Berlin Property Portal

and welcome to BerlinPropertyPortal.com.
t: +35 314 43 3237
t: +44 787 503 1517
t: +49 152 242 11524

Areas Overview

Spandau.

The borough is the westernmost one in Berlin and was incorporated into Greater Berlin as part of the re-organisation of 1920. The borough has been the site of military fortifications for nearly 1000 years, the area around the current districts of Spandau itself and Haselhorst was the primary location for these fortifications due to their position at the junction of the Spree and Havel Rivers. The most notable fortification "Spandau Citadel" which dates from the late 14th century is the oldest remaining structure in Berlin (see district information for more on this). Settlements evolved around the local fortifications in the 11th century and with this it became a prominent market area. Over the following centuries many military conflicts characterised what happened in the area.

Economic development in the area was restricted due to its "Fortress" classification and was mainly confined to the military and armaments industries; there was a continuous cycle of boom and bust tied to periods of military action. The borough only stabilized its economy with its de-classification as a fortress area in 1903 and saw major industrial growth thereafter. The principle stimulus for growth came from the Siemens AG industrial and residential settlements of the first part of the 20th century. Following the "Versailles Treaty" of 1919 at the end of the first world war all arms production in the borough was shut down which resulted in over 40,000 locally employed workers losing their jobs overnight. Industry re-engineered with a new industrial focus on motor vehicle chassis, agricultural machinery and motorcycle construction. With strong dissatisfaction still persisting here due to the economic problems embedded by "Versailles" Spandau became one of the early centres of growth of the "Nazi Party". Eventually "Arms" production returned to the area and it became a prominent military industrial location during the 2nd world war.

During post-war partition the borough was almost entirely in the British Zone, there were some small boundary changes at this time mostly linked with the need for British forces to have access to their own airfield "Gatow Airfield" which was located in the borough.

Following re-unification the area now included in the borough of Spandau was the only area where boundaries were changed with some parts of the old GDR included in the borough as the city limits were redrawn to correct alterations made during the carve up of the area between allied forces after the war.

The borough has quite a lot of green area mostly centered at "Spandau Forest" in the north of the borough, The extensive waterways of the borough mostly run north to south on the city side of the borough and were linked by canal to the city, these transport links were critical for the early development of industry in the borough. The earliest train link to the centre of the city of Berlin was constructed in the 1840's.

In more recent times the name of Spandau is synonymous with the "Prison" of the same name where prominent was criminals were imprisoned after the war and which remained in use until the death of its last inmate "Rudolf Hess".

The districts of Spandau are: Spandau, Haselhorst, Siemensstadt, Staaken, Gatow, Kladow, Hakenfelde, Falkenhagener Feld and Wilhelmstadt.

District Information

The district of Spandau (pop 33,000) gives its name to borough and is one of the oldest recorded areas in Berlin. While originally an independent city it was incorporated into Greater Berlin as part of the boundary changes of 1920. It is located around the confluence of the rivers Spree and Havel and has long been the location of military fortifications which were first built in the region in the 10th century. Over time the military fortifications that evolved in the area led to the creation of Spandau Citadel which was completed in 1594 on land that is now in the adjoining district of Haselhorst. The areas armaments history dates from the late 16th century when there was a gun factory in the district, in the 19th and 20th century the district became a major arms production area. At the end of the 19th century Siemens AG setup production in the area and this eventually led to the creation of its own residential district of "Siemensstadt" to the east of the district Spandau. The cultural centre of the borough is the old City Spandau; the structure of the City Spandau generally dates from the early part of the 20th century.

Poor maintenance and repair meant that by the 1970's the quality of properties in the city was very poor. Architectural developments in the city in the 1960's and 1970's failed to respect the historical nature of the existing properties and contributed to the negative impression of the area.

Since the late 1970's there has been a major programme to transform the character of the old city with the aim of improving the housing and living conditions in the area and build on the historical heritage of the old city, as part of this programme the old city area was turned into a preserved pedestrian area.

The district of Spandau and its adjacent residential areas have the feeling of a self-contained urban area. While Spandau is internationally known for its prison where war criminals were imprisoned after the war the Prison is in the district of Wilhelmstadt rather than in Spandau itself.

Haselhorst (pop 14,000) is a hamlet in the west of the city that was incorporated into spandau in 1910 and became part of greater Berlin as part of the alteration of the city boundaries in 1920. It lies between the village of Siemensstadt and Alt(old)-Spandau. It is bordered by the Havel separated, even in the hamlet of Hakenfelde. The Spandau Citadel, which is in Haselhorst, is considered one of the most important and best preserved Renaissance fortresses in Europe and is the oldest remaining structure in Berlin (see attractions). In the north of the district there are nice garden areas and at Haselhorster dam there is a quite 1930's residential development. The area has a long industrial history, companies based in the district now include, BMW Motorcycles, Siemens and Osram.

Siemensstadt (pop 12,000) was created as a residential settlement by Siemens AG. The scale of the initial Siemens AG plant can be seen by the staff numbers recorded in 1913 when over 20,000 employees worked in the district at various parts of their facilities. Siemensstadt still has extensive industrial areas and plants however most of the industrial facilities are no longer part of Siemens AG. With a current population of nearly 12,000 it is comparable in size with a small German city. The district has a major canal network to the north and south of the district which were fundamental to the early industrial developments. Residential developments in the district include the original single family houses from the 1900's, Siemens developments on Rohrdamm in the 1920's and early 1930's and developments to the west of Rohrdamm in the 1950's. The Siemens developments used the latest architectural style and structure of the day.

Staaken (pop 42,000) is located on the western edge of the borough bordering onto the state of Brandenburg. The historic village centre of the district and the north of the district mostly consist of low density developments.

In the south east of the district there are larger settlements from the years when it was part of West Berlin. The Albrechtshof neighbourhood mostly contains single-family homes and has a rural feel.

The "Garden City Staaken" is a small area north east of the village which was laid out as a garden development in 1914 with all houses having their own garden space. The houses in the development have been listed as historical monuments.

The developments of the 1960's and 1970's in "New Staaken" south of the S Bahn line have replaced the original family farms with multi-family houses that increased in density during the construction phases such that it can be seen as a distinct suburban centre. The Hahneberg area in the extreme south west of the borough saw some development before World War 2 but following partition its position with a large part of the area adjacent to the "Wall" meant it remained mostly undeveloped. Following re-unification the undeveloped area was turned into an open metropolitan area with modern apartment buildings dating from the 1990's in the north of Heer Str. The district was unusually divided between the allies due to the horse trading that went on to allow access by the British to the "Gatow Airfield" resulting in parts of West Staaken becoming part of the GDR. Following reunification in 1990 the district was merged into Spandau.

Gatow (pop 6,000) in the south of the borough is one of the least populated districts of Berlin. Gatow has a village style environment with its agricultural areas with many single-family homes with gardens and a few multi-family dwellings. During partition the district was administered by the British who used the military airfield here for their aircraft while the French had Tegel and the Americans had Tempelhof. In the district there are many popular bathing areas located on the banks of the Havel including "Große Badewiese" (great meadow beach) in front of Grunewald Tower and "Kleine Badewiese" (small meadow beach) close to Old Gatow. There is still a residue of contamination of the land from old effluent run-off in the area around Rieselfelder.

Kladow (pop 12,000) is in the southernmost part of the borough and has a village/rural character, some buildings in the old village date from the start of the 17th century. There have been some newer developments in the district including the " Finnenhaussiedlung" (Finns house settlement)from the end of the 1950's.

The latest construction project in the district is the "Old Gatow Airfield" scheme, which is now in the district of Kladow, where a development of up to 1200 single-family, two-family and terraced houses is planned primarily to cater for families. As of the end of 2006 approximately 350 houses had been built by private investors.

A new focal point for the development with local shops etc has recently been completed, also included is a new school, day-care centre and sports facility. Low demand for homes here has meant that completion of this development has been slow.

Hakenfelde (pop 27,000) in the north of the borough has a large boundary to Brandenburg and which would have been with the former GDR pre unification. The district has lots of green areas with two thirds of the district in forest and includes the shoreline to the Havel. The forests in the district are a popular leisure destination for Berliners and are particularly popular with cyclists. The old Hakenfelde coal fired power station that ceased production in 2002 is currently undergoing demolition. In an area on the west bank of the Havel several quarters, which together with an area on the eastern shore of the Havel contains developments totalling over 12,000 apartments dating from the end of the 1990's. A further waterfront development from 2000 is located around the Havel crossing at Hugo Cassirer Str.

Falkenhagener Feld (pop 36,000) is another district with boundaries on the city limits and which borederd the "Wall" during partition. Before the developments of the 1960's it was mostly allotments and agricultural land. With the housing shortages that existed in West Berlin during partition the area saw great residential development starting in the 1960's up until re-unification. This new urban area suffered much social issues and in recent times ahs undergone new management with the objective of improving the social status of the area. The area has a large Turkish and Russian immigrant population. There are some expressionist style houses on Zeppelin Str. which date from the mid 1920's; this area is marked by the four towers at the intersection with Falkenseer Chaussee. There is a recreational area the "Falkenhagener Spektegrünzug" in the south of the district with local retail and commercial areas. Adjacent to Falkenseer Chaussee is a centre with supermarkets and smaller retail/service businesses. The district is on the flight path of Tegel airport and should benefit considerably when the airport eventually closes around 2011.

Wilhelmstadt (pop 38,000) in the middle of the borough is a large residential area which borders on the city limits. There are concentrated traditional tenement areas in the north of the district while there are less concentrated residential areas in the south of the district.

There is a high quality residential area "Weinmeisterhöhe" (wine-masters-height) close to the Havel in the middle of the district. On the south western edge of the district was the location of "Spandau Prison" where senior war criminals were incarcerated.

The Prison remained in use under joint supervision of the allied forces until the death of the last prisoner, Rudolf Hess, in 1987, afterwards the prison was immediately demolished to avoid becoming an unwelcome pilgrimage site.

Two former British army barracks at Wilhelm Str. have been converted for Commercial use since the removal of British forces in 1994.

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.

What's happening in Spandau?

Spandau has suffered more from job losses in recent times than other areas of Berlin, the economic disruption resulting has undermined the rental market for many years. Restrained economic activity is seen as the likely driver for the rental market in the near future with projections of stagnant or dropping rental rates. The last GSW/Jones Lang LaSalle report puts Spandau very much out on its own at the bottom of the rental change charts (still stuck in negative territory).

There is a very wide range in the character of the property within the borough however rental rates remain quite uniform across all properties here. With an average rental cost of approximately 5.0 euro/m2 per month this is nearly 15% below the Berlin average, the yields in the borough are very low based on most of the economic data for the borough (This is probably due to the lag on price changes when compared with the long steady decline in rental costs that have occurred here over the last ten years).

Construction of new residential units in the borough since the fall of the wall has fallen behind that of the boroughs that made up East Berlin, considering the rural nature of much of the district this would indicate that developers are less enthusiastic about the potential of the borough.

The slow-moving development at "Old Gatow Airfield" in Kladow is evidence of the low demand for new build residential developments in the area.

The high costs of "New Build" compared with the current low costs of existing property help restrict new development, in the medium to long term this should be reflected in supply shortages (something that may be hard to contemplate at the moment).

Future Trends

(Anecdotal based rather than data based).With its position at the bottom of the rental change charts Spandau will only see positive development in rental rates as a result of overflow effects from other areas as they become less affordable. With the Berlin market showing an overall trend towards yield compression with higher property prices Spandau should still see some price increases in the near term (the most recent increase in property prices in the borough is almost certainly based on investor activity and an acceptance of lower yields ). However, there is probably little potential in the short to medium term for any core property price increases due to better rental rates so the borough is very definitely a long term play.

Should rental rates and sales prices remain on their present course in the borough it will eventually become a major turn-around play, market entry timing will be important for those looking to take advantage of any turnaround. Spill over as tenants with lower income (or on income support) move into the area from more expensive adjacent boroughs and central areas where rents are rising rapidly should eventually stabilise rental rates.

There are some better performing neighborhood areas within the borough including the Gatow and Kladow districts and the "Water City" developments of recent years on the banks of the Havel. Overall future price growth is liable to happen slower in Spandau than other areas of Berlin.

With an "Owner Occupancy" rate of approximately 10% the borough's rate is slightly less than the average for all of Berlin (13 %) and there is little sigh that this will change in the near future. For more information on "Owner Occupancy Rates" and other general analysis data visit our Graphs of Economic Performance page.

Landmarks and Attractions

Spandau Citadel, the fortress, was built in its current form from 1559 to 1594 on the site of earlier fortifications on an island created by the meeting of the Havel and Spree rivers. It was designed to protect the city of Spandau and has seen a variety of different uses over the centuries, including an ammunition factory during the Thirty Years' War and the Army Gas Defence Laboratories during WWII. The castle underwent major restoration from 1962 to 1976 and a museum opened there in 1992, the Citadel is a popular tourist attraction.

Villa Lemm in Gatow on the banks of the River Havel is one of the most notable estates in Berlin. The villa dates from 1907 and was built in the style of an English country house with gardens laid out in an Italian garden style. From 1945 to 1990 the villa was the base of the commander of British forces in Berlin, following re-unification the Villa came into the possession of the State of Berlin.

St. Nikolai's Church in the old town of Spandau was built in the 14th century, Joachim II was converted to Protestantism in the church in 1539. Inside the church is an old Prussian baroque pulpit and Renaissance Alter dating back to the 16th century.

Jaczo Gorge in Wilhelmstadt is a small round neglected tower which was built in 1914 with private funds in memory of the Slavic princes of Köpenick.

The Air Force Museum at Gatow Airport,(actually in Kladow).

Europe's only "Diving Simulation Tank", is located at the south-eastern edge of Wilhelmstadt. The diving tank allows divers to practice to a maximum depth of 150 meters.

The DEMAG plant between Albrechtshof and the outskirts of Falkensee was originally meant as a repair yard for the Berlin S-Bahn network, as part of the war efforts this became the facility for the production of the "DEMAG-tank". In an area around the production plants a detention camp accommodated up to 2,500 prisoners of war who were used as "forced labour" in the production plants, there now is a memorial to the detainees on the site of the camp.

Neighbourhood Areas of Spandau

Spandau, Haselhorst, Siemensstadt, Staaken, Gatow, Kladow, Hakenfelde, Falkenhagener Feld, Wilhelmstadt.