Building lot management

It has extensive quarters of intact Wilhelminian tenement buildings, with a typical urban mixture of uses: apartments, shops, cinemas, "kneipen", small skilled trade enterprises, and colourful street markets. Public transport connections are excellent, and the district has a special quality to offer to all those who are interested in living in the city, with the sport and recreation facilities of the Volkspark in Friedrichshain, or the Viktoria Park in Kreuzberg, with its central monument designed by Schinkel and even its own vineyard! Redeveloped tenement buildings, the listed architecture of the Karl-Marx Allee, and interesting residential quarters from the 1950s to the 1980s have made Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg a favourite in Berlin. An important factor in its growing reputation is its wide range of cultural institutions, such as the German Museum of Technology, the Jewish Museum in the Liebeskind building, and the Tempodrom, the Martin-Gropius building, the Hebbel Theatre, as well as a thriving sub-culture, not only in Kreuzberg but increasingly also in quarters of Friedrichshain. The district has a multi-cultural population, in particular in parts of Kreuzberg, and people live together in a stimulating mixture of classes and cultures. If you enjoy the vibrancy of city life but also want to feel at home in your neighbourhood, then Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg could be just right for you.

The character of the district was formed during the property development boom in the last quarter of the 19th Century. Heavily built-up blocks of residential buildings were erected, interspersed with commercial buildings. People lived and worked next to each other. The Second World War led to considerable destruction, including the newspaper quarter, the commercial area along the Ritterstrasse, and the main railway station. The working-class residential areas between the Spree River and the Landwehr Canal and the eastern part of Friedrichshain were more or less unaffected.

Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain are connected by the Oberbaum Bridge over the Spree River. The district has the lowest family incomes in Berlin. The special flair of the district has made it very attractive for the artistic and creative community. Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg is working to enhance this cultural reputation.

Statistics

• Area: 2,016 hectares
• Residents 2008: 267.919
• Ethnic minorities 2008: 22,4 %
• Average income per household 2007: € 1,200/month