“A French village in Berlin?” you might ask. This is Citu00e9 Foch. It is a neighborhood with a unique story. It was built for French forces and their families between 1952 and 1976.
Citu00e9 Foch sits in Berlin’s Reinickendorf borough. More precisely it is in the locality of Wittenau. The area spans about 47 hectares. That is comparable to the size of the Vatican City. Streets and buildings kept their French names after German reunification.
Initially, it was called Citu00e9 Tucoulou. Later, it was renamed to honor Marshal Ferdinand Foch. Foch was a French Marshal during World War I. By 1991, Citu00e9 Foch housed around 2,600 residents. It became one of the largest French settlements in Berlin. There were 785 apartments in 80 buildings.
Once, a machinery factory called Cyclop stood here. In August 1945, French troops used its storage as temporary housing. They named it “Camp Foch.” Because of military facilities, Citu00e9 Foch was not open to the public.
After German reunification, the area went to the Federal Agency for Real Estate. For a while, the Federal Intelligence Service used an antenna and building on Rue Montesquieu. This happened after the French withdrew.
In the early 2000s, Citu00e9 Foch faced becoming a ghost town. The apartments were hard to rent out. Their layouts were unusual for German standards. Some had separate toilets without one in the bathroom. Others featured large living-dining room combinations. These were former officer apartments. Also the rents were too high for the desired use.
Around 2000, renovations by the Federal Agency for Real Estate improved the situation. From 2007 to 2010, vacancies decreased from 33% to 7%.
Citu00e9 Foch once housed several French institutions. There was the u00c9cole maternelle Saint-Exupu00e9ry. This preschool is now a branch of the Mu00fcnchhausen Elementary School. The u00c9cole Victor Hugo was an elementary school with sports facilities. Today, the Romain-Rolland-Gymnasium occupies this site.
Collu00e8ge Voltaire, a secondary school, moved to Tiergarten in 2010. The building now hosts a kindergarten. A large shopping center once stood on Avenue Charles de Gaulle. It was sold to a private investor in 1998. After falling into disrepair, it was demolished in 2016. New residential buildings now stand in its place. The Catholic Church of Ste.-Geneviu00e8ve was deconsecrated and demolished. This also made way for new housing.
The Federal Agency for Real Estate is constructing around 600 apartments in Citu00e9 Foch. There are plans for a playground, a daycare center, and a new elementary school. The city is evolving while keeping its unique history alive. Today, Citu00e9 Foch stands as a testament to Berlin’s diverse past. It is a blend of French heritage and German renewal.