Please click here for more detailed information about the history of each of the subdistricts. Unfortunately, this information is only available in German at the moment.
Lichtenberg is the result of the unification of 10 small towns and villages which grew independently of each other. The ages of the sub-districts also differ wildly: some of the towns, such as Friedrichsfelde and Alt-Lichtenberg, were mentioned in historical documents as far back as the 13th Century, whereas Neu-Hohenschönhausen has only been in existence since the 1980s. This can explain Lichtenberg's multi-faceted nature: quaint villages next to urban centres; "Plattenbauten" (houses made from concrete slabs) and villas; residential estates next to industrial sectors.
Key points in the area's history include its urbanisation and the confirmation in 1907 of Lichtenberg as a town, with Oskar Ziethen as governor.
On a national and international level the battles between the free corps and the armed workers and sailors on the streets of Lichtenberg in March 1919 and the official declaration of Germany's surrender on the 8th May 1945 in the officer's mess in Karlshorst were certainly of note.
In terms of architecture Lichtenberg earned acclaim around the region for its "Neuen Bauen" (new building) style in the 1920s, and the area wrote industrial history in 1938 with the development of Perlon (Nylon) in the Aceta-Werk in Rummelsburg.
