

(born 1974), presenter, actor and entertainer *

Jutta Limbach Jutta Limbach (27 March 1934 – 10 September 2016) was a German jurist and politician. She was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and served as President of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany from 1994 to 2002, th ...

(1934–2016), legal academic * Will Meisel (1897–1967), composer and publisher *

Inge Meysel Inge Meysel (; 30 May 1910 – 10 July 2004) was a German actress. From the early 1960s until her death, Meysel was one of Germany's most popular actresses. She had a successful stage career and played more than 100 roles in film and on televisio ...

(1910–2004), actress * Gunnar Möller (1928–2017), actor * Mady Rahl (1915–2009), actress * Antonio Rüdiger (born 1993), footballer *

Werner Seelenbinder Werner Seelenbinder (2 August 1904 – 24 October 1944) was a German communist and wrestler. Early years Seelenbinder was born in Stettin, Pomerania (modern-day Poland), and became a wrestler after training as a joiner. He had connections wi ...

(1904–1944), wrestler, politician (KPD) and resistance fighter * Katharina Szelinski-Singer (1918–2010), sculptor * Elsa Thiemann (1910–1981),

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...

educated photographer, who took many photographs of Neukölln where she lived *

Lotte Ulbricht Lotte Ulbricht (19 April 1903 – 27 March 2002, born Charlotte Kühn) was a Socialist Unity Party of Germany official and the second wife of the East German leader Walter Ulbricht. She was born the younger of two children in Rixdorf in 1903 ...

(1903–2002), wife of

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 ...

leader Walter Ulbricht * Emil Wutzky (1871–1963), trade unionist and local politician (SPD) *

Engelbert Zaschka Engelbert Zaschka (September 1, 1895 in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany – June 26, 1955 in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany) was a German chief engineer, chief designer and inventor. Zaschka is one of the first German helicopter pioneers and he is ...

(1895–1955), inventor and helicopter pioneer

In popular culture

*" Neuköln" (deliberately spelt with one 'l') is an instrumental piece by

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

, the ninth track on his 1977 album '' "Heroes"''. *The last track of Miss Kittin's first solo album '' I Com'' is called "Neukölln 2". *The German film Knallhart is set in the northern part of Neukölln. *The German documentary Neukölln Unlimited tells the story of three Lebanese teenagers based in Neukölln, who fight their deportation out of Germany. *

Electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electro ...

producer Kobosil is a native of the city. With a Bachelor of Arts in audio production, he has released music on the

Ostgut Ton Ostgut Ton (also known as Ostgut Tonträger) was a German record label owned by the club Berghain in Berlin. Resident Advisor described it "a dominant force in dance music, beloved for its mix series and dozens of EPs, albums and compilations."h ...

and MDT labels. *The series

4 Blocks ''4 Blocks'' is a German drama series. It stars Kida Khodr Ramadan as Ali "Toni" Hamadi, the leader of a drug cartel in Berlin-Neukölln which has strong connections with the Arab crime families including his clan. He is forced to postpone his pl ...

is set in Neukölln and Kreuzberg. *The sixth leg of ''

The Amazing Race 32 ''The Amazing Race 32'' is the thirty-second season of the American reality television show ''The Amazing Race''. It featured eleven teams of two competing in a race around the world. The season premiered on CBS on October 14, 2020, and the seas ...

'' had its Pit Stop in Neukölln.

Twin towns – sister cities

Neukölln is twinned with: *

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

, Belgium (1955) * Bat Yam, Israel (1978) *

Boulogne-Billancourt Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious commune in the Parisian area, located from its centre. It is a subprefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department and t ...

, France (1955) * Çiğli (İzmir), Turkey (2005) *

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, Germany (1967) * Hammersmith and Fulham (London), England, United Kingdom (1955) * Leonberg, Germany (1970) * Marino, Italy (1980) * Pavlovsk (Saint Petersburg), Russia (1991) * Prague 5 (Prague), Czech Republic (2005) * Pushkin (Saint Petersburg), Russia (1991) * Ústí nad Orlicí, Czech Republic (1989) * Wetzlar, Germany (1959) * Zaanstad, Netherlands (1955)

Gallery

Berlin neukoelln county-court 20050228 p1010186.jpg, County Court Berlin Neukoelln Rathaus asv2021-03 img1.jpg, City hall Skulptur Karl-Marx-Str 83 (Neukö) Buddy Bär.jpg, Buddy Bear Neukölln in front of the City hall Landwehrkanal 2005-06-24.jpg, Landwehrkanal Bundesarchiv Bild 183-C0104-0010-001, Berlin, Grenzübergang Sonnenallee, West-Berliner Besucher.jpg, Border crossing at Sonnenallee, 1964 Stadtbad B-Neukoelln 07-2014.jpg, Stadtbad Neukölln

References

External links

Official homepage

WebTV from Berlin, Neukoelln
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neukolln Districts of Berlin Ethnic enclaves in Germany Former boroughs of Berlin fr:Neukölln it:Neukölln ru:Нойкёльн