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Areas Overview

Reinickendorf.

Reinickendorf is one of the greenest borough's in Berlin. it is located in the northwest of Berlin and has a large lake and forestry area. The district was formed during the formation of "Greater Berlin" in 1920 and incorporated the six peasant villages of; Reinickendorf, Wittenau, Tegel, Heiligensee, Hermsdorf and Lübars. During partition all of the districts of the borough were within West Berlin and under the control of the French Allies.

The borough has a variety of residential areas including imposing high rise tower blocks and small quaint old village centres. The district has a long industrial tradition and was home to international known names like Borsig. While much of the original industrial areas in the borough have been redeveloped there are still today many Global companies including Borsig, Motorola and Oracle. There is an interesting mix of over 9,000 businesses established in the borough in a variety of business and industrial locations.

The districts to the north west of the borough are popular for holidaying Berliners and visitors to the city where there is a good variety of hotels, rental apartments and leisure facilities surrounding both forest and lake areas. It is possible to hire sailing and other water based leisure equipment there or take the local tourist steamship up and down the large waterways.

With almost five square kilometres Tegeler See in one of the largest open waterways in the city and has been a popular recreation area since the 1920's. The Greenwich Promenade close to the old village centre of Tegel is a high quality birth where passenger's can board ships for the daily excursions.

North of Tegeler See and Alt Tegel the forest of Tegel extends over an area of 2000 Hectares to the north of the district. The Tegeler Forest is a very popular recreational area with hiking trails, children's playgrounds, bridle paths and dog walking areas providing great facilities for relaxing Berliners.

The districts of Reinickendorf are: Reinickendorf, Tegel, Konradshöhe, Heiligensee, Frohnau, Hermsdorf, Waidmannslust, Lübars, Wittenau and Märkisches Viertel.

District Information.

Reinickendorf (pop 73,000) is in the south east of the borough bordering onto Wedding and Pankow. With a population density of over 7000/Km2 it is one of the highest density districts of Berlin with densities similar to the centre of the city. The overall housing structure is more suburban than the concentrated higher rise developments in neighboring Wedding. While there has been much developmment in the district and while the Alt (old) Reinickendorf has retained much of its character while the area to the north of it has been completly re-developed. Many older buildings dating from the late 17th century are preserved in the original village centre and now form a conservation area. The "Weiße Stadt" (White City) development centred on Aroser Allee is one of main residential developments in Berlin from the Weimar Period between the wars. The house and floor plan designs were based on standardized plans and components in the development based on early Pre-Fabricated concrete designs to minimise cost and space requirements, this development included over 1200 residences. West of Alt Reinickendorf is an interesting development from the 1920's by the "Gruppe Nord" (North Group) housing society. This was based on glazed winter gardens and the contrast of while plaster surfaces and red brick walls.

During occupation by the French Allies a two and three storey residential development, "Cité Berthezéne" was built in the south west of the district. To minimise the discomfort of residents under the flight path of Tegel Airport much of the developments from the 1960's and 1970's were designed with and extra attention to use of high-quality sound-proof windows.

A major retail area, the "Der Clou" (the Sting) shopping centre, provides a good selection of restaurants/cafes, food and clothing stores, shops and boutiques.

Tegel (pop 33,000) covers nearly half the area of the Borough and includes most of the green areas and the Tegeler See. The district as a very varied character with large green areas, extensive waterways, mixed residential and industrial (Tegel Airport includes) areas. With less than 1000 residents/km2 the district has one of the lowest densities of any major Berlin district. Alt(Old) - Tegel on the north eastern shore of the "Tegeler See" has many historic buildings dating from the mid-19th century. East of Alt-Tegel is a pedestrian zone with the main shopping centre of Tegel includoing department stores, a covered market and further small retail facilities. Housing within the district could be described as mixed, in the core area are enclosed multi family buildings. There are some very nice side streets with well-renovated mostly rented single-family houses in Old Tegel, many of the streets there are lined with trees. There are some high-rise buildings close to the Tegeler See with some city-villas and residential complexes also in the area. The IBA (international building exhibition) development was constructed in the Tegel basin between 1984 and 1988 with the theme "Living, leisure and Culture". It contains approximately 350 residences created by internationally renowned architects each with individual styles.

The district is associated with the Borsig and Von Humboldt families. The patriarch of the Von Humboldt family, George Alexander, married into the family who owned the original estate and château on which "Schloss Tegel" would later be built. Von Humboldt Snr arranged for a park to be set out on the estate in the 1780's and which is today a popular tourist destination. The two sons of George Alexander, Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt, were prominent figures in Berlin. William became owner of the estate in 1797 following his mother's death and in the 1820's built the current Schloss Tegel on the estate. The Schloss is still in the private ownership of the family (now named Heinz) and has at times been open to the public. The tomb of the Von Humboldt family is located in the adjacent park.

The Villa Borsig, built in 1910, was originally home to the Borsig family who had previously established the Borsig Locomotive Factory within the borough. In the 1930's the Villa was taken over by the Reich Government until the French Allies established themselves there after the war, the villa is currently used as a federal building.

"Borsigwalde" in nearby Wittenau is a residential development that was built for the workers of the Borsig Company. The old "Borsigwerke" buildings were converted into one of Berlin's largest shopping malls "Borsighallen" on the former industrial site.

The district of Tegel is mostly known now for its Airport which opened in 1975 as the principle airport for West Berlin. The area on which the airport lies was originally a shooting range and where the Graff Zeppelin landed in 1909. The area was used for early rocket developments that led to the V1/V2 rockets of the war and eventually through Werner Von Braun to the American Moon rockets. The airport is due to close in 2011 as all Berlin Air-traffic will be moved to Berlin Brandenburg International (BBI) Airport at Schoenefeld.

Konradshöhe/Tegelort (pop 6,000) is a very small district in the western edge of the borough and dates from the 1860's. While the district itself is mostly usban in nature it is located within the wonderful natural boundaries of the Tegeler See in the south, the Havel to the west and Tegeler Forest to the east and north. Over the course of the 20th century many attractive villas were built within the district. The area has always been a popular recreational destination for Berliners drawn to the area by its waterways, boating facilities and good selection of Restaurants and Inn's. Following the relocation of the Federal government to Berlin the area has been a popular settlement area for federal government employees. In 1979 there was a development of two-family and multi-family houses in the centre of the district. Nearby at Falkenplatz there are good retail facilities and recreational spaces including a children's play park.

Heiligensee (pop 18,000) is located in the extreme north west of the borough and is on the city boundary.Th Distrct is quite built up in the west of the district while in the east it covers part of "Tagel Forest" The old vilage centre "Alt-Heiligensee" is surrounded by the water's of Heiligensee and the Havel which restricted geographic expansion. The old village church dates from the end of the 15th century with later additions in the later part of the 16th century. The high water table of the area limited the full use of the local cemetery until a proper facility was built in the 1900's. There are still many houses in the old village dating from the late 18th century, the district was primarily an agricultural area up until the 20th century. There is an artist's workshop at the old village green which has been home to an artistic community for many years. The development of the district in the 1920's occurred to the east of the old village towards the district boundary at Ruppiner Chaussee. North east of Ruppiner Chaussee was a 1935 development known as the "Borsig Settlement" for workers from the largest industrial facility in the borough. The development consisted of small single family houses. A notable commercial business in the district is the "Underberg" company which has been based here for over 100 years, its unique "bitters" is made here to a special family recipe. Tetra Pak, the packaging company, has a facility in the district.

Frohnau (pop 17,000) is located on the northern edge of Reinickendorf and dates from the 1900's. It was conceived as a garden city and now contains many exclusive villas and country-house's. A planning competition in 1908 resulted in the architects Joseph Brix and Felix Genzmer designing a settlement for up to 30,000 residents based on a variety of size and shape of building.

The garden development of the scheme was designed by landscape architect Ludwig Lesser based on an English Garden Style. Between the war's paved tree-lined streets and sidewalks were laid out for developments that never occurred. Even today it is still possible to see the old paved roads through forest areas. During partition the district was almost completely isolated on the north tip of West Berlin.

Frohnau offers a modern and stylish lifestyle with good retail opportunities, schools and nurseries which makes this district particularly attractive for families. The district is popular for the more exclusive sports like polo, horseback riding, golf and tennis. Landmarks in the district include the "Casino Tower" from 1910 which is a 30-metre high landmark with a viewing platform and on the tower facade there are clocks facing all four directions. The Radio Transmission Towers of Frohnau, built in the late 1970's, at nearly 360 meters high are the second highest structure in Berlin. Prior to German reunification they provided a radio link with the Federal Republic of Germany.

Hermsdorf (pop 17,000) is centred on an old village which was originally settled in the late 16th century. When the residential development in the suburbs of Berlin began in the start of the 20th century the population of Hermsdorf increased quickly and was over 6000 by the 1920's. The village centre is in the north of the borough and consists of a medium quality living environment with a good mix of single-and multi-family houses, the properties were typically built as individual villas and four/six family residential blocks. The district is bisected by the S Bahn line which provides good access to the city centre. In the vicinity of the S-Bahn station there is a superior environment with pleasant residential side streets. In the area east of the S-Bahn line, there are still some beautiful old farmhouses from the 18th and 19th century.

Waidmannslust (pop 10,000) is a very small district in the middle of the borough, it was developed around the "Inn Waidmannslust" established there in the late 19th century. Villas and country houses dominated the architectural style of early Waidmannslust. these became second homes for many French people based in the area after the war. Later in the 19th century there followed developments of larger housing estates. Since the withdrawal of the Allies in 1994 there are still about 9000 French residents in Reinickendorf with many of them in Waidmannslust. With the limited space available in West Berlin due to partition the need for new housing led to more high rise developments, the "Rollberge Siedlung" (Rolling Hills) project from the late 1960's resulted. The development is located in the east of the district adjoining "Märkisches Viertel" and has approximately 2000 apartments, this includes the 22 storey twin towers in Titisee Str. There is an area of fine well-preserved Art Nouveau houses in the region of Diana/Prince Bismarck Street.

Lübars (pop 5,000) is the last remaining village within the city limits of Berlin and also the oldest village in the district of Reinickendorf with references going back to the 11th century. The first expansion of the village occurred in the middle of the 19th century as development within Berlin resulted in more people settling in the outlying areas.

The district was a site for brick construction from the middle of the 19th century and had a number of well known brickyards which provided materials for the fast-growing city.

The area was incorporated into Greater Berlin in 1920. The village is known for its equine activities which are maintained to the present day. There are still some working family farms within the village surroundings, these are the only working farms in Berlin. In the centre of the village is a church, a fire station, a village pond and schoolhouse. Lübars remained a curiosity for West Berliner's because it was the only traditional village within the walled in densely populated West Berlin. The area has a large recreational park built on an old landfill site with a hill which has a Ski/toboggan slope, playing fields, vast riding apace, hiking and bike paths. There is a nearby beach with has good clear water for visitors to swim and paddle in.

Wittenau (pop 28,000) is based around an old vilage dating from the 18th century when it was mostly forest and heath land. It was incorporated into Greater Berlin in the 1920 reorganisation when the population was over 10,000. Development of the district was helped by the construction of the northern railway line with a stop at Wittenau. The Reinickendorf city hall dating from 1911 is located in the Wittenau. A notable development in the district is the "Borsigwalde" which dates from the start of the 20th century. The development was created as housing for employees of the "Borsigwerke" in nearby Tegel. Prestigious residential buildings were built for senior staff while tenement style developments were built to accommodate up to 4000 manual workers from the factory. The tenement buildings originally were built without flowing water or Sewage facilities which contributed to health issues for the residents of the development. Renovation and expansion of the development was undertaken in the 1930's, parts of the settlement are protected as listed monuments. The district has a large French Influence with street names and post war developments influenced by its position in the French Zone after the war. Located around Jean-Jaures Str. is the "Cite Foch" development which included nearly 800 homes for the French Forces.

The "Märkisches Viertel (quarter)" (pop 36,000) is in the eastern edge of the borough and was one of three large housing developments built in West Berlin during partition, the others are the "Gropiusstadt" development in Neukölln and the "Falkenhagener Feld" in Spandau. The development was completed between 1963 and 1974, the approximately 17,000 apartments were meant to accommodate up to 50,000 residents. The south and east of the settlement bordered onto the East Berlin borough of Pankow during partition.

Residents for the development came from inner-city areas where their old homes were demolished as part of the regeneration of the City. Initially this meant that the new residents felt uncomfortable with their "forced relocation" to the suburbs with resulting settlement problems. The poor local infrastructure failed to match the needs and expectations of the new residents and added to the areas reputation as a breeding ground for extremism. This issue has been addressed in recent years with many small retail developments within the development. In 2002 a large modern retail development was completed in the settlement as part of the improvements in the local infrastructure post re-unification. Efforts have been made to soften the environment within the original developments with renovations of the entrances and common areas of the developments. The area is now seen as a more family friendly area with the second generation of many families still living within the area.

What's happening in Reinickendorf?

Reinickendorf is currently the borough with the highest rate of population decline while conversely also showing the lowest vacancy rates. This implies there has been some reduction in the total number of properties in the borough, this is generally the case where there is minimal new build and older properties are demolished or put to other uses. During the residential construction boom years (1991 – 2002) after re-unification Reinickendorf saw less new build than any other borough in Berlin except for Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, allowing for the comparative divergence in the available space between the mostly urban Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and the much more rural/suburban character of Reinickendorf this shows that the area missed out significantly on the construction boom of this period. Overall new build post re-unification in the semi-rural boroughs that were in East Berlin was much higher than those that were in West Berlin. The most significant difference can be seen between the total number of residential new builds during this period in Pankow - 20,000 and Reinickendorf - 6,000, both boroughs with quite similar total areas.

The borough is one of four that shows stationary residential rental costs for the period to the middle of 2007. This puts it somewhere at the bottom of the market development charts and liable to only see rental rate increases after rates have increased elsewhere in Berlin. The absence of any troublesome areas and the desirability of the area for families due to its great natural resources have helped maintain average property prices in the borough towards the top of the chart for Berlin. A detailed discussion on the range of properties in Berlin and issues relating to renovation and re-development is available in the Property Types section.

Future Trends

(Anecdotal based rather than data based). As the borough with the 2nd highest average income, after Steglitz-Zehlendorf, there is a large disposable income in the area which bodes well for the more desirable properties in the borough. In the near term due to its geographic position away from the current growth areas, in the centre and the south, the borough would be more a long term play rather than one in the turn-around stage which would be expected to show greater growth in the short term. While it is currently one of only two boroughs, with Marzahn-Hellersdorf, with recent evidence of easing property prices the overall improvement in Berlin should soon halt this reduction and this may already be the case.

With an "Owner Occupancy" rate of nearly 23% it is one of a group of four boroughs (Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Reinickendorf, Treptow-Köpenick and Marzahn-Hellersdorf) which have noticeably higher owner occupancy rates than elsewhere in the city. The common geographic locations of these four boroughs, stretching out to the rural periphery of the city boundaries, is indicative of higher owner occupancy rates in more rural neighbourhoods which have higher levels of single family properties. With the lowest ratio of property price to income in Berlin the borough has the potential for an increase in the rate of owner occupancy helping to restore the premium on property values, based on rental yield's, that the borough enjoyed in recent years.

The willingness of investors to purchase residential investment property at increasingly lower rental yields in Berlin should be a long term driver for price growth. This is definitely a long term "Buy and Hold" area where good returns can be expected but without any of the speculative gains that are possible in other areas of the city. For more information on "Owner Occupancy Rates" and other general analysis data visit our Graphs of Economic Performance page.

Landmarks and Attractions

In Reinickendorf include the Humboldt-Mill, Originally known as The Tegeler mill it originates in 1810. It was converted to run on steam in 1848 and connected to Tegeler lake in 1851. Following further development in 1887 it became know as "Humboldt mill" and operated as a working mill up to 1988. The century old buildings of the mill are protected monuments which were fully restored between 1989 and 1992. Together with some newly designed buildings the "Mill" operates as a Hotel and Service centre.

Finished in 1898 the Borsigtor is another protected monument marking the former industrial area of the Borsigwerke. With solid round brick towers and gate it now has the appearance of a medieval fortress entrance. The old locomotive manufacturing area is now the site of trade, leisure and shopping centre and contains the U bahn station "Borsigwerke".

The Villa Borsig is a magnificent country house on the peninsula Reihenwerder and shows its baroque style with its curved roof dome and architecture features taken from the Sanssouci in Potsdam.

Now owned by the federal government it is used as exclusive accommodation by government departments while the area around the mansion has a civil service training centre. It is not open to the public.

The Humboldt Library established the IBA-Central Library "Humboldt-Bibliothek" based around a "Temple Style" feature overlooking the harbour basin. In the shallow water basin in front of the Library Humboldt sits the sculpture "Humboldt- Denkmal", nearby is the sculpture ""Der Hockende" (the squatting) from Volkmar Oellermann.

Neighbourhood Areas of Reinickendorf

Reinickendorf, Tegel, Konradshöhe, Heiligensee, Frohnau, Hermsdorf, Waidmannslust, Lübars, Wittenau, Märkisches Viertel.