Tegel () is a locality (''Ortsteil'') in the

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 ...

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 ...

of Reinickendorf on the shore of Lake Tegel. The Tegel locality, the second largest in area (after Köpenick) of the 96 Berlin districts, also includes the neighbourhood of ''Saatwinkel''.

History

The Tegel Palace (or Humboldt Palace), originally a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

manor house from 1558 and a hunting lodge of Elector Frederick William of

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 ...

, was bequeathed to the Humboldt family in 1797.

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...

and

Wilhelm von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand von Humboldt (22 June 1767 – 8 April 1835) was a German philosopher, linguist, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of the Humboldt University of Berlin. In 1949, the university was named aft ...

lived here for several years. In 1824 Wilhelm had the palace rebuilt in a Neoclassical style by

Karl Friedrich Schinkel Karl Friedrich Schinkel (13 March 1781 – 9 October 1841) was a Prussian architect, urban planning, city planner and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed b ...

. In the park is a

tomb A tomb ( ''tumbos'') or sepulchre () is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called '' immurement'', alth ...

, where Alexander, Wilhelm, and other members of the Humboldt family are buried. From 1927 until 1931 Tegel Palace was the site of a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often in a health ...

, founded by the

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on dream interpretation, psychoanalysis is also a talk th ...

Ernst Simmel Ernst Simmel (; ; 4 April 1882 – 11 November 1947) was a German-American neurologist and psychoanalyst. Life Born in Breslau (Wrocław), Silesia to a secular Jewish background, Simmel moved to Berlin as a child.Veronika Fuechtner, 'Berlin Sou ...

(1882–1947). From 1898 on Tegel was the seat of the '' Borsig-Werke''

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

manufacturing company until it moved to Hennigsdorf in

in 1931. Between 1930 and 1934 an

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

firing range A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, sports venue, venue, or playing field, field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice, or shooting sport, competitions. ...

in the district was used by the '' Verein für Raumschiffahrt'' (Society for Space Travel) for experiments with liquid-fueled

rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

s. The principal names involved were its leader Rudolf Nebel and other staff members Hermann Oberth and Wernher von Braun. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Tegel was the location of 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 prisoners t ...

, and a Nazi prison with several forced labour subcamps in the region. Tegel was the site of a

medium wave Medium wave (MW) is a part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytim ...

broadcasting station from 1933 to 1948. A wire hung in a wooden tower served as an antenna. This tower was demolished as part of the construction of Tegel International Airport at the end of 1948.

Today

Tegel is chiefly known for being the location of Berlin-Tegel ''Otto Lilienthal'', Berlin's former main

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

. It has a population of 33,417 and houses the Tegel Prison, one of Germany's largest

prisons A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...

with about 1,700 inmates as of 2007, known from Alfred Döblin's 1929 novel Berlin Alexanderplatz. One of Berlin's largest

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

s ''Borsighallen'' is located in the former locomotive manufacturing halls of the '' Borsigwerke''. There is also the ''Villa Borsig'' at the shore of Lake Tegel, the former residence of the Borsig family. Today it is a school for future diplomats. Besides this, Tegel is an extensive residential district with some industry. With the large Lake Tegel, set in woodlands, the locality is also a popular destination for daytrippers. It boasts Berlin's oldest tree, an

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

called ''Dicke Marie'' ("Fat Mary").

Transportation

Tegel is served by the

Berlin S-Bahn The Berlin S-Bahn () is a rapid transit railway system that services the reigon in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It has been in operation under the name since December 1930, having been previously called the special tariff are ...

line S25 at the station '' Berlin-Tegel''.

U-Bahn Rapid transit in Germany consists of four systems and 14 systems. The , commonly understood to stand for ('underground railway'), are conventional rapid transit systems that run mostly underground, while the or ('city rapid railway') are c ...

connection to the inner city is provided by the U6 line with the stations '' Otisstraße'', '' Holzhauser Straße'', '' Borsigwerke'' and '' Alt-Tegel''.

Gallery

Schloss Tegel1.JPG, Tegel Palace Tegel church Bernhard.jpg, Catholic church St Bernard Berlin - Humboldtinsel - 2017.jpg, Humboldt island in Tegel Dicke Marie.JPG, ''Dicke Marie'' ("Fat Mary") is a registered natural monument, said to be the oldest tree in Berlin.

References

External links