Marzahn () is a locality within the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, 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 ...

Marzahn-Hellersdorf Marzahn-Hellersdorf () is the tenth Boroughs of Berlin, borough of Berlin, formed in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, 2001 by merging the former boroughs of Marzahn and Hellersdorf. The borough was formerly part of East Berlin. Geography It ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Berlin's 2001 administrative reform Berlin is divided into boroughs or administrative districts (). In Berlin, the term is officially shortened to (districts). The boroughs are further divided into quarters (). These smaller localities are officially recognised, but have no admini ...

led to the former boroughs of Marzahn and

Hellersdorf Hellersdorf () is a locality in the borough of Marzahn-Hellersdorf in Berlin. Between 1986 and Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, it was a borough in its own right, consisting of the current area of Hellersdorf as well as Kaulsdorf and Mahls ...

fusing into a single new borough. In the north the Marzahn locality includes the neighbourhoods of ''Bürknersfelde'' and ''Ahrensfelde'', an overbuilt strip of land which once had belonged to the

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

municipality of Ahrensfelde and was incorporated into Berlin in 1990.

Geography

Subdivision

Marzahn is divided into three zones (''Ortslagen''): *Marzahn-Nord (''Berlin-Ahrensfelde'') *Marzahn-Mitte *Marzahn-Süd

History

The historic village of Marzahn was first mentioned as ''Morczane'' in a 1300 deed by Margrave Albert III of Brandenburg-Salzwedel, when he granted the estates to the Friedland

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

abbey (in today's Neuhardenberg). After the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

it fell to Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg. The new village church was finished in 1871 according to plans by Friedrich August Stüler, another landmark is the Marzahn

post mill The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. Its defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single central vertical post. The vertical post is supported by four quarter bars. These ar ...

, rebuilt in 1994. The village became part of Greater Berlin in 1920, as a locality of the

Lichtenberg Lichtenberg may refer to: Places * Lichtenberg, Austria * Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin, France * Lichtenberg, Bavaria, Germany * Lichtenberg, Berlin, Germany * Lichtenberg, Mittelsachsen, Saxony, Germany * Lichtenberg (Lausitz), Saxony, Germany * Lichte ...

district. Marzahn was the site of a labour camp (today a water treatment plant), where Romani were interned during the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

in Berlin, away from visitors' eyes. As a part of the Nazi '' Porajmos'' extermination policy, up to 2000 inmates remained there until 1943, when they were deported to

Auschwitz-Birkenau Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

, where most of them were gassed. In 1941 the large factory of the ''Carl Hasse & Wrede'' machine tool company (now

Knorr-Bremse Knorr-Bremse AG is a German manufacturer of braking systems for rail and commercial vehicles that has operated since 1905. Other products in the company's portfolio include intelligent door systems, control components, air conditioning system ...

) was erected, where hundreds of forced labourers were employed. The victims were buried at the nearby ''Parkfriedhof''; a memorial marks the site. On 21 April 1945, during the opening phase of the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula–Od ...

, the city's eastern district of Marzahn was the first in Berlin to be conquered by the Soviet

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

under General Nikolai Berzarin's command. A single-storey building (Landsberger Allee 563), apparently the "first freed house", still stands today on ''Landsberger Allee'' as a memorial to the Soviet victory after the battle. A part of

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

from 1949, Marzahn remained a rural site until 1977 when vast

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision (land), subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to count ...

s were built on its fields by order of the

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

authorities. The construction, carried out in the typical plattenbau prefabricated-building style, dragged on until the late 1980s. In the course of the considerable population growth Marzahn was separated from Lichtenberg in 1979 to become a borough in its own right and in 1986 the new Hellersdorf district (including Kaulsdorf and Mahlsdorf) was split from it. In 1987, Marzahn hosted the ''Berliner Gartenschau'', a

horticulture Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

show, on the occasion of Berlin's 750th anniversary. The area today called ''Erholungspark Marzahn'' includes the '' Gärten der Welt'' (Gardens of the World) project, showing Chinese, Japanese, Balinese, and

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth () is an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the h ...

s modelled on

Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...

and

Chartres Cathedral Chartres Cathedral (, lit. Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres) is a Catholic cathedral in Chartres, France, about southwest of Paris, and is the seat of the List of bishops of Chartres, Bishop of Chartres. Dedicated in honour of the Virgin Mary ( ...

, as well as a garden of the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...

. After 1989 (as the Berlin Wall fell and Germany reunified), the Marzahn estate became known for being a place synonymous with

neo-Nazis Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), to att ...

and their activities and "foreigners were warned not even to visit there", despite the area having a significant

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

ese community.

Public transport

Marzahn is served by the

S-Bahn The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...

lines S7 and S75 at the stations '' Springpfuhl'', '' Poelchaustraße'', ''

Marzahn Marzahn () is a locality within the boroughs and localities of Berlin, borough of Marzahn-Hellersdorf in Berlin. Berlin's 2001 administrative reform led to the former boroughs of Marzahn and Hellersdorf fusing into a single new borough. In the ...

'', '' Raoul-Wallenberg-Straße'', '' Mehrower Allee'' and '' Ahrensfelde''. Tramway connections to the inner city are provided by the ''M6'' and ''M8'' lines of the

Berlin Straßenbahn The Berlin tramway () is the main tram system in Berlin, Germany. It is one of the oldest tram networks in the world, dating back to 1865 and is operated by (BVG), which was founded in 1929. It is notable for being the third-largest tram s ...

Gallery

File:Marzahn 08-2015 windmill.jpg,

Post mill The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. Its defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single central vertical post. The vertical post is supported by four quarter bars. These ar ...

File:Rolf Biebl Brunnen der Generationen.jpg, Rolf Biebl fountain File:Unkenpfuhle Marzahn 04.JPG, Unkenpfuhle

References

External links

Marzahn page on info-marzahn-hellersdorf.de
(archived on ''22 June 2016'' by ''Web Archive'') {{Authority control Populated places established in the 1300s Localities of Berlin * Former boroughs of Berlin Housing estates in Germany