Staaken () is a locality at the western rim of

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

within the borough of

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 la ...

Geography

Staaken borders on the localities of

proper, Falkenhagener Feld and

Wilhelmstadt Wilhelmstadt () is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') of Berlin in the borough (''Bezirk'') of Spandau. History In the year 1945 the allied armed forces from the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom accomplished an exchange of territory, among the ...

. In the west it shares border with the

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 square ...

municipalities of Falkensee and Dallgow-Döberitz with the village of Seeburg, part of Havelland district. Buildings range from small

detached house A stand-alone house (also called a single-detached dwelling, detached residence or detached house) is a free-standing residential building. It is sometimes referred to as a single-family home, as opposed to a multi-family residential dwelli ...

s and a garden city around the historic village centre in the west to larger 1960s and 1970s housing estates in the east.

Subdivisions

The locality of Staaken includes six sites (german: Ortslagen) or neighbourhoods (''Siedlungen''): *Dorf Staaken ("Staaken Village"), the historic settlement around the Alt-Staaken village church *Albrechtshof, a family home colony in the northwest, around Berlin Albrechtshof station *Gartenstadt Staaken ( Staaken Garden City), built from 1914 to 1917 according to plans designed by Paul Schmitthenner, today protected as a historic monument * Neu-Jerusalem, an early example of

New Objectivity The New Objectivity (in german: Neue Sachlichkeit) was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against expressionism. The term was coined by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, the director of the ''Kunsthalle'' in Mannheim, wh ...

residential construction along western Heerstraße, erected in 1923/24 according to plans by

Erwin Anton Gutkind Erwin Anton Gutkind (20 May 1886, Berlin – 7 August 1968, Philadelphia), was a German-Jewish architect and city planner, who left Berlin in 1935 for Paris, London and then Philadelphia, where he became a member of the faculty of the University ...

and

Leberecht Migge Leberecht Migge (March 30, 1881 in Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) – May 30, 1935 in Worpswede) was a German landscape architect, regional planner and polemical writer, best known for the incorporation of social gardening principles in the ''Siedlun ...

*Neu-Staaken with Louise-Schroeder-Siedlung, several housing estates built in the 1960s and 70s on former

allotment Allotment may refer to: * Allotment (Dawes Act), an area of land held by the US Government for the benefit of an individual Native American, under the Dawes Act of 1887 * Allotment (finance), a method by which a company allocates over-subscribed s ...

land in the east which then belonged to

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under m ...

*Siedlung Hahneberg, a family home estate in the southwest.

Transportation

Staaken is served by

RegionalExpress In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with average speed at about 70–90 km/h (top speed often 160 km/h) as it calls at f ...

and RegionalBahn trains of the

Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the ...

at the stations ''Staaken'' and ''Albrechtshof''. A

S-Bahn The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban-suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble c ...

connection to ''Albrechtshof'' is planned. The Bundesstraße 5 federal highway runs through the locality along Heerstraße.

History

First mentioned in a 1273 deed as ''Stakene'' (from

Middle Low German Middle Low German or Middle Saxon (autonym: ''Sassisch'', i.e. "Saxon", Standard High German: ', Modern Dutch: ') is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented in ...

: ''staken'', "stakes") in the Mittelmark region of the

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg (german: link=no, Markgrafschaft Brandenburg) was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe. Brandenburg developed out ...

, the

linear settlement A linear settlement is a (normally small to medium-sized) settlement or group of buildings that is formed in a long line. Many of these settlements are formed along a transport route, such as a road, river, or canal. Others form due to physical r ...

probably arose around 1200 in the course of the German eastward migration. The estates were then held by the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

nunnery of Spandau; after the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

they fell to the Spandau municipal administration. Zeppelin-Staaken R

The former village became part of Berlin by the Greater Berlin Act of 1920. The development of the area started with the construction of the Staaken garden city by

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Paul Schmitthenner in 1914. At the beginning of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin company acquired large estates in Staaken, where from 1915 on it manufactured

zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, ...

airships and the series of one-off ''Riesenflugzeug'' "giant" multi-engined bombers, among the largest of their day anywhere, culminating in the small series of R.VI

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

strategic bombers A strategic bomber is a medium- to long-range penetration bomber aircraft designed to drop large amounts of air-to-ground weaponry onto a distant target for the purposes of debilitating the enemy's capacity to wage war. Unlike tactical bomber ...

built by the firm. In 1919 the regulations of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...

finished the production and the area was transformed into an

airfield An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

. There had been regular Zeppelin flights to

Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''K ...

and even to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

from 1919 on, though in the following years most of the

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot ...

moved to Tempelhof Airport. The former zeppelin manufacturing halls were turned into the

Staaken Studios Staaken Studios was a film studio located in Staaken on the outskirts of the German capital Berlin. A large former zeppelin hangar, it was converted to film use following the First World War and operated during the Weimar Republic. In July 1923 it ...

and used as the location for various

film production Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

s, e.g. parts of

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...

's ''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big c ...

''. In 1929 the estate was sold to the City of Berlin, while parts of the airport were still used by the Deutsche Luft Hansa for

flight training Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a st ...

and maintenance purposes. In ''Albrechtshof'' the Demag (''Deutsche Maschinenfabrik AG'') built

Panther tank The Panther tank, officially ''Panzerkampfwagen V Panther'' (abbreviated PzKpfw V) with Sonderkraftfahrzeug, ordnance inventory designation: ''Sd.Kfz.'' 171, is a German medium tank of World War II. It was used on the Eastern Front (World War ...

s during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

using forced labour of over 2,500 prisoners held in the nearby

Falkenhagen Falkenhagen is a municipality in the district Märkisch-Oderland, in Brandenburg, Germany. Demography See also *Falkenhagen Bunker The Falkenhagen Bunker is an abandoned semi-submerged and bunker-level military industrial complex, just north ...

labour camp, a subcamp of the

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoner ...

Cold War

After World War II Staaken was divided by a territorial exchange contract between the Allies

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

of 30 August 1945. The borders of the British occupational sector of Berlin were reshaped so that, that by incorporating the so-called Seeburger Zipfel it would include the entire former

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

airfield at

Berlin-Gatow Gatow (), a district of south-western Berlin is located west of the ''Havelsee'' lake and has forested areas within its boundaries. It is within the borough of Spandau. On 31 December 2002, it had 5,532 inhabitants. History Gatow's existence wa ...

in the southwestern corner of this sector. In return the so-called ''Dorf Staaken'' (Staaken Village) and ''Albrechtshof'', nowadays called West Staaken (at the most western end of the British Sector) was de jure assigned to the Soviets. The geographically eastern Staaken remained with the political West. However, the de facto administration remained with the Borough of Spandau in the British sector. So all inhabitants of Staaken could vote for West-Berlin's city state elections in 1948 and 1950. On 1 February 1951 East German

Volkspolizei The ''Deutsche Volkspolizei'' (DVP, German for "German People's Police"), commonly known as the ''Volkspolizei'' or VoPo, was the national police force of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1945 to 1990. The Volkspolizei was a ...

took over control of West Staaken, including the airfield and adjacent Neu-Jerusalem located there, and ended the administration by the Spandau Borough; instead West Staaken became an

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

of East Berlin's then Borough of Mitte. This gave rise to the confusing fact, that the geographically western Staaken was part of the politically Eastern

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 u ...

at the geographically western outskirts of

, while the geographically eastern Staaken remained with the political Western British sector, thus West Berlin. East Germany then moved up its border checkpoint towards West Berlin from Dallgow more eastwards to West Staaken. On 1 June 1952 West Staaken's de facto administration was conveyed to neighbouring East German Falkensee, which incorporated West Staaken on 1 January 1961. From 13 August the same year until its opening and removal after 9 November 1989 the Berlin Wall cut through the two parts of Staaken, with one East German border crossing on Heerstraße. Since 1 January 1971 western Staaken, officially simply named Staaken, formed a municipality of its own, with a population amounting to 4,146 at that time. On 3 October 1990, the day of unification of East Germany, East and West Berlin with the West German

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south ...

both Staakens reunited to form a locality of the Spandau Borough.

Border crossing

Albrechtshof station had been the site of a rail border crossing, it was closed in 1961 after an East German train driver, Harry Deterling, fled from the GDR by breaking through the barriers towards the ''Gartenstadt Staaken'' in

with a whole train. The event was dramatised in the 1963

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

film ''Durchbruch Lok 234'' (The Breakthrough). The route to Albrechtshof was only reconnected in 1995 after

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

. In 1976 the

GDR East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

opened a separate rail border crossing station ''Staaken'' for rail transit to western Germany farther away from the border to West Berlin. Up to 1980 the eastern part of Staaken inside

was served by

. This service was abandoned by the East German Reichsbahn Headquarters after the big strike of the West Berlin Reichsbahn workers. A reconnection today is highly unlikely. Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F003101-0005, Berlin, Zonengrenze, Grenzübergang

Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F003101-0005, Berlin, Zonengrenze, Grenzübergang

The car traffic, travelling along ''F 5'' between West Berlin and the East

German Democratic Republic 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 **Ger ...

or the West German

Federal Republic A federal republic is a federation of Federated state, states with a republican form of government. At its core, the literal meaning of the word republic when used to reference a form of government means: "a country that is governed by elected r ...

, e.g. to

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, was subject to the Interzonal traffic regulations that between West Germany and West Berlin followed the special regulations of the Transit Agreement (1972). On 1 January 1988 the transit traffic to West Berlin was redirected to the new East German Stolpe checkpoint (a part of today's Hohen Neuendorf)/West Berlin- Heiligensee. From 1988 to 9 November 1989 the Heerstraße border crossing was open for the highly restricted traffic between West Berlin and East Germany. Highly restricted in this case means citizens of West Berlin had to apply for a visiting permit to visit relatives; while only GDR citizens above the age of 65 could apply to visit relatives in West Berlin. Eastern controls were slowly eased into spot checks and finally abolished on 30 June 1990, the day East and West introduced the union concerning currency, economy and social security (german: Währungs-, Wirtschafts- und Sozialunion).

Notable people

* Katarina Witt (born 1965), figure skater, born in the GDR municipality of Staaken

Gallery

File:Staaken_Gartenstadt_church.jpg, Garden City Church File:Staaken_Gartenstadt_Pfarrhof.jpg, Beim Pfarrhof File:Staaken_Gartenstadt_Giebeln.jpg, Zwischen den Giebeln File:Staaken_Gartenstadt_Torweg.jpg, Torweg File:Staaken_Gartenstadt_langen_Weg.jpg, Am langen Weg

References

External links

Staaken info website

Staaken page on www.berlin.de
{{Authority control Localities of Berlin *