Neukölln (; officially abbreviated Neuk), is one of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. It is located south-east of Berlin's center and stretches from the inner city southward to the border with Brandenburg, encompassing the eponymous quarter of Neukölln in the north, and the southern quarters of Britz, Gropiusstadt, Buckow and Rudow.

The borough was constituted in 1920, when the Greater Berlin Act came into effect. After World War II, Neukölln was part of the American sector during the Allied occupation of the city, and of West Berlin from 1949 until German reunification in 1990. Since the late 1950s, it has been characterised by one of the highest shares of immigrant residents in Berlin, especially in its urbanized and industrialized northern regions. An influx of students and artists since the mid-2000s has led to gentrification./S42: Südkreuz → Gesundbrunnen → Südkreuz (clockwise ↔ anti clockwise circular)

  • S45: Südkreuz ↔ Berlin Schönefeld Flughafen (only from Monday till Friday). An extension of the S45 is projected to run beyond the current terminus at Schönefeld Airport to the under construction Berlin Brandenburg Airport.
  • S46: Westend ↔ Königs Wusterhausen
  • S47: Spindlersfeld ↔ Hermannstraße

Among the numerous rail stations in Neukölln three act as interchanges:

  • Hermannplatz - U7 / U8
  • Hermannstraße - U8 / S-Bahn
  • Berlin-Neukölln - U7 / S-bahn

Demographics

As of 2010, the borough had a population of 310,283, of whom 121,000 (38.9%) were of non-German ethnicity. The percentage is significantly higher in the locality of the same name, Neukölln. The borough is known for its large Turkish, Arab and Kurdish communities, which together make up roughly 18% of the borough's population. Recently, there has been an influx of Romani people and Sub-Saharan Africans.

{| class="wikitable"

|- class="hintergrundfarbe6"

!colspan=2| Population by migration background

|-

| class="hintergrundfarbe5" | Ethnic Germans || class="hintergrundfarbe5" style="text-align:right;"| 60% (189,000)

|-

| Middle Eastern origin || style="text-align:right;"| 18% (55,000)

|-

| non-German European origin || style="text-align:right;"| 11% (33,000)

|-

| Afro-Germans || style="text-align:right;"| 4% (12,400)

|-

| Others (East Asians, Americans, etc.) || style="text-align:right;"| 6.5% (21,000)

|}

Gentrification

A trend is the rapid gentrification of certain neighbourhoods within the borough. There has been an influx of students, creatives and other young professionals of mostly Western origin avoiding higher rents which are charged in other parts of Berlin. This has caused a knock-on effect, with rents rising in some parts of Neukölln. Northern Neukölln, just to the south of the Kreuzberg area, has become informally referred to as "Kreuzkölln" as the area becomes increasingly fashionable.

Politics

District council

The governing body of Neukölln is the district council (Bezirksverordnetenversammlung). It has responsibility for passing laws and electing the city government, including the mayor. The most recent district council election was held on 26 September 2021, and the results were as follows:

! colspan=2| Party

! Lead candidate

! Votes

! %

! +/-

! Seats

! +/-

|-

| bgcolor=|

| align=left| Social Democratic Party (SPD)

| align=left| Martin Hikel

| 41,104

| 28.7

| 1.7

| 18

| 1

|-

| bgcolor=|

| align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)

| align=left| Susann Worschech

| 25,238

| 17.6

| 2.7

| 11

| 2

|-

| bgcolor=|

| align=left| Christian Democratic Union (CDU)

| align=left| Falko Liecke

| 24,191

| 16.9

| 0.6

| 10

| ±0

|-

| bgcolor=|

| align=left| The Left (LINKE)

| align=left| Sarah Nagel

| 21,525

| 15.0

| 2.8

| 9

| 2

|-

| bgcolor=|

| align=left| Alternative for Germany (AfD)

| align=left| Julian Potthast

| 10,125

| 7.1

| 5.7

| 4

| 4

|-

| bgcolor=|

| align=left| Free Democratic Party (FDP)

| align=left| Roland Leppek

| 6,971

| 4.9

| 0.6

| 3

| 1

|-

| colspan=8 bgcolor=lightgrey|

|-

| bgcolor=|

| align=left| Tierschutzpartei

| align=left|

| 4,101

| 2.9

| 0.7

| 0

| ±0

|-

| bgcolor=|

| align=left| Die PARTEI

| align=left|

| 2,909

| 2.0

| 0.4

| 0

| ±0

|-

| bgcolor=|

| align=left| dieBasis

| align=left|

| 1,787

| 1.2

| New

| 0

| New

|-

| bgcolor=|

| align=left| Klimaliste

| align=left|

| 1,451

| 1.0

| New

| 0

| New

|-

| bgcolor=|

| align=left| Volt Germany

| align=left|

| 1,431

| 1.0

| New

| 0

| New

|-

| bgcolor=|

| align=left| Free Voters

| align=left|

| 1,061

| 0.7

| New

| 0

| New

|-

|

| align=left| We are Berlin

| align=left|

| 843

| 0.6

| New

| 0

| New

|-

| bgcolor=|

| align=left| Ecological Democratic Party

| align=left|

| 235

| 0.2

| New

| 0

| New

|-

| bgcolor=|

| align=left| Liberal Conservative Reformers

| align=left|

| 192

| 0.1

| New

| 0

| New

|-

! colspan=3| Valid votes

! 143,164

! 98.9

!

!

!

|-

! colspan=3| Invalid votes

! 1,655

! 1.1

!

!

!

|-

! colspan=3| Total

! 144,819

! 100.0

!

! 55

! ±0

|-

! colspan=3| Electorate/voter turnout

! 225,767

! 64.1

! 6.5

!

!

|-

| colspan=8| Source: Elections Berlin

|}

District government

The district mayor (Bezirksbürgermeister) is elected by the Bezirksverordnetenversammlung, and positions in the district government (Bezirksamt) are apportioned based on party strength. Martin Hikel of the SPD was elected mayor on 21 March 2018. Since the 2021 municipal elections, the composition of the district government is as follows:

{| class=wikitable style="font-size:90%; text-align:center"

! Councillor

! colspan=2| Party

! Portfolio

|-

| Martin Hikel

| bgcolor=|

| SPD

| District Mayor<br />Civil Service and Logistics

|-

| Jochen Biedermann

| bgcolor=|

| GRÜNE

| Deputy Mayor<br />Urban Development, Environment and Traffic

|-

| Falko Liecke

| bgcolor=|

| CDU

| Social Affairs

|-

| Karin Korte

| bgcolor=|

| SPD

| Education, Culture and Sport

|-

| Mirjam Blumenthal

| bgcolor=|

| SPD

| Youth and Health

|-

| Sarah Nagel

| bgcolor=|

| LINKE

| Public Order

|-

| colspan=4 align=right| Source: Berlin.de

|}

Notable people

thumb|150px|Leo Arons around 1901

thumb|200px|Memorial plate Ursula Goetze (1987)

thumb|150px|Alexander Hacke performing on 5 May 2007

  • Robin Alexander (born 1975), journalist
  • Edgar Froese (1944–2015), musician, founder of the electronic music group Tangerine Dream
  • Leo Arons (1860–1919), physicist, social democrat and supporter of the trade union movement
  • Sebastian Blomberg (born 1972), actor
  • Horst Buchholz (1933–2003), actor
  • Heinz Buschkowsky (born 1948), politician (SPD), former district mayor of Neukölln
  • Bushido (born 1978), rapper
  • Christiane F. (born 1962), subject of the book Zoo Station: The Story of Christiane F.
  • Ursula Goetze, anti-Nazi activist (1916–1943)
  • Alexander Hacke, musician, born 1965 in Neukölln
  • Kirsten Heisig (1961–2010), juvenile magistrate in Neukölln, created the Neuköllner Modell, applying rapid intervention procedures to deal with juvenile offenders before they embarked on a criminal lifestyle
  • Kurt Krömer (born 1974), presenter, actor and entertainer
  • Jutta Limbach (1934–2016), legal academic
  • Will Meisel (1897–1967), composer and publisher
  • Inge Meysel (1910–2004), actress
  • Gunnar Möller (1928–2017), actor
  • Mady Rahl (1915–2009), actress
  • Palina Rojinski (born 1985), actress
  • Antonio Rüdiger (born 1993), footballer
  • Werner Seelenbinder (1904–1944), wrestler, politician (KPD) and resistance fighter
  • Katharina Szelinski-Singer (1918–2010), sculptor
  • Elsa Thiemann (1910–1981), Bauhaus educated photographer, who took many photographs of Neukölln where she lived
  • Nora Tschirner (born 1981), actress
  • Lotte Ulbricht (1903–2002), wife of East German leader Walter Ulbricht
  • Emil Wutzky (1871–1963), trade unionist and local politician (SPD)
  • Engelbert Zaschka (1895–1955), inventor and helicopter pioneer
  • Alice Phoebe Lou (born 1993), a South African singer-songwriter
  • "Neuköln" (deliberately spelt with one 'l') is an instrumental piece by David Bowie, the ninth track on his 1977 album "Heroes".
  • The last track of Miss Kittin's first solo album I Com is called "Neukölln 2".
  • The German film Knallhart is set in the northern part of Neukölln.
  • The German documentary Neukölln Unlimited tells the story of three Lebanese teenagers based in Neukölln, who fight their deportation out of Germany.
  • Electronic music producer Kobosil is a native of the city. With a Bachelor of Arts in audio production, he has released music on the Ostgut Ton and MDT labels.
  • The series 4 Blocks is set in Neukölln and Kreuzberg.
  • The sixth leg of The Amazing Race 32 had its Pit Stop in Neukölln.

Twin towns – sister cities

Neukölln is twinned with:

  • Anderlecht, Belgium (1955)
  • Bat Yam, Israel (1978)
  • Boulogne-Billancourt, France (1955)
  • Çiğli (İzmir), Turkey (2005)
  • Cologne, Germany (1967)
  • Hammersmith and Fulham (London), England, United Kingdom (1955)
  • Leonberg, Germany (1970)
  • Marino, Italy (1980)
  • Pavlovsk (Saint Petersburg), Russia (1991)
  • Prague 5 (Prague), Czech Republic (2005)
  • Pushkin (Saint Petersburg), Russia (1991)
  • Ústí nad Orlicí, Czech Republic (1989)
  • Wetzlar, Germany (1959)
  • Zaanstad, Netherlands (1955)

<gallery widths="150">

Berlin neukoelln county-court 20050228 p1010186.jpg|County Court

Berlin Neukoelln Rathaus asv2021-03 img1.jpg|City hall

Skulptur Karl-Marx-Str 83 (Neukö) Buddy Bär.jpg|Buddy Bear Neukölln in front of the City hall

Landwehrkanal 2005-06-24.jpg|Landwehrkanal

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-C0104-0010-001, Berlin, Grenzübergang Sonnenallee, West-Berliner Besucher.jpg|Border crossing at Sonnenallee, 1964

Stadtbad B-Neukoelln 07-2014.jpg|Stadtbad Neukölln

</gallery>

See also

  • Berlin-Neukölln (electoral district)
  • Hermannplatz
  • Hermannstraße (Berlin-Neukölln)

References

  • Official homepage
  • WebTV from Berlin, Neukoelln

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ru:Нойкёльн