Refuge for those in need. That is what Moabit means. Moabit is an inner-city locality in Berlin. It is in the borough of Mitte. About 84000 people lived in Moabit in 2022.
First inhabited in 1685, Moabit became part of Berlin in 1861. The area was once industrial and working-class. Three watercourses surround it today. These define Moabit’s border. From 1945 to 1990, Moabit was in the British sector of West Berlin. It directly bordered East Berlin.
The name Moabit is debated. One story says Huguenots named it. King Frederick William I of Prussia gave them refuge. They named their new home after the Biblical land of Moab. Israelites stayed there before entering Canaan. Another idea says the name comes from the German “Moorjebiet”. This means swamp area.
In the 13th century, the area was a hunting ground. It was called Grosse Stadtheide. Settlement started in 1685 with the Staakensetzerhaus. In 1716, Huguenots formed Old Moabit. They planned to grow white mulberry trees for silkworms. The soil was not good enough.
New Moabit was founded in 1818. It joined Old Moabit as an industrial suburb. In 1820, industrialization began. Court counselor Baillif helped build a simple bridge. This connected the island to Berlin. Factories came next. Then a power plant and the Berlin-Spandau Canal. The Westhafen port and Hamburger Bahnhof train station followed. This connected Berlin to Hamburg. Streets were laid out in the Hobrecht-Plan. This area became known as the Wilhelmine Ring. The population grew fast. Tenements were built in Moabit and Wedding. Smallpox spread easily.
Rudolf Virchow urged Berlin’s city council to act. A second hospital was built. Krankenhaus Moabit opened in 1872. Robert Koch worked there in the 1880s. He sterilized surgical tools. He also isolated the tuberculosis bacterium. Krankenhaus Moabit became a teaching hospital in 1920. Werner Forssmann, Lydia Rabinowitsch-Kempner, and Georg Groscurth worked there.
Between 1842 and 1849, a first prison was built. It was the Zellengefängnis on Lehrter Strasse. King Frederick William IV of Prussia ordered it. It used the “separate system” of Pentonville Prison. Max Hödel, who shot at Emperor Wilhelm I, was beheaded here in 1878. Political activists were detained in Moabit. These included Karl Radek, Erich Mühsam, and Musa Cälil. Wilhelm Voigt and Wolfgang Borchert served prison sentences here too.
The Criminal Court on Turmstrasse was built in 1906. In 1909, Peter Behrens built the AEG Turbine factory. It stood on Huttenstrasse. This became one of the first modern architecture works.
Large parts of Moabit were working-class areas. Some areas were known for political activity. These were the Red Beusselkiez and Rostock Kiez. After the Nazi rise to power in 1933, these were seen as Communist resistance cells.
In 1928, Olga Benário and others broke into Moabit’s prison. They freed Otto “Li De” Braun. He was a prominent party member. Despite being hunted, they escaped to Moscow. They later became prominent in the Communist movement.
From 1941 to 1945, about 1900 Jews were deported. They went mainly to Auschwitz, Theresienstadt, or Minsk. About the same number survived by escaping abroad.
From 1945 to 1990, Moabit was part of the British sector. Being next to the Berlin Wall made Moabit remote. Like Kreuzberg, it drew immigrants. Rents were low. After the Wall fell, Moabit became central again. It faced drug problems, poverty, and crime. Like Wedding, lower rents have attracted artists and young people. Gentrification is starting.
The Museum für Gegenwart is in Moabit. It sits in a neoclassical train station. The Center for Art and Urbanism is in the Stadtgarten Moabit. This is on the former Berlin-Moabit freight station grounds.
Moabit’s population is diverse. In 2022, over 35% were non-German citizens. Over 54% had a migration background.
Kurt Tucholsky was born in Moabit. Farin Urlaub was also born here. Uschi Obermaier lived in Moabit with Kommune 1 in 1968/69. Sawsan Chebli was born in Moabit.
Moabit appears in many books and films. These often involve criminal court cases or prison sentences.
Moabit. A place of refuge. A place of industry. A place of art. And now, a part of your Berlin story.