Fancy stepping into a place where the echoes of old Berlin still resonate? You’re standing in Nordend. It is a unique part of Berlin. It lies between Rosenthal and Niederschönhausen. This landhaus colony shifted between the two villages for decades. Today, it is part of Pankow.
Nordend wasn’t always a residential area. Before 1871, it served as an imperial maneuver ground. Then, the Berliner Nordend-Actien-Gesellschaft transformed it into building land. Farmers bought land. Gardening businesses settled here. A village center grew around Kronprinzenplatz. It even had a school. By 1900, Nordend was home to 800 residents.
Let’s stroll along Nordendstraße. Notice the Reihenhausgruppe built by Heinrich Möller in the 1930s. He varied the expressionistic forms from house to house. Further north on Am Rollberg stands another house by Möller. The street is basic. The house appears enchanted hidden behind trees and hedges. The doorway features a terracotta arch. The brick facade has protruding brick ends. Upstairs, a corner window offers a view of the surroundings.
Nordend almost became the site of West Germany’s “Permanent Representation” in East Berlin. The authorities wanted to push it to the edge of the city. However, they chose Hannoversche Straße in Mitte instead. During the DDR era, the local Gärtnereien merged into the “Blühende Zukunft” production cooperative. After reunification, residential buildings replaced these Gärtnereigrundstücke.
To the east of Dietzgenstraße, you would have found cemeteries. To the west were clinics. The tramway built a depot with car halls and housing for its employees. This was at the end of its line.
Now let’s talk about the four cemeteries at Friedhof Nordend. The Gethsemane Cemetery had a peculiar problem at its 1897 inauguration. They had no body for the ceremonial burial. They borrowed a five-year-old boy from another parish. His gravestone is still near the Gethsemane entrance.
Three cemeteries from inner-city parishes were established here around 1900. These served the Zions and Gethsemane parishes from Prenzlauer Berg. Also the Friedens and Himmelfahrt parishes from Wedding. Later, the burial grounds merged into one large cemetery. Only the Zions Cemetery retains its historic portal. The paved path to the entrance is an old village road. Only a third of the area is still used as a cemetery. The rear part is becoming a forest. A copy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s sculpture stands in Nordend. The original is in front of the Zions Church in Prenzlauer Berg.
The Nordend Church bells ring from a separate bell tower. It was built in the 1950s using granite stones. The bells are still rung by hand. The church itself is a Jugendstil building with a protected Kirchsaal.
Nordend. A place where history, architecture, and community intertwine. It leaves you with a unique Berlin experience.