Districts

In Berlin there is more than one downtown area. Berlin has many boroughs (Bezirke), and each borough is composed of several localities (Kieze) - each of these boroughs and localities have their unique style. Some boroughs of Berlin, as noted below, are more worthy of a visitor's attention than others. Originally Berlin was officially divided into 23 boroughs, and these boroughs are still used in Wikitravel as they remain foremost in popular conceptions of the city and are generally of a good practical size and cultural division for visitors as well. Since January 2001, the boroughs have officially been reduced from 23 to 12 for administrative efficiency. The boroughs can roughly be grouped into six districts:

Mitte (Mitte)

The historical center of Berlin, the nucleus of the former East Berlin, and the emerging city center. Cafes, restaurants, museums, galleries and clubs are abundant throughout the district, along with many sites of historic interest.

City West (Charlottenburg, Wilmersdorf,Schöneberg, Tiergarten, Schöneberg)
Ku'Damm (short for Kurfürstendamm) is, along with Tauentzienstraße, one of the main shopping streets in former West Berlin, especially for luxury goods. Many great restaurants and hotels are here and also on the side roads. The district also contains the Schloss Charlottenburg, Tiergarten and the Olympic Stadium. Schöneberg is generally a cozy area for aging hippies, young families and homosexuals.

East Central (Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg, Prenzlauer Berg)
Associated with the left wing youth culture, artists and Turkish immigrants, this district is somewhat noisier than most, packed with lots of cafes, bars, clubs and trendy shops, but also with some museums in Kreuzberg near the border to Mitte. These districts are undergoing gentrification as they are popular with students, artists and media professionals alike.

North (Spandau, Reinickendorf, Weißensee, Pankow, Wedding)
Spandau and Reinickendorf are beautiful old towns which feel much more spacious than the inner city. Pankow was once synonymous with the East German government, and the villas the SED leaders inhabited still exist.

East (Lichtenberg, Hohenschönhausen, Marzahn, Hellersdorf)
The museum at the site of the 1945 surrender to the Soviet army is of interest, as well as the former Stasi prison, an essential visit for anyone interested in East German history. Marzahn-Hellersdorf has a not entirely deserved reputation for being a vast collection of dull high-rise apartment blocks, as it contains the Erholungspark Marzahn, a large park where various ethnic styles of garden design are explored.

South (Steglitz, Zehlendorf, Tempelhof, Neukölln, Treptow, Köpenick)
South is a mixed bag of different boroughs. Zehlendorf is one of the greenest and wealthiest districts in Berlin, while Neukölln is one of the poorest of the city. Köpenick's swaths of forest around Berlin's largest lake, Müggelsee and the nice old town of Köpenick itself beg to be discovered on bikes and using the S-Bahn.