Walking Tour Berlin - Prenzlauer Berg

The North-East of Berlin used to be farmland with a handful of windmills in the early 19th century. Today, it accomodates a quarter of pre-WWII residential houses which is unparalleled in Germany in its homogeneity. Relatively unscathed in WWII, the area left and right of Schönhauser Allee was severely neglected afterwards until the turnaround, when a large part of the dilapidated buildings was redeveloped.

The former workers’ settlement was also a center of Jewish life up until the 1940s. When East Berlin was still the capital of the GDR, Prenzlauer Berg was already characterized by students, artists and intellectuals.

Oppositionist lobbies started gathering here in the 1970s and massively influenced the political landscape in 1989, ultimately leading to the German Reunification from the Eastern German side.

The district rose to magnetically attracting alternatives and heirs of a rather bohemian lifestyle from all over the world after the Wall had fallen. Ever since Prenzlauer Berg gained the attention of higher income groups and the subsequent rent increase began, the population has started to change profoundly. Critical analyses see therein a threat to the social melange and the colorful, attractive lifestyle of the area.

Metro-Station "Senefelderplatz" (U2) - Metzer Straße 45, 10405 Berlin - in front of the LPG Biomarkt