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 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."
*
Cologne,
Germany*
Official Homepage (in German)
