Neukölln

Neukölln is a borough of Berlin. It encompasses an area of 44.93 km² and has, as of 2003, about 307,400 inhabitants. Its current mayor is Heinz Buschkowsky (SPD).

When it was first mentioned in 1360 the village was called Richardsdorf and owned by the Order of St. John. Hence the coat of arms of the current city borough bears the Maltese cross.

In 1737 Frederick William I of Prussia let Moravians from Bohemia settle in the area, then called Rixdorf. They built their own church and houses off the village centre along the road to Berlin, today called Richardstrasse. The new bohemian village was granted its own constitution in 1797.

When both parts of the village were reunited in 1874 the place had 8,000 inhabitants, growing to 15,000 the next year.

On May 1 1899 the area, then the largest village of Prussia, became an independent city and acquired its current name in 1912. Its independence ended in 1920 when it was made part of Greater Berlin. From 1966 to 1975 the "Gropiusstadt" was built, a "Trabantenstadt" or city-within-a-city, designed by architect Walter Gropius. Comparable in concept to La Defense in Paris, it has over 60,000 habitants.

"Neuköln" (deliberately spelt with one 'l') is also an instrumental piece by David Bowie, the ninth track on his 1977 album "Heroes". Also, the last track of Miss Kittin's first solo album "I Com" is called "Neukölln 2".

External links

• Official Homepage (in German)