Spandauer Vorstadt

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  Hackescher Markt

• Hirtenstraße

• Volksbühne at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz.

• Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße

• The New Synagogue on Oranienburger Straße in Berlin.

• Neue Schönhauser Straße

• Hackesche Höfe

• The entrance of Clärchens Ballhaus on Auguststraße.

• Tucholskystraße

• Tucholskystraße

• Koppenplatz

• Former Postfuhramt

• Tacheles

In the neighborhood Spandauer Vorstadt, the district of Mitte is very chic and young. The shops, galleries and cafés attract tourists, businesspeople and creatives alike.

The neighborhood Spandauer Vorstadt is located between Torstraße, Karl-Liebknecht-Straße, the Stadtbahn railway line, the river Spree, and Friedrichstraße. The so-called Scheunenviertel is the part of Spandauer Vorstadt located east of Rosenthaler Straße.

Scheunenviertel

Before the Second World War, the area of Spandauer Vorstadt was mainly inhabited by Jewish people. After the richer citizens had later migrated in the direction of Charlottenburg, the whole neighborhood and Scheunenviertel in particular gained a despicable reputation. Today, the area has been renovated, numerous green spaces and playgrounds have been created, and its reputation has thoroughly changed as a result.

Hackescher Markt and Hackesche Höfe

Hackescher Markt, Oranienburger Straße, and Koppenplatz are considered a chic residential area popular with wealthy creative types. It houses many advertising agencies, galleries, architecture offices, and extravagant shops.

The area around Große Hamburger Straße, Auguststraße, Linienstraße, and Tucholskystraße features numerous galleries, cafés, and trendy shops.
The Hackeschen Höfe are the largest closed courtyard area in Germany and an attractive destination for tourists and locals alike. Here, you will find a wide range of leisure activities and services such as shopping, theater, a cinema, restaurants, cafés, and much more.

Oranienburger Straße and the New Synagogue

On Oranienburger Straße, there are numerous shopping and entertainment opportunities as well as the famous buildings such as the New Synagogue from 1866, which was built because many Jewish merchants had settled in the area. Furthermore, the Postfuhramt and the Haupttelegrafenamt are located here.

Large parts of the street were completely destroyed on Kristallnacht and during the Second World War. During the GDR era not much was done to rebuild the street. Inly the Monbijoupark between Oranienburger Straße and the Spree River was converted into a park for leisure and recreation in 1961.

After the German reunification, Oranienburger Straße experienced an upswing. The former Wertheim ruins became the Kunsthaus Tacheles, an art center which no longer exists. The empty shops became trendy pubs, many of them run by squatters from the surrounding streets. The plot of the former Tacheles art house is currently undergoing extensive redesign and part of it is to be used for cultural purposes again.

Spandauer Vorstadt in Transition

In the narrow part of the street at Hackescher Markt, many fashion boutiques were established and even today, shop after shop is still lined up here. These days, Oranienburger Straße is in the hands of tourists and businesses, who enliven the area day and night. Almost all of the shops and restaurantshere have changed owners and names over the last few years. The former residents, many of them students and artists, could no longer afford the rents and moved to other parts of Berlin. Many high-priced new buildings have been constructed in the last few years and more projects are still to follow.