Through Neukölln and Kreuzberg

From Rixdorf via "61" to "36"
- Stopover in Tempelhof

Main points:

- Tour Start at Sonnenallee S-Station
- Rixdorf Quarter
- Körner Park
- Airplane approach at Schiller Quarter
- Former Airport Tempelhof
- Sehitlik Mosque
- South Star Place
- "Marheinike Hall" und Bergmann Quarter
- Along "Landwehr Canal" to "Urban Port"
- Kottbus Gate
- "Angel Pool"
- The "Treehouse" at Marianen Place
- Görlitz Park
- Berlin Wall at Schlesischer Busch Park
- Arena at the Spree River
- Oberbaum Bridge
- East Side Gallery
- End of Tour: Warschauer Straße S-Station

We start in the south where Neukölln still seems to be the notorious problem district with its bad reputation throughout Germany. Here you find, still visible today, the remnants of originally two villages: German Rixdorf, founded in 1360, and Bohemian Rixdorf, founded in 1737 as a settlement for refugees welcomed by Friedrich-Wilhelm 1st of Prussia, the so-called Soldier King. Rixdorf grew rapidly into a big town. In 1912, public authorities were so desparate at the kind of street life that had developped there that they changed the name of their town into Neukölln. You will learn why when we get to the old smithy.
In recent decades, the authorities of nearby Körner Quarter invented both the modern Quarter Management and the so-called "District Mothers" as a means of maintaining social life. You wouldn't think of any slum problems when you walk through the idyllic neo-baroque Körner Park listening to the murmuring sounds of its water fountains. When we get to the organic ice cream bar at Karl-Marx-Place, however, it becomes evident that the south of Neukölln will soon be a rising star like its northern part called "Kreuz-Kölln"
Yes, Neulölln is striving to become like the district of Kreuzberg. Part of Kreuzberg, the former postal district No. 61 including the quarter called "Bergmannkiez" at its center, has long been known as a lively and colorful neighborhood but also as a fancy and expensive one. Its legendary twin district, the postal district No. 36, however, is known to be restless and excentric. Between Kottbus Gate and Oberbaum Bridge you can dive into humming Little Istanbul, alternative lifestyles and hotspots of the international party community. You will see for yourself how Kreuzberg became what it is today when we get there.
But first we float across the former Tempelhof Airport, a field full of history. In 2010, it became a public park called "Tempelhofer Freiheit" (Tempelhof Freedom) since here, all are equal, not just the inhabitants of Neukölln and Kreuzberg.