Merkies-Firtel

Märkisches Viertel means, in the literal translation, “ The Brandenburg Brand Quarter ” ^[3]

It was founded on the site of a holiday village , spontaneously built up since 1925 and inhabited by about 12 thousand Berliners, forced to do without electricity, plumbing and sewage ^[4] . As part of the solution to the housing problem, which was acute in Berlin, which was still not recovering from the consequences of the war , a decision was made to demolish it and build a modern urban neighborhood for 40 thousand inhabitants. In total, more than 35 German and foreign architects (such as, for example, ^[5] ) were involved in the project. In total, from 1963 to 1974, about 17 thousand apartments were built using the panel house-building method ^[6] .

Since the development of infrastructure was noticeably lagging behind the pace of housing construction, the transport problem was not solved (partly aggravated by a boycott of the GDR operated by the German Democratic Republic in West Berlin ), as well as questions of the social adaptation of new residents who lost their usual surroundings during the move, For many years Merkises Firtel could not get rid of his negative image of a faceless, unpromising and criminalized area, which was reflected, in particular, in the Sido river (with it. - " My quarter "). Only gradually, through the efforts of city authorities and private developers, did the situation change for the better. This was facilitated by the construction of 12 schools ^[7] , 9 kindergartens, various institutions for leisure and recreation, the extension in 1994 of the metro line to the border of the district, as well as the renovation of the housing stock held in 2008 - 2015, primarily designed to increase it energy saving ^[8] , and which required investments of nearly 600 million euros ^[9] .

Located at the western border of the district, , through which the city ​​trains S1 and S26 run and which is also the U8 metro terminal, connects Merkies Firtel with the city center. Since plans to extend the underground line into the area, which have existed for many decades, are still being delayed due to the lack of the necessary funds in the city budget to finance them, the main public transport remains a bus (lines X21, X33, M21, N8, N24, N53, 122, 124, 221 and 222) ^[10] .

Despite the fact that by and large Merkises Firtel remains a typical sleeping area of ​​the German capital, cultural monuments deserve special mention:

• built in 1970 - 1973 ^{[11] the} Catholic ,
• consecrated in 1971 ^{[12] the} evangelical .

In addition, there are: one of the city pools, a trampoline center, various youth sports clubs, as well as the largest shopping center in northern Berlin, known for its palm trees growing under a glass roof, one of which has been over 200 years old ^[13] .

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  View of Merkies Firtel from the south

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  Zegeluhbeken Pond

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  Merkises Firtel in 1970

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  Residential buildings after renovation

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  Church of st. Martina

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  Fontane House Cultural Center

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  Recreation area in the shopping center