Neukölln
Quarter of Berlin
Hasenheide on the western outskirts of Neukölln with St. John's Basilica
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Neukölln in Neukölln borough and Berlin
Neukölln Show map of Germany Neukölln Show map of Berlin
Coordinates: 52°28′53″N 13°26′07″E / 52.48139°N 13.43528°E / 52.48139; 13.43528
Country	Germany
State	Berlin
City	Berlin
Borough	Neukölln
Founded	26 June 1360 (official), ca. 1200 (inofficial)
Subdivisions	9 neighborhoods or 21 regions
Government
• Borough Mayor	Martin Hikel (SPD)
Area
• Total	11.7 km2 (4.5 sq mi)
Elevation	52 m (171 ft)
Population  (2023-12-31)[1]
• Total	163,735
• Density	14,000/km2 (36,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	12043, 12045, 12047, 12049, 12051, 12053, 12055, 12057, 12059
Vehicle registration	B
Website	https://www.berlin.de/ba-neukoelln/

Neukölln^[2] (German: [nɔʏˈkœln] ^ⓘ; formerly Rixdorf), from 1899 to 1920 an independent city, is a large inner-city quarter (Ortsteil)^[3] of Berlin in the homonymous borough (Bezirk) of Neukölln,^[4] including the historic village of Alt-Rixdorf and numerous Gründerzeit apartment blocks. With 163,735 inhabitants (2024) the Ortsteil is the second-most densely populated of Berlin after Prenzlauer Berg. It was originally characterized by mostly working-class inhabitants and later a relatively high percentage of immigrants, especially of Turkish and Russian descent, but since the turn of the millennium an influx of students, creatives, and western immigrants has led to gentrification.

Geography

Neukölln is situated in the North European Plain, which is typically characterized by low-lying marshy woodlands with a mainly flat topography.^[5] The quarter lies on the geological border between the shallow Berliner Urstromtal glacial valley and the northernmost edge of the Teltow ground moraine plateau, specifically the Rollberge,^[6] a small range of glacial hills rising to the south of Hermannplatz, Rixdorf, and the streets Karl-Marx-Straße and Hasenheide. Neukölln's average elevation is 52 m (172 ft) above NHN, with the highest elevation at 67.9 m (223 ft) achieved by the Rixdorfer Höhe, a trümmerberg in the Volkspark Hasenheide.

Location

The quarter is situated south-east of the Berlin city center, in the north of the Neukölln borough. It lies adjacent to the quarter of Britz in the south, which is also part of greater Neukölln, to the SO 36 and Kreuzberg 61 neighborhoods of the quarter Kreuzberg in the north and north-west (in the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough), to the quarter Tempelhof in the west (in Tempelhof-Schöneberg), and to the quarters Alt-Treptow, Plänterwald and Baumschulenweg in the east and north-east (all part of Treptow-Köpenick).

Neukölln is separated from Kreuzberg by the park Volkspark Hasenheide, the Landwehr Canal, and the streets Kottbusser Damm and Hasenheide as far as the city square Südstern. Neukölln shares part of the Tempelhofer Feld with Tempelhof, the vast field of the former Tempelhof Airport, now a popular recreation area. The Stadtring motorway with the Carl-Weder-Park as well as the Neukölln Ship and Britz canals form the border with the Britz quarter, while the trench Heidekampgraben, the Kiefholzstraße and several urban streets in the Bouché neighborhood separate Neukölln from the eastern quarters of Treptow-Köpenick.

Subdivisions

Neighborhoods

Neukölln is divided into nine official neighborhoods (Kieze or Stadtquartiere, officially called Ortslagen),^[7] among them the historical sites of Neukölln's foundation south-east of the quarters's geographical center, Richardplatz-Süd^[8] to the south and south-east of the central plaza Richardplatz, and Böhmisch-Rixdorf^[9] to the north and north-west, which together are commonly referred to as Rixdorf or Alt-Rixdorf ("Old Rixdorf"). The other official neighborhoods are (from north to south):

• Reuterkiez,^[10]
• Flughafenstraße,^[11]
• Schillerpromenade,^[12]
• Rollberg,^[13]
• Weiße Siedlung,^[14]
• Körnerpark,^[15] and
• High-Deck-Siedlung.^[16]

Other sites

Other urban sites not officially named or recognized as neighborhoods, but often distinguished as LORs (see below), are the Donaukiez^[17] along Donaustraße between Sonnenallee and Karl-Marx-Straße, Ganghoferstraße around the border between Donaustraße and Böhmisch-Rixdorf, the Weserkiez^[18] around Weserstraße between Weigandufer and Sonnenallee, the Warthekiez around Wartheplatz,^[19] the Bouchékiez, a larger residential area north of the Neukölln Ship Canal,^[20] and neighborhoods south of the Berlin Hermannstraße and Berlin Neukölln stations like Silbersteinstraße.^[21] At the western and eastern outskirts there are recreational spaces, namely a large area of privately leased garden plots in the east at the site of the former Berlinische Wiesen ("Berlin meadows"), and the park Hasenheide with surrounding residential buildings in the west,^[22] while industrial areas have formed mostly to the south and east of the Berlin Ringbahn.

Urban planning

In urban planning, the divisions of Berlin's boroughs and quarters are more precise. Here Neukölln, non-administrative district 10 in borough 08, as of 2024, is divided into five regions, each of them further compartmentalized into a total of 21 so-called Lebensweltlich orientierte Räume (LOR) ("lifeworld-oriented regions"):^[23]

• Schillerpromenade (01) in the west, comprising Hasenheide (01), Schillerpromenade as Schillerpromenade Nord (02) and Schillerpromenade Süd (03), as well as Wartheplatz (04) and Silbersteinstraße (05);
• Neuköllner Mitte/Zentrum (02) in the center, comprising Flughafenstraße (06), Rollberg (07) and Körnerpark (08), as well as Glasower Straße (09);
• Reuterstraße (03) in the north, comprising Reuterkiez as Maybachufer (10), Reuterplatz (11) and Weichselplatz (12) including the western parts of the Weserkiez, as well as Bouchéstraße (13), plus a minor part of Flughafenstraße, the Donaukiez, as Donaustraße (14);
• Rixdorf (04) in the center to the north-east, comprising Ganghoferstraße (15), Böhmisch-Rixdorf and Richardplatz-Süd as Alt-Rixdorf (16), Braunschweiger Straße (17), the eastern parts of the Weserkiez as Hertzbergplatz (18), as well as Treptower Straße Nord (19); and
• Köllnische Heide (05) in the east, comprising Weiße Siedlung (20), and Schulenburgpark (21) including the High-Deck-Siedlung.

The industrial parks Ederstraße and Köllnische Heide are no longer part of the city's LOR framework as independent regions.

Parks and water bodies

As a densely populated urban inner-city quarter, Neukölln has fewer large recreational locations than other quarters of Berlin, not counting active cemeteries.^[24] However, the two major parks in the western part of Neukölln, the Volkspark Hasenheide and the Tempelhofer Feld, more than make up for the lack of green stretches in other spots. Still, smaller parks are found in various neighborhoods, for example the Anita-Berber-Park (Schillerpromenade), a former cemetery which also connects to the Tempelhofer Feld, the recently decommissioned cemetery Neuer St. Jacobi Friedhof, now used as a park (Schillerpromenade), Lessinghöhe and Thomashöhe (Körnerpark), the Körnerpark itself, a former gravel quarry, the Rübelandpark connecting Thomashöhe and Körnerpark, the Comenius Garden (Rixdorf), the Herbert-Krause-Park (High-Deck-Siedlung), and extensive stretches of garden plots like Helmutstal and Märkische Schweiz close to the quarter's eastern border, including the Heidekamppark, a long green corridor adjacent to the Heidekampgraben. On the southern and south-western borders to the neighborhoods Britz and Tempelhof respectively is the Carl-Weder-Park, a stretched park above the underground Stadtring autobahn west of the Britzer Damm. Immediately adjacent to the north is the former cemetery forest Emmauswald, Neukölln's largest forest, with the Emmauskirchhof, a still active graveyard, connecting to the east. Several inner-city squares have been designed with green stretches, for example Reuterplatz, Weichselplatz, Wildenbruchplatz, Hertzbergplatz and Richardplatz.

All of Neukölln's water bodies are man-made. The most prominent example is the Neukölln Ship Canal, which connects the Teltow and Britz canals with the Landwehr Canal and (through Kreuzberg) the river Spree. The Neukölln Harbor, consisting of an upper and lower basin and connected via the Neukölln Watergate, was built in tandem with the Britz Harbor at the south end of the Neukölln Ship Canal. Smaller landing stages are located along the canal until Kiehlufer, and these Neukölln Docklands are currently subject to extensive redevelopment. Several parks contain artificial ponds, for example the Volkspark Hasenheide (Rixdorfer Teich), the Comenius Garden (Weltenmeer), the Karma Culture Garden in Rixdorf, and the Von-Der-Schulenburg-Park (High-Deck-Siedlung).

History

Prehistory

Archeological finds of burial urns on the Rixdorf lot^[25] and the important Reitergrab von Neukölln (equestrian tomb) from the first half of the 6th century south-west of Richardplatz^[26] point to a Germanic prehistory of Neukölln, possibly a Semnonic settlement. The Semnones of the Berlin region migrated westward during the era of the Barbarian Invasions and were eventually displaced by the Wends, but archeological traces pertaining to a successive Slavic settlement were never found in the area of modern-day Neukölln.

Early history

After four centuries of German colonization, the region around modern-day Berlin came under lasting German rule in the 12th century as part of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, founded by Albert the Bear in 1157. The region was originally situated near the borders to the Duchy of Kopanica, ruled by Jaxa of Köpenick, and the Duchy of Pomerania, which had all fought for dominance during the colonization of the Teltow and the formation of Brandenburg.

Around the year 1200,^[27] a military hamlet, probably called Richardshove (Richardshof, "Richard's Court"),^[28] together with an unnamed folwark in Slavic Trebow, the historical Treptow, was founded at the foot of the Teltow on the edge of the grasslands Berlinische Wiesen as an eastern stronghold of the Commandery Tempelhof, presumably administered by the Knights Templar from neighboring Tempelhove, Merghenvelde and Mergendorp,^[29] which had developed during the early days of the Holy Roman Empire along the old Via Imperii.^[30] The Templar functioned as a neutral institution, and when the conflicts ended in 1231,^[31] the stronghold was abandoned and eventually converted into a Templar access yard.

Pope Clement V dissolved the order in 1312, but different from other Templar possessions, the Tempelhof commandery including Richardshove did not immediately change into new ownership, probably because the remaining Knights Templar offered resistance.^[32] Instead, the estate was fiducially held by Waldemar the Great for six years, and legally transferred to the Order of Saint John (Johanniterorden) only in 1318. The Johannite history of the commandery, which was expressly documented for the first time in 1344, is still represented today by Neukölln's coat of arms bearing the Maltese cross.

Rixdorf

When first mentioned in its foundational charter of 26 June 1360,^[33] the angerdorf south-east of Berlin around the present-day Richardplatz was already called Richardsdorp (Richardsdorf, "Richard's Village"),^[34] signifying decades of development from yard (hove) to village (dorp), now officially recognized.^[35] The original document containing the Rixdorf charter has been lost since World War II, but its contents have been preserved,^[36] and the year 1360 is regarded as the official year of Neukölln's foundation.^[37] The village was mentioned again in 1375 as Richardstorpp in the Landbuch der Mark Brandenburg. Around the beginning of the 15th century, Richardsdorp erected its first official chapel.^[38] After ongoing border disputes and an ill-fated armed conflict,^[39] the Johannite Order was forced to sell their possessions to the cities of Alt-Berlin and Cölln in 1435, including Richardsdorp, which was mentioned again in charters of 1525 as Ricksdorf, for the first time officially in its modern contracted form. Disputes over the village continued between Cölln and Berlin, and with a compromise settlement Ricksdorf became the sole possession of Cölln on 24 August 1543.^[40] During the Thirty Years' War (1618–48)^[41] Ricksdorf was mostly depopulated, with buildings and parts of the chapel destroyed by fire.^[42] After the city of Cölln merged with Berlin in 1709, the village, then already spelled Rixdorf, became the possession of Berlin.

Deutsch-Rixdorf and Böhmisch-Rixdorf

In 1737 King Frederick William I of Prussia invited about 350 Moravian Protestants expelled from Bohemia to settle near the village,^[43] where they built their own houses and eventually their own chapels^[44] off the village center along the road to Berlin, today called Richardstraße. The original village of Rixdorf was subsequently called Deutsch-Rixdorf. The new Bohemian village Böhmisch-Rixdorf^[45] was granted its own administration in 1797.

The overall population in 1809 was 695.^[46] Rixdorf residents fought in the Wars of Liberation, for example the Battle of Großbeeren, and the subsequent freedom and abolition of German serfdom laid the foundation for Rixdorf's rapid development. In the course of industrialization in the 19th century, a network of new streets was laid out as part of the Hobrecht-Plan in an area that came to be known architecturally as the Wilhelmine Ring. On 28 April 1849, more than a quarter of the buildings in both Rixdorf villages were destroyed in a firestorm, and reconstruction lasted until 1853.^[47] In 1867 Deutsch-Rixdorf had a population of 5,000, and Böhmisch-Rixdorf of 1,500.

Both villages were united as Rixdorf on 11 July 1873,^[48] and became a municipality of the Kreis Teltow. In 1874 Rixdorf had 8,000 inhabitants, growing to 15,000 the next year. On 4 February 1874 Hermann Boddin became the first principal municipal magistrate (Amts- und Gemeindevorsteher) of the unified Rixdorf and oversaw its evolution into the largest town of Prussia. On 1 April 1899, Rixdorf, with approximately 90,000 residents, received the status of an independent city,^[49] and Boddin transitioned into his new role as the city's first mayor. The population quickly grew to 237,289 in 1910.^[50]

Early neighborhood formation

It was during the 1850s when construction began in what is today the Reuterkiez. After the completion of the Landwehr Canal in 1850, industry and workshops began to settle along its shores in the marshes and grasslands south of Berlin, on and near today's Maybachufer. The Cottbuserdamm (Kottbusser Damm)^[51] and several parallel streets like the Friedelstraße,^[52] an important street in Berlin's first communal tram network (SSB),^[53] were built shortly afterwards.^[54] Between 1871 and 1905, the population increased, as several Gründerzeit apartment blocks were erected, often with industrial backyards that are still typical of Berlin today.^[55] Different from other neighborhoods of northern Rixdorf, most residential development in the Reuterkiez had from the beginning always been aimed at more affluent residents and a higher quality of living, but except for the Reuterplatz forgone any development of green urban plazas. Due to the marshy substrate, the new neighborhood was at first only developed between Kottbusser Damm and Weichselstraße.^[56] In the decades that followed, Rixdorf and the new Reuterkiez were expanded west- and southward respectively, forming Neukölln's younger neighborhoods of Flughafenstraße, Schillerpromenade, Körnerpark and early parts of Rollberg. Especially the former three still have a large Gründerzeit architectural foundation with broad streets and sidewalks, and Berlin's usual grid plan street layout that originated mostly in this era.^[57]

Neukölln

Rixdorf had become notorious for its taverns and amusement sites, which dampened investments and economic development, so in 1912 the local authorities took up former mayor Boddin's original plan, which until then had been consistently rejected, to get rid of this reputation by assuming the name Neukölln, derived from the Neucöllner Siedlungen ("Neucölln Estates") north of Rixdorf, which themselves referenced Neu-Cölln, a historical district south of the medieval part of Berlin and Cölln proper.^[58] The renaming was eventually granted by Emperor William I on 27 January 1912. It was during this time that the architect Reinhold Kiehl was called on by the local council to upgrade the city's infrastructure. This has led to some of the quarter's most iconic buildings and locations being constructed, such as the Rathaus Neukölln (city hall), the Stadtbad Neukölln (public bath house), the Körnerpark's orangerie, and the power station on Weigandufer.^[59]

Neukölln's independence ended in 1920 when it was incorporated into Berlin as part of the Greater Berlin Act and, together with the quarters Britz, Rudow and Buckow, formed the new borough of Neukölln, Berlin's 14th (and since the 2001 reform 8th) administrative district. Rixdorf continued to exist, and is today represented by two neighborhoods in the center of Neukölln, Böhmisch-Rixdorf and Richardplatz-Süd. Many of the old landmarks are still intact, and several areas and streets like the Bohemian Kirchgasse have retained their idyllic and rural character.^[60]

Berlin-Neukölln

In the Weimar Republic, Neukölln's population eventually grew to 278,208 in 1930.^[61] In order to relieve the older tram networks, the Berlin S-Bahn was electrified starting in 1926, while Neukölln's Südring (south ring) lines were modernized in 1928. Additionally, two lines of the Berlin U-Bahn were extended through Neukölln between 1926 and 1930.^[62]

Neukölln remained a working-class quarter and communist stronghold. This led to increasing tensions between left-wing radicals like the KPD and the Berlin police, culminating in the Bloody May riots of 1929 (Blutmai). The Nazis viewed the quarter as "Red Neukölln", and tensions with the rivaling socialist and communist groups ensued as early as November 1926, when Joseph Goebbels sent over 300 men of the Sturmabteilung (SA) on a propaganda march through Neukölln, ending in clashes on the Hermannplatz. The conflict intensified until the end of the republic, leading to occasional armed engagements like the Rixdorf shootout of October 1931, when communists attacked the Richardsburg, a Sturmlokal of the SA. After the National Socialists' rise to power in 1933, the SA extended their campaigns and also targeted rallies and events by moderate parties like the SPD.^[63]

After the onset of World War II in 1939, the Rixdorf factories of the Krupp-Registrierkassen-Gesellschaft and American company National Cash Register, which had merged as the National Krupp Registrierkassen GmbH during the Weimar Republic, were transformed into military production facilities.^[64] In 1942 a forced labor camp for up to 865 mainly Jewish and Romani women from the conquered Eastern territories was established on the factory grounds. In 1944 it was absorbed as one of several Berlin outposts (Außenlager^[65]) of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, primarily for female Jewish-Polish forced laborers, who had been transferred from the Łódź Ghetto and Auschwitz respectively.^[66] The camp's last remaining barracks stood until the year 1957.^[67]

From 1945 to 1949, Neukölln was part of the American sector of Berlin, encompassing the south and south-west of what would later become West Berlin, an enclave of West Germany within Communist East Germany from 1949 until German reunification in 1990. The Sonnenallee, connecting Neukölln with Baumschulenweg in former East Berlin, was the site of a border crossing of the Berlin Wall.^[68] During the Cold War Neukölln retained its status as a traditional working-class area and one of Berlin's red-light districts. Many gastarbeiter, especially from Turkey and Greece, settled in Kreuzberg and Neukölln since the 1950s, later followed by Palestinian and Arabic refugees from the Lebanese Civil War. ^[69]

Since the 1970s and 80s, Neukölln, like the neighboring Kreuzberg, has embraced alternative forms of living and an often anti-establishment and anti-fascist culture that is still active to this day. In the 1990s late repatriates from formerly Soviet states like Ukraine and Russia resettled in Germany, many of them in Berlin, and in Neukölln specifically.

Modern neighborhood formation

In the 1960s, a public housing boom ensued in Berlin, which also changed the face of many parts of Neukölln's neighborhoods. Most older Gründerzeit neighborhoods were only expanded with discreet perimeter block development, but large areas of Rollberg (1960–70s) and almost all of the Weiße Siedlung (1970s) were built during this time. Construction of the youngest neighborhood, the High-Deck-Siedlung, began in 1975 and ended in 1984 as a follow-up to the earlier large-scale housing developments Gropiusstadt and Märkisches Viertel.

Future development

In the 21st century, further residential development in Neukölln is still possible by repurposing many of the garden plots that have primarily formed on or near the historical border to former East-Berlin. However, important recreational areas would be lost, and there are no plans by the administration to let the relevant leases expire. Alternative plans to clear green spaces like the former cemetery forest Emmauswald regularly encounter strong resistance.^[70] Current development mainly has to rely on compacting measures by covering the last remaining bombing gaps from World War II, on redeveloping former industrial neighborhoods like the Neukölln Docklands,^[71] and on perimeter block development, where possible. A recent example can be found in the Bouché neighborhood, where the mainly industrial block Harzer Straße/Elsenstraße will be undergoing residential redevelopment.^[72]

Berlin-Neukölln in the 21st century

Following a decade as a typical inner-city hot spot, 21st century Neukölln has experienced an influx of students, creatives and other young professionals of mostly Western origin avoiding higher rents charged in other parts of Berlin. The trend increased after the 2008 financial and 2010 European debt crises, when many young EU citizens left their home countries for Germany in search of work, leading to rapid cultural shifts in certain neighborhoods within Neukölln, especially the neighborhoods to the north and west from Reuter- to Schillerkiez. Coupled with increasing domestic and foreign real estate investments, this has caused a knock-on effect of rents to rise in many parts of Neukölln.^[73]

In 2019 46% of Neukölln residents had been first or second-generation immigrants.^[74] The percentage rose to 48% in 2022 due to the ongoing European migrant crisis,^[75] with the most recent migration originating mostly in Muslim countries. As of 2024, the percentage of foreigners without German citizenship is 21.8% on the low end in Bouchéstraße (LOR 100313), and as high as 40.9% in both Donaustraße (LOR 100314) and Glasower Straße (LOR 100209).^[76] Over the years, this development and a strong local left-wing bedrock has led to a significant increase in antisemitism^[77] and pro-Palestinian propaganda.^[78] Two out of Berlin's seven so-called "crime-burdened locations" are in Neukölln, Hermannplatz with Donaukiez including Sonnenallee,^[79] and Hermannstraße around Hermannstraße Station,^[80] and especially in these neighborhoods, Neukölln is also characterized by social and religious conflicts, manifesting in educational challenges,^[81] organized crime by Islamic clans with recurring gang and drug violence,^[82] occasional rioting,^[83] transphobia and homophobia.^[84]

Nevertheless, the vibrant immigrant culture and recent cosmopolitan evolution, especially in the northern Reuterkiez neighborhood, have turned Neukölln into one of the trendiest districts of Berlin and the epitome of gentrification and socioeconomic change in the city,^[85] steadily ranking as one of the world's most desirable places to visit and live.^[86]

Transport

Public transport

In Berlin, urban railway services are managed by the S-Bahn Berlin GmbH, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, while all other public transport systems are managed by the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), which together with the Brandenburg providers form the Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB).

U-Bahn

Neukölln is served by two U-Bahn (subway) rail lines, the northwest-to-southeast U7 (Rathaus Spandau ↔ Rudow) and the north-to-south U8 (Wittenau ↔ Hermannstraße), with an interchange between the two at Hermannplatz. Within Neukölln, the U7 has three additional eastbound stations along the Karl-Marx-Straße: Rathaus Neukölln, Karl-Marx-Straße and Neukölln, the latter being an interchange between U- and S-Bahn. The U8 has three additional southbound stations along the Hermannstraße: Boddinstraße, Leinestraße and Hermannstraße, the latter being the quarter's second interchange between U- and S-Bahn.

Three U-Bahn stations just outside of the quarter offer quicker access to certain neighborhoods of Neukölln: Südstern (U7) to the western parts of Hasenheide, Schönleinstraße (U8) to the Reuterkiez, and Grenzallee (U7) to the southern and south-eastern industrial parks including the Neukölln Harbor.

During workday nights, approximately between 1:00 and 4:00, Berlin's subways are not operational, but are replaced by buses. In Neukölln, the U7 and U8 are replaced by the bus lines N7 and N8 respectively. During nights before Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, the U-Bahn lines operate continuously.

S-Bahnedit

Neukölln is served by five S-Bahn (urban railway) lines, with U-Bahn interchanges at Berlin-Hermannstraße (U8) and Berlin-Neukölln (U7), each for all of the five lines. The S45 connects Neukölln and the airport (see below). Two additional important services are the Ringbahn circle lines S41 (clockwise) and S42 (counter-clockwise), connecting i.a. to Südkreuz, Westkreuz, Gesundbrunnen (Nordkreuz) and Ostkreuz. The other two lines are the S47 via Niederschöneweide to Spindlersfeld in the south-east, and the S46, which connects Neukölln to Westend in the far west and the town Königs Wusterhausen south-east of Berlin via Adlershof, Grünau and the town Zeuthen. Overall, Neukölln has four S-Bahn stations, the aforementioned Hermannstraße and Neukölln as well as Sonnenallee on the Ringbahn at the outskirts of Rixdorf, and Köllnische Heide on the southeastbound railway, providing S-Bahn access to the inhabitants of Weiße Siedlung, High-Deck-Siedlung and Schulenburgpark.

Busedit

Due to sufficient access to U- and S-Bahn for most areas of Neukölln, the quarter is not served by any of Berlin's ExpressBus lines. Still, Neukölln has several regular bus lines, connecting for example Marzahn (194) and Marienfelde (277). There are also four MetroBus lines, the most important ones being the M29 connecting to the western city center including Kurfürstendamm, the M41 to Berlin Central Station, and the southbound M44 to Buckow-Süd, the destination of a potential extension of the U-Bahn line U8 (see below). In addition to the U-Bahn replacement bus lines during night hours, Neukölln is served by several regular night bus lines, for example the N47 connecting Hermannplatz and Berlin East railway station (Ostbahnhof).

Airport connectionsedit

Since the closing of the airports Tegel and Tempelhof, whose airfield was partially situated in Neukölln, Berlin only has one remaining international airport, Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), the former (and greatly extended) Berlin Schönefeld Airport just outside of Berlin. As of 2024, BER passengers to or from Neukölln can only use buses or the S-Bahn for direct connections.^[87]

When using the U-Bahn, an interchange between subway and the airport express bus lines X7 and X71 is necessary at the U7 terminus Rudow.^[88] For S-Bahn access, an interchange is necessary between U-Bahn and the S45 at the stations Hermannstraße (U8) or Neukölln (U7). As of 2024, the S45 operates every 20 minutes from 5:00–24:00 and 7:00–24:00 on Sundays respectively. During the night, the U-Bahn service is replaced by the night bus line N7, which directly connects Neukölln and the airport.^[89]

Futureedit

There are concrete medium-term plans to extend the U7 south beyond Rudow in order to directly connect the airport BER to Neukölln and the rest of Berlin via U-Bahn, adding at least three additional stations inbetween, Rudow-Süd (Neuhofer Straße), Lieselotte-Berger-Platz and Schönefeld for an S-Bahn interchange. As of 2024, a performance audit for the extension is under way.^[90] As Greater Berlin has been steadily growing since German reunification to now almost 4.8 million inhabitants, with extensive residential construction happening in Berlin's immediate surrounding regions, public transport extensions to the city's periphery are propagated frequently. With regard to Neukölln, an internal 2023 BVG feasibility study on long-term U-Bahn network expansion included a southbound extension of the U8 beyond Hermannstraße, terminating in Buckow-Süd just outside of Berlin.^[91]

Bus and DRTedit

Two new MetroBus and ExpressBus lines are planned, the M94 to Friedrichsfelde-Ost via Treptow and Ostkreuz station, and the X77 from Hermannstraße to Marienfelde via Alt-Mariendorf.^[92]

Mainly two neighborhoods of Neukölln are insufficiently connected to the Berlin public transportation system, either because they were never developed (Schillerpromenade), or because the old and small streets prevent the establishment of bus lines (Alt-Rixdorf). Therefore the Berlin Senate and the BVG plan to create a network of DRT bus lines (Rufbus) for large parts of Neukölln, from the western neighborhoods at the Tempelhofer Feld to the Sonnenallee in the east, covering Schillerpromenade, Flughafenstraße, Rollberg, Körnerpark and both Rixdorf neighborhoods.^[93]

Tramedit

Neukölln currently has no connection to the Berlin MetroTram network, and due to the Teltow slopes and narrower streets in places like Flughafenstraße, only Neukölln's northern neighborhoods in the glacial valley are immediately suitable for tram expansion. A long-gestating plan proposes to extend the MetroTram line M10 by the year 2030, from Kreuzberg (SO 36) through the Görlitzer Park and crossing the Landwehr Canal into Neukölln, with stations planned at Framstraße, Pannierstraße and Hermannplatz via Sonnenallee. This would create a direct public transport connection from Neukölln (Reuterkiez) to Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain, Prenzlauer Berg, Mitte and Moabit via Berlin Central Station.^[94]

Individual transportedit

Motorized individual transportedit

Since Neukölln is densely populated and highly urbanized, most of its streets come with a speed limit of 30 km/h for motorized vehicles, including more aggressive measures in recent years aimed at reducing traffic with one-way roads and concepts like the Spielstraße ("play street") or the Kiezblock (fixed or modular diverters). Furthermore, in 2024 the Senate of Berlin and the borough's administration have begun to monetize public parking space in the northern neighborhoods in order to steer away some of the excess traffic.^[95]

Nevertheless, several main roads function as important arterial connections to other parts of Berlin: Columbiadamm, Urbanstraße and Hasenheide connect to the western parts of Berlin south of the city center via Tempelhof and the eastern neighborhoods of Kreuzberg (61) respectively, while Sonnenallee, Karl-Marx-Straße and Hermannstraße connect to southern and south-eastern parts of Berlin via Britz and Baumschulenweg respectively. The Kottbusser Damm is the main road to the SO 36 neighborhood of Kreuzberg in the north, but traffic calming measures have reduced its importance in recent years. Except for the Columbiadamm, all of the above arterial roads converge at Hermannplatz.

The A100 autobahn just outside of Neukölln's border with Britz connects to the western parts of Berlin, with an eastern extension through parts of Neukölln to Alt-Treptow under construction, and a planned extension further east into Friedrichshain and Lichtenberg via Ostkreuz. At the interchange Autobahndreieck Neukölln, the A100 connects to the A113 autobahn, which leads south to BER airport and the A10, Berlin's orbital autobahn.

Bicycle trafficedit

Most of Neukölln's one-way streets are two-way for cyclists. In recent years, several side streets have been rededicated as bicycle boulevards, especially in the Reuterkiez, while larger main roads have been reconstructed to include properly separated bike lanes, for example Kottbusser Damm and Hasenheide, with plans for more reconstruction in the coming years.

Pedestrian trafficedit

Due to Berlin's usually broad sidewalks, extensive speed limits, especially on side streets, and other measures like play streets and an increasing number of one-way streets, Neukölln has become a rather safe environment for pedestrians. However, compared to other German cities, very few pedestrian zones exist in Neukölln, currently only the "youth street" Rütlistraße (Reuterkiez) and the Tempelhofer Feld. There are proposals and concrete plans to rededicate certain locations as either pedestrian zones or mixed zones for pedestrians and cyclists, for example the Elbestraße and Weichselstraße in the Reuterkiez.

Several hiking trails exist along the waterways within or bordering Neukölln, primarily the Landwehr Canal, parts of the Neukölln Ship Canal, the Britz Canal, and the Heidekampgraben in the east. Other green trails are limited to Neukölln's parks, especially the Hasenheide, the Tempelhofer Feld, the Carl-Weder-Park, and the eastern garden plots. However, due to Neukölln's highly urbanized and partially industrialized character, few of the trails are sufficiently interconnected, as it is often found in the suburban quarters of Berlin.

Freight transportedit

Almost all of Neukölln's industrial parks are situated in the southern and eastern parts of the quarter. Both the A100 and A113 highways function as vital access ways, not least for connecting to the BER aiport's freight terminals, but the Neukölln Harbor alongside Berlin's waterways also plays a prominent role in the transportation of goods. Besides S-Bahn services, the stations Hermannstraße, Sonnenallee along the Neukölln Ship Canal, and especially Neukölln offer additional capacities for freigth traffic via railways. They connect eastbound via Köllnische Heide, and westbound alongside Berlin's orbital S-Bahn infrastructure, continuing either westbound via Südkreuz or southbound and southwestbound via Tempelhof. One additional smaller historical railroad still in use today is the Neukölln-Mittenwald railroad, which branches off south of the Tempelhofer Feld between the stations Hermannstraße and Tempelhof and traverses the Teltow Canal in order to connect other industrial areas further south, eventually leading back east to the Teltow Canal via the Rudow industrial through track. Additional shorter sections of railroad connect the Neukölln Harbor directly to Neukölln station and a large industrial park north of the Britz Canal near Neukölln's neighborhood High-Deck-Siedlung.

Main sightsedit

• Rixdorf village church, consecrated in 1481, adopted by the Moravian Protestants in 1737, officially called Bethlehem Church since 1912.
• Şehitlik Mosque, on the Turkish cemetery, finished in 2005 by the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DİTİB).
• Neuköllner Oper: Opera house that hosts a wide range of performances including musicals, baroque opera, operetta, or experimental music theatre. Famous for its aim to bring elitist culture to a wider audience.^[96]
• Stadtbad Neukölln, the local swim hall which consists of antique thermal baths inspired by Greek temples and basilicas.
• Körnerpark: Park in neobarock style with fountains, orangerie, exhibition rooms and a cafe, founded 1910 by Franz Körner as a present to Rixdorf.

Notable peopleedit

Bruno Bauer

Hermann Boddin

Horst Buchholz

Jutta Limbach

Inge Meysel

Antonio Rüdiger

Engelbert Zaschka