Köpenick () is a historic town and locality (''Ortsteil'') in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
, situated at the confluence of the rivers
Dahme and
Spree
Spree may refer to:
Geography
* Spree (river), river in Germany
Film and television
* '' The Spree'', a 1998 American television film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace
* ''Spree'' (film), a 2020 American film starring Joe Keery
* "Spree" (''Numbers ...
in the south-east of the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
capital. It was formerly known as Copanic and then Cöpenick, only officially adopting the current spelling in 1931. It is also known for the famous imposter ''
Hauptmann von Köpenick''.
Prior to its incorporation into Berlin in 1920, Köpenick had been an independent town. It then became a
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
of Berlin, and with an area of , Berlin's largest. As a result of
Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, the borough of Köpenick was merged with that of
Treptow to create the current borough of
Treptow-Köpenick
Treptow-Köpenick () is the ninth borough of Berlin, Germany, formed in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by merging the former boroughs of Treptow and Köpenick.
Overview
Among Berlin's boroughs it is the largest by area with the lowest po ...
.
Köpenick is home to the
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footb ...
football club
1. FC Union Berlin, who play at the
Stadion An der Alten Försterei.
Mellowpark
The Mellowpark in Berlin is Europe's biggest outdoor sportpark for skateboarder and for BMX biker.
Details
History
The "All 1" moved to an old cable factory in 1999 when its previous site at the "Allende Viertel" was redeveloped for ...
, the largest outdoor skatepark in Europe, is located in the town.
Geography
Overview
A large percentage of Köpenick's surface area is made up of pine forests and expanses of water like lake
Müggelsee, which is why it is often referred to as the "green lungs" of Berlin (''Grüne Lunge Berlins''). The
Müggelberge hills in the south-east of Köpenick reach , making them the highest natural point of Berlin.
The historic town lies in the center of the Berlin ''
Urstromtal
An ''urstromtal'' (plural: ''Urstromtäler'') is a type of broad glacial valley, for example, in northern Central Europe, that appeared during the ice ages, or individual glacial periods of an ice age, at the edge of the Scandinavian ice sheet and ...
'' meltwater valley, on an island at the confluence of the
Dahme and
Spree
Spree may refer to:
Geography
* Spree (river), river in Germany
Film and television
* '' The Spree'', a 1998 American television film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace
* ''Spree'' (film), a 2020 American film starring Joe Keery
* "Spree" (''Numbers ...
rivers. The original island had been separated by two channelisation ditches, the ''Katzengraben'' and the ''Schlossgraben'', into what are now the three islands ''Baumgarteninsel'' (''plantation island''), ''Old Town'' and ''Schlossinsel'' (''palace island''), on which the eponymous Köpenick Palace is located. The ''Katzengraben'' is now the main navigable branch of the Spree, transecting the old river bend north of the Old Town.
The Spree links Köpenick with lake Müggelsee and inner Berlin, and further via the Havel and Elbe rivers with the North Sea. The
Oder–Spree Canal links the Dahme, at nearby
Schmöckwitz, with the
Oder river, at
Eisenhüttenstadt, thus providing a navigable connection between Köpenick, the Oder and thus the Baltic Sea.
Neighborhoods
Köpenick comprises nine neighborhoods:
* The old town (
Altstadt
''Altstadt'' is the German language word for "old town", and generally refers to the historical town or city centre within the old town or city wall, in contrast to younger suburbs outside. '' Neustadt'' (new town), the logical opposite of ''Al ...
)
*
Kietzer Vorstadt
*
Dammvorstadt
* The North (
Köpenick-Nord) with:
**
Siedlung Dammfeld
**
Elsengrund
**
Uhlenhorst
**
Wolfsgarten
*
Amtsfeld and Kämmereiheide with:
**
Salvador-Allende-Viertel
*
Köllnische Vorstadt
*
Spindlersfeld
*
Wendenschloß
*
Kietzer Feld
Panorama
History
While its origins are shrouded in mystery, Köpenick has had a long history as an independent town. In the 12th century, it was the residence of a Wend
prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...
,
Jaxa of Köpenick
Jaxa of Köpenick (sometimes ''Jaksa'' or ''Jacza of Copnic'', pl, Jaksa z Kopnika or Jaksa z Kopanicy, Jaksa being an early Sorbian and/or Polish form of ''James'') (fl. 1151–1157) was a prince of the West Slavic Sprevan Duchy of Kopanica. ...
. By this time, it had probably been settled by
Wend tribes for about 400 years. After Jaxa's death, the principality was reigned by the dukes of
Pomerania
Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
. While
Albert the Bear
Albert the Bear (german: Albrecht der Bär; 1100 – 18 November 1170) was the first margrave of Brandenburg from 1157 to his death and was briefly duke of Saxony between 1138 and 1142.
Life
Albert was the only son of Otto, Count of Bal ...
had taken the city of
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squ ...
in 1157, and thus formed the nucleus of what would eventually become the synonymous
margraviate, the area around Köpenick was conquered from the south and thus initially became part of the
March of Lusatia.
While Jaxa's
bracteates or ''hollow pennies'' are coined with the impression "Iaczo de Copnic", in written history, Köpenick first appeared in a deed dated 12 Feb 1210 and issued under the seal of
Margrave
Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the ...
Conrad II of Lusatia, which contains the reference "Acta sunt hec ad Copnic". 1210 is also the year when on Conrad's death power in the principality transited to the
Margraviate of Meißen and the
House of Wettin
The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of German kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its ori ...
. Köpenick was afforded
town privileges by 1232, and German colonization commenced.
Köpenick may therefore be considered one of the oldest settlements in the Margraviate of Brandenburg, predating
Spandau
Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by land ...
,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
and
Cölln
Cölln () was the twin city of Old Berlin ( Altberlin) from the 13th century to the 18th century. Cölln was located on the Fisher Island section of Spree Island, opposite Altberlin on the western bank of the River Spree, until the cities ...
, which was first mentioned in a 1237 deed. For the most part of its history, the town was known as ''Cöp(e)nick''.
The old Cöpenick consisted of three distinct parts that co-existed for centuries on the three banks of the ''Frauentog'', a bight in the river Dahme: the castle with its garrison, the German-settled town of artisans, peasants and merchants, and the for still some time Sorbic-speaking Kietz, a hamlet containing the fishermen.
The castle was conquered by the
Ascanian
The House of Ascania (german: Askanier) was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Anhalt.
The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ''Schlos ...
margraves John I and Otto III of
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squ ...
in 1245, defeating their rivals
Margrave Henry III of Meissen and the
Archbishop of Magdeburg
The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was a Roman Catholic archdiocese (969–1552) and Prince-Archbishopric (1180–1680) of the Holy Roman Empire centered on the city of Magdeburg on the Elbe River.
Planned since 955 and established in 968, the Rom ...
.
In 1631, the emissaries of
George William, Elector of Brandenburg met at Cöpenick the approaching army of
Gustavus Adolphus,
King of Sweden
The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument ...
, in a vain effort to stop the ongoing devastation of the margraviate during the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...
.
In 1906,
Wilhelm Voigt, a shoemaker and drifter, masqueraded as a Prussian officer and commandeered a squad of soldiers to follow him to Cöpenick to take control of the town hall.
Carl Zuckmayer perpetuated the incident in his play ''
The Captain of Cöpenick'', on which several film and television adaptations have been based.
By 1907, Cöpenick was the largest town in the county of
Teltow
Teltow [] is a town in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany.
Geography
Teltow is part of the agglomeration of Berlin. The distance to the Berlin city centre is , while the distance to Potsdam is .
The Teltow Canal links th ...
. Under the terms of the
Greater Berlin Act of 1920, Cöpenick was incorporated as the 16th, and with an area of the largest,
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
of Berlin. Apart from the former town of Cöpenick proper, the borough included the parishes of
Oberschöneweide
Oberschöneweide (, literally ''Upper Schöneweide'') is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') within the Berlin borough (''Bezirk'') of Treptow-Köpenick. It is, with Niederschöneweide (''Lower Schöneweide''), part of the geographic area of Schön ...
,
Grünau,
Schmöckwitz,
Müggelheim
Müggelheim () is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') within the Berlin borough (''Bezirk'') of Treptow-Köpenick. Until 2001 it was part of the former borough of Köpenick.
History
The village was founded on June 1, 1747, by 20 families from Oder ...
,
Rahnsdorf
Rahnsdorf () is a locality (''Ortsteil'') of Berlin, Germany, located in the southeast of the Berlin borough (''Bezirk'') of Treptow-Köpenick. Until 2001 it was part of the former borough of Köpenick.
History
Rahnsdorf was first mentioned i ...
and
Friedrichshagen
Friedrichshagen () is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') within the Berlin borough (''Bezirk'') of Treptow-Köpenick. Until 2001 it was part of the former borough of Köpenick.
History
The colony of ''Friedrichsgnade'' was founded on May 29, 17 ...
. In 1931, the borough's spelling was officially amended from ''Cöpenick'' to nowadays' ''Köpenick''.
In the months that followed the Nazi's rise to power, SA storm troops abducted and brutally tortured residents they considered political adversaries. In June 1933 the terror culminated in the
Week of Blood, that left at least 24 Nazi opponents across the political spectrum dead and many more maimed. One of the sites at which the atrocities took place, the prison annex to the district court at Mandrellaplatz, has been turned into a museum.
During the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...
, Köpenick was part of the Soviet sector and thus
East Berlin.
As a result of the
2001 administrative reform, the Berlin borough of Köpenick was merged with that of
Treptow to create the current borough of
Treptow-Köpenick
Treptow-Köpenick () is the ninth borough of Berlin, Germany, formed in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by merging the former boroughs of Treptow and Köpenick.
Overview
Among Berlin's boroughs it is the largest by area with the lowest po ...
.
Until it was decommissioned in 2002, a large radio facility for MW and FM was located near the ''Uhlenhorst'' neighbourhood, including a self-radiating radio mast, which was insulated against earth. Following decommissioning, the FM services of this facility were moved to the
Fernsehturm at
Alexanderplatz and the AM transmitters were moved to a new aerial mast at
Zehlendorf bei Oranienburg.
Köpenick Palace
The palace ''(Schloss Köpenick)'' was originally built in 1558 as a hunting lodge by order of
Elector Joachim II Hector of Brandenburg. The
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...
style building was located on an island adjacent to the old town at the site of the former medieval fort. Joachim II died here in 1571. In 1631 it served as the headquarters of King
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, where in vain he beseeched his brother-in-law
Elector George William for assistance to his doomed campaign during the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...
.
From 1677,
Frederick I of Prussia had the hunting lodge rebuilt and enlarged. He then took residence here with his first wife
Elizabeth Henrietta of Hesse-Kassel
Landgravine Elisabeth Henriëtte von Hessen-Kassel (18 November 1661 – 7 July 1683) was the daughter of William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and Hedwig Sophia of Brandenburg (1623–1683) and electoral princess of Brandenburg through her marri ...
. In 1730
Frederick II of Prussia, then Crown Prince, and his friend
Hans Hermann von Katte
Hans Hermann von Katte (28 February 1704 – 6 November 1730) was a Lieutenant of the Prussian Army, and a friend, tutor and possible lover of the future King Frederick II of Prussia, who was at the time the Crown Prince. Katte was executed by Fred ...
faced court-martial for desertion at Schloss Köpenick. Today the palace serves as a
museum of decorative art run by the
Berlin State Museums
The Berlin State Museums (german: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) are a group of institutions in Berlin, Germany, comprising seventeen museums in five clusters, several research institutes, libraries, and supporting facilities. They are oversee ...
and is surrounded by a small park, which also contains a Calvinist chapel.
Culture
"Köpenick Summer" (Köpenicker Sommer) is an annual street festival which featuring music, shows and a festival parade led by the Captain of Köpenick (Hauptmann von Köpenick).
Transport
Both the rivers
Dahme and
Spree
Spree may refer to:
Geography
* Spree (river), river in Germany
Film and television
* '' The Spree'', a 1998 American television film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace
* ''Spree'' (film), a 2020 American film starring Joe Keery
* "Spree" (''Numbers ...
are navigable. The Spree connects Köpenick with the
Havel and hence the waterway systems of western and central Germany. The Dahme links to the
Oder-Spree Canal
Oder-Spree is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the eastern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring are (from north clockwise) the district Märkisch-Oderland, the district-free city Frankfurt (Oder), Poland, the districts Spree-Neiße and Dahme-Spreewa ...
at nearby
Schmöckwitz, thus providing a navigable connection to
Eisenhüttenstadt, the
Oder river and thus the Baltic Sea and Silesia.
Köpenick is served by
Köpenick,
Wuhlheide and
Hirschgarten stations on the
S3 line of the
Berlin S-Bahn
The Berlin S-Bahn () is a rapid transit railway system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It has been in operation under this name since December 1930, having been previously called the special tariff area ''Berliner Stadt-, Ri ...
network, and by the
Spindlersfeld terminus of
S47 line. Köpenick is also a node on the
Berlin tram network, with routes 27, 60, 61, 62, 63, 67 and 68 serving its neighbourhoods.
Sport
The
Stadion An der Alten Försterei is home of the
1. FC Union Berlin football club.
Mellowpark
The Mellowpark in Berlin is Europe's biggest outdoor sportpark for skateboarder and for BMX biker.
Details
History
The "All 1" moved to an old cable factory in 1999 when its previous site at the "Allende Viertel" was redeveloped for ...
is the biggest outdoor skatepark in Europe.
Grünau hosted the 1936 Olympic rowing competitions, and many athletes had lodgings there and nearby, like the American 8-man rowing team as described in Daniel James Brown's ''Boys in the Boat''.
People
*
Eugen Anton Theophil von Podbielski (1814-1879), prussian general
*
Wilhelm Rietze (1903-1944), resistance fighter and communist
*
Bruno Lüdke
Bruno Lüdke (3 April 1908 – 8 April 1944) was a German alleged serial killer. Police officials connected him to at least 51 murder victims, mainly women, killed in a 15-year period, which began in 1928 and ended with his arrest in 1943 ...
(1908-1944), German serial killer
*
Maria Landrock
Maria Landrock (1923–1992) was a German film and television actress
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media su ...
(1923-1992), German actress
*
Achim Hill (1935-2015), German rower
*
Jochen Schümann (born 1954), German sailor
*
Patrick Jahn (born 1983), German football player
*
Georg Kössler (born 1984), German politician
*
Tim Bendzko (born 1985), German singer-songwriter
*
Laura Ludwig (born 1986), German beach volleyball player
*
Jörn Schlönvoigt (born 1986), German actor and singer
References
External links
*
*
*
Köpenick official site*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kopenick
Köpenick
Localities of Berlin
Former boroughs of Berlin