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Housing Demand and Development in Berlin Since 1880

Berlin, a boomtown in the late 19th century, has been the focal point for some of the most historical events of the last 100 years including both World Wars, the Weimar republic of the inter-war years, Partition and the “Wall” for most of the second half of the 20th century and finally re-unification and establishment of the federal government of a newly united Germany in the city.

Population growth pre the 1920 Greater Berlin boundary changes is difficult to accurately determine based on current boundaries as many residential developments previously outside the city boundaries were incorporated into Berlin in 1920. Nevertheless it is still evident that the population of Berlin had four main periods of structural change.

Period from 1880 to 1920

From 1880 to 1915 the adjusted population numbers increased from 1.5 Million to 2.5 million, from 1915 to 1920, the WW1 years, the population dropped by approximately 500,000 to 2 million.

From the middle of the 19th century, the private sector had reacted to the enormous population growth and the related extreme housing shortage in Berlin by setting up real estate companies and erecting profit-oriented densely built tenement buildings. From 1900 the newly created building cooperatives/associations established by socially minded citizens provided a strong drive for the growth in development to cater for the ever increasing factory workers drawn to Berlin by the pre-war industrial boom.

The mass residential developments from this period came in a range of layouts with varying degrees of density and enclosure, in general there is a noticeable difference between the inner city area within the Urban Rail Ring and developments outside of this.

Within the Urban Rail Ring this included; Closed Courtyard Developments with side wings and rear buildings with a five/six storey block structure often with several courtyards. As a rule, they are completely enclosed by buildings and interconnected only by passages, in some cases courtyards were reduced almost to air-shaft size proportions and commonly used as waste-bin placement areas. General Courtyard developments again with predominantly five-storey block buildings however unlike the closed courtyard type they were less enclosed often only separated by walls or fences from neighbouring courtyards making them somewhat sunnier and more open than is the case for the "Closed Courtyard” type. In better residential areas, the courtyards contain old trees, paved pathways and beautifully tended decorative garden-beds.

Many of these developments in West Berlin were de-cored after WW2 where the outside block building line was restored with war damaged buildings repaired or replaced and rear buildings demolished and in some cases replaced with free standing modern buildings.

Relatively large interior spaces resulted which were then landscaped for use by residents, with playgrounds, benches, walkways, easy-care planted areas and lawns.

Later on in this period restoration became less brutal and rarely was the rear buildings destroyed with more of an effort made to retain the complete character of the developments. This did not generally occur in East Berlin where the tendency was to demolish complete blocks and replace them with completely new developments.

Outside the Urban Rail Ring a "Decorative Courtyard and Garden Courtyard" type of development occurred characterized by four-storey block buildings often with front yards. The buildings have either lateral or rear buildings, but generally not both. A characteristic feature is a sunny interior which is typically landscaped. The Decorative and Garden Courtyards vary considerably in terms of space and facilities.

With almost 1.9 million housing units at present in Berlin more than 25% (approx 510,000) remain from this period and they still dominate many older neighbourhoods, the remaining residential properties from this period range in quality and include:

High-density Tenement Buildings in working class areas many of which are in a very poor condition, which may have missed out on proper re-development many of which are still without modern bathrooms or central heating.

Grand Altbau Buildings which, mostly in areas of the old West Berlin, were well maintained throughout their life and kept in the best possible condition by the affluent class of Berliner. These properties, or their rebuilt replacements, still provide some of the most desirable properties in Berlin due to their great proportions and generally good locations.

An isolated development towards the end of this period saw the first modern development “Gartenstadt Falkenberg“ (1913-1916) by Bruno Taut in the district of Bohnsdorf in the borough of Treptow-Köpenick. This was the first modern metropolitan housing project in Berlin and was based on the Garden City concept developed by Ebenezer Howard in England.

In 1910 the population of Berlin was over 2 million most of who lived in the 555,000 multi-family developments at a density of 3.7 people per dwelling.

Period from 1920 to 1945

During the mid war years following the creation of Greater Berlin in 1920 the population increased from 2.5 million to 4.4 million (the maximum population ever recorded in Berlin). During WW2 the population dropped to below 2.8 million.

The foundations for the housing developments of this period were the Weimar Constitutional reforms of 1919 which defined house construction as a public function and guaranteed "a healthy home for every German". With housing now a public rather than a private preserve and an ethos of social rather than speculative, comfortable instead of narrow, light instead of dark, airy instead of stifling, hygienic instead of unhealthy: This ended the era of the tenement development and heralded a dramatic growth in social housing.

The Schillerpark Settlement (1924-1930) by Bruno Taut was the first metropolitan housing project in Berlin during the Weimar Republic. Located in the sub-district of Wedding in the borough of Mitte, this was built with a Dutch theme with materials based on the brick buildings of Amsterdam.

The Britz Metropolitan Settlement (1925-1930) by Bruno Taut/Martin Wagner in the sub-district of Britz in the borough of Neukölln. Centred on the horseshoe development surrounding a pond on the site that gave the settlement its name.

Initial expansive nature of the development was toned down later in repose to the economic limitations resulting from the reduction of rental subsidies.

The Carl Legien Housing Estate (1928-1930) by Bruno Taut/Franz Hilinger in the sub-district of Prenzlauer Berg in the borough of Pankow.

This was the highest density development of the mid-war settlements to maximise accommodation levels close to the city centre and is based on four and five storey multi-family houses. The design criteria was to provide high density accommodation but in contrast to the ultra-high density tenements that existed previously.

The White City Metropolitan Settlement (1929-1931) by Martin Wagner in the borough of Reinickendorf, financed by a special fund when rent taxes etc were poor provided a an open-plan internal structure, consisting of fringe buildings and rows of houses as well as intertwining green spaces. When built rationality and economic efficiency were the dominating aspects. The economic limits of the development led to the introduction of pre-fabricated building components, use of vivid colours on architectural featers contrasted with the dominant white facades. Many additional service facilities, local shops, a children's home, a medical practice, café, etc added to the social element of the development.

The Siemensstadt Metropolitan Settlement (1929-1934) by Martin Wagner in the sub-district of Siemensstadt in the borough of Spandau was based on the designs of a number of internationally known architects. It was designed based on a relaxed city atmosphere with prominent green surroundings and retained many older trees.

While urban in nature the settlement appears architecturally diversified with Walter Gropius' cool functionalism, Scharoun's strictly differentiating style of design and Hugo Häring's organic variety of designs.

These developments served as a social counter to the private sector speculative tenement developments that preceded them. Good quality architecture with high aesthetic merit complimented the left-wing social climate of the time.

Trade unions, cooperative and municipal building companies became the main supporters of this construction theme (140,000 new flats were built in Berlin between 1924 and 1931).

In 1939 the population of Berlin was nearly 4.4 million mostly living in the 1.5 million multi-family developments at a density of 2.95 people per dwelling.

Period from 1945 to 1990

From 1945 to 1990 the population of Berlin (East and West combined) stabilised between 3.3 and 3.5 million people.

Post war Urban Developments in Inner Berlin differed markedly between the re-development of East Berlin and West Berlin. In East Berlin there was an effort to create integration of residential, commercial and administrative space The East German government wished to show that developments should serve as a symbol of a new attitude towards the working classes.

Key East Berlin developments of the early “Post War” period were centred in the Frankfurter Allee/Karl-Marx Allee (Originally Stalinallee) to the east of Alexanderplatz; the city centre area was still at this time mostly in ruin. The East German plan for the development of Berlin targeted buildings of “High Social Significance” with a concentration on creating both utilitarian and aesthetically pleasing buildings. As pre-fabricated construction came to dominate the building practices, the initial long straight characterless blocks built in a “corridor” style led to the development of distinctive “Wedding Cake Style” blocks set back a little and surrounded by commercial and leisure facilities within wide pedestrian zones. In many ways the character of “The Allee’s” of the Eastern city centre look more reminiscent of Moscow than Berlin, as was no doubt intended, and culminating in the Twin Towers positioned above some of the most significant “Power Buildings” of the Allee’s. It is somewhat perverse now that the most edgy underground social scene of Berlin now inhabits the side-streets and back areas of Karl-Marx Allee.

Following on from this the area around Alexanderplatz was developed including the construction of the Television Tower designed by Dieter and Franke. This was surrounded by social, commercial and retail developments.

Redevelopment in West Berlin suffered through the conflicting interests of the occupying powers (British, French and American) and the western government. Each of the occupying powers had their own take on how West Berlin should be rebuilt. Due to the absence of any formal National Building Law development in West Berlin did not follow any specific reconstruction plan.

In contrast to East Berlin’s grand corridors of wide “Allee’s” and powerful public spaces the West’s interest was more tuned to catering for the middle and upper classes of the relatively affluent residents of West Berlin. Without a strong mandate the West Berlin planners of this era failed to take a “big picture” view which led to a piecemeal approach to its re-development.

In contrast, developments in West Berlin took quite the opposite approach as seen within the “Hansaviertel” (Hansa District) where a mad mix of blocks of flats and individual houses, designed by some the most prominent promoters of a modernist architecture style were created as a result of the international housing exhibition of 1957 (Interbau).

Under the direction of Otto Bartning the designs completed were by Aalvar Aalto, Egon Eiermann, Walter Gropius, Arne Jacobsen, Wassili Luckhardt, Oscar Niemeyer, Sep Ruf, Paul Schneider-Esleben, Hans Schwippert and Max Taut.

The scheme eventually covered 36 separate projects and is an important example of urban development and modern architecture form the 1950’s. It was meant to have a development by “Le Corbusier” however his project “Corbusierhaus” was eventually located in Charlottenburg on a site south of the Olympic stadium as it was too large to fit on the Hansa site. His 17 storey reinforced concrete building which rests on 7 metre high pillars contained over 550 apartments; the massive building has a highly efficient layout that provided access to all apartments with a minimum of amount of communal space.

By the end of this period social housing in East Berlin was based on the most minimum economic structures, this was the necessary response to demand within the mostly bankrupt economic entity that was East Germany.

The “Plattenbau” became the building of choice in East Berlin based on standardised Pre-Fabricated Concrete construction. These developments initially consisted of very simple “Block” style multi family buildings which were built as the most economical construction method of the period and provided much needed cheap family housing in Socialist East Berlin.

These mainly four-storey blocks of row houses were generally built on old residential areas of the city centre that had been largely destroyed in the war, as well as on the periphery of the dense inner city developments.

Unlike the older parts of Berlin, the mass housing estates in the eastern part of the city are fundamentally characterised by functional monotony and spatiality which is poorly articulated. However, the sheer quantity of the pre-fabricated apartment blocks ruled out the possibility of any replacement.

There are currently nearly 300,000 Plattenbau homes in Berlin, most of these properties have undergone major renovation and repairs in recent years and are mostly owned as part of very large property portfolios. In the borough of Marzahn -Hellersdorf which mostly dates from the 1980’s there are over 100,000 Plattenbau properties and most of the residents of the borough still live in a Plattenbau. Specific developments here include the Plattenbau of Hellersdorf and Neu-Hohenschönhausen which both date from the 1980’s. In recent times nearly all of these properties have been extensively renovated with a modern twist including colourful facades, balconies and glass modern building entrances. The residential units are varied with a lot of green spaces and good children’s recreational space. The district is popular with young.

High-Rise developments included the large residential complexes built primarily during the '60s and '70s in the outskirts areas or as smaller estates in areas in or near the city centre. They consist of detached single high-rises, in some cases combined with at least six (East Berlin) or eight-storey (West Berlin) linear high-rise chains or rows. The buildings in many cases did not take any reference from the existing street layouts and were built without any intent to build any development theme. In East Berlin there was a trend towards six storey pre-fabrication in residential areas which aimed to reflect existing street layouts, the largest of these were in the eastern city centre and north east of the city.

Examples of high rise developments in West Berlin include the “Gropiusstadt” in Neukölln which was built as satellite city originally with nearly 20,000 homes.

The “Gropiusstadt” was designed by Walter Gropius and built between 1962 and 1975.

The development originally accommodated over 35,000 residents but quickly became notorious as a problem zone; it currently houses around 40.000 people and has a questionable reputation.

In Lichtenrade on the periphery of the city the “John-Locke-Siedlung” development dates from the 1970’s. In the south of Lichterfelde the “Thermometersiedlung“ (Thermometer Development) contains approx 4,500 apartments and dates from the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.

In 1990 the population of Berlin was 3.42 million mostly living in the 1.7 million multi-family developments at a density of 1.99 people per dwelling.

Period from 1990

Following reunification in 1989 there was a small increase in the population to 3.5 million by 1992, however after this the population slowly drifted down as economic stagnation forced many people to move following the general trend form East to West Germany. In the last couple of years the decline in the population has been arrested and it stabilised at 3.4 million, lately there has been some evidence of population growth.

The housing market in the capital has passed through various stages since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Directly after reunification acute housing constraints caused rents to soar, the subsequent construction boom put an end to this scarcity. With a construction boom running in parallel with a steady decline in the population vacancy rates ballooned, at its peak in 1998 there was a vacancy rate approaching 9%, or 160,000 units, as a result of which rents and prices tumbled.

From 1990 to 2007 approximately 180,000 housing units were completed in Berlin with the peak of development in 1996 and 1997 when more than 55,000 apartments were built.

Following the prolonged period of dropping property prices and rents new build rates have dropped to approximately 3000 new homes a year with only 1000 new homes in multi-family apartment buildings being built every year.

Since 2004 the combination of the early signs of population growth combined with a dramatic drop off in new build has resulted in the vacancy rate dropping to approximately 5%, or 95,000, an absolute drop of over 75,000 units in the last 10 years. Without a major increase in demand for new properties and higher base prices there is little evidence of the conditions for a return of the developers.

The re-construction objectives of the city administrators following re-unification were based on the need to reconcile the complex architectural evolution of Berlin which was at its most disjointed during the years of partition. objectives listed for the “New Berlin” were:

There were two distinct classifications of properties built in the years immediately after unification, low density urban developments and compact high density developments. The low density urban developments typically consists of rows of single and twin-family houses with fewer than 4 floors mainly built on the outskirts of the city. Layouts typically include carports and private gardens etc. The compact high density developments consisted of properties with more than four floors with enclosed or semi-enclosed courtyards or with a linear form.

Five major urban developments had originally been planned with some 30,000 housing units. The basis of the plan for the “New Suburbs” was the controlled extension of the urban area while avoiding an unrestrained urban sprawl from overflowing into the attractive countryside and farmland surrounding Berlin. The initial projections for the total capacity needs have proved to be somewhat oversized resulting in a contraction of the initial plans.

Among the most prominent new-build projects were the so-called “New Suburbs”, including the settlements: "Karow Nord" (Karow North), "Rummelsburger Bucht" (Rummelsburger Bay), “Stralau” and the "Rummelsburger Ufer" (Rummelsburger Bank). The central planning concept was to incorporate all elements of a functioning society within a mixed use locality to include: Residential, Commercial, Business, Recreational and Cultural facilities. As an alternative to the suburban developments at the city's edge, a variety of urban waterfront dwellings are to be completed by 2015. The goal of these projects, like that of the "Wasserstadt am Spandauer See" (City of Water at Spandauer Lake), is the re-urbanisation of the waterfront district.

With the relocation of the Federal government to Berlin there was an urgent need to provide housing for the large Civil Service staff that would be relocated to the city, ideally this accommodation should be within the downtown area convenient to the newly built Federal Government administration centres in the district of Tiergarten and the Reichstag.

One such development is the "Schlange" (Snake) in the neighbourhood Moabiter Werder which is a very modern housing project while also incorporating a good quality of life. This development of residential accommodation for Civil Servants was built on Moabit Island and was completed in 1999.

Other notable developments in Berlin include: Weißensee in the borough of Pankow which was completed in 1997. Spree Lofts at Stralauer Allee, in the borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Completed in 2003. The Treptower, Hoffmannstraße in the borough of Treptow-Köpenick completed in 1998.

Currently the population of Berlin is 3.4 million mostly living in the 1.88 million multi-family developments at a density of 1.8 people per dwelling.