Moabit | |
|---|---|
Locality ofBerlin | |
 Stadtteilgarden in Moabit | |
Location of Moabit in Mitte district and Berlin
| |
 Location of Moabit | |
  Moabit  Moabit | |
| Coordinates:52°32′00″N13°20′00″E / 52.53333°N 13.33333°E /52.53333; 13.33333 | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Berlin |
| City | Berlin |
| Borough | Mitte |
| Founded | 1861 |
| Area | |
• Total | 7.72 km2 (2.98 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 52 m (171 ft) |
| Population (2023-12-31)[1] | |
• Total | 84,113 |
| • Density | 10,900/km2 (28,200/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 10551, 10553, 10555, 10557, 10559 |
| Vehicle registration | B |
Moabit (German:[moaˈbiːt]ⓘ) is aninner city locality in theborough ofMitte,Berlin, Germany. As of 2022, about 84,000 people lived in Moabit. First inhabited in 1685 and incorporated into Berlin in 1861, the formerindustrial andworking-class neighbourhood is fully surrounded by three watercourses, which define its present-day border. Between 1945 and 1990, Moabit was part of the British sector ofWest Berlin and directly borderedEast Berlin.
Until the administrative reform in 2001, Moabit was a part of the district ofTiergarten.
Colloquially, the nameMoabit also refers to theCentral Criminal Court (Strafgericht) anddetention centre, which deals with all criminal cases in Berlin and is based in Moabit.
The origin of the nameMoabit is disputed. According to one account, it can be traced back to theHuguenots, in the time ofKingFrederick William I of Prussia. These Frenchrefugees are said to have named their new residence in reference to theBiblical description of theIsraelites in the country ofMoab, where they stayed before being allowed to enterCanaan. Other possible origins include the German (Berlin dialect) "Moorjebiet" (swamp area).
In the 13th century the waste area along the road toSpandau known asGrosse Stadtheide ("great cityheath") was a hunting ground of theelectors ofBrandenburg. Settlement began in 1685 with the erection of theStaakensetzerhaus at the western border of what is now Moabit. 1716 saw the formation of the colony ofOld Moabit by the Huguenots, who were meant to cultivatewhite mulberry trees forsilkworms, but failed because of the lowsoil quality.
In 1818New Moabit was founded and grew together with Old Moabit to an industrial suburb district, which was incorporated into the city of Berlin in 1861. The industrialization started in 1820 when, with the financial support of court counsellor Baillif, a simple bridge was built to connect the island to the Berlin mainland. The bridge was followed by factories, a power plant, the Berlin-Spandau Canal, theWesthafen port and theHamburger Bahnhof train station which connected Berlin withHamburg. A network of streets was laid out in theHobrecht-Plan in an area that came to be known architecturally as theWilhelmine Ring. All of that activity resulted in anexponential growth of the population and the subsequent construction oftenements in Moabit and neighbouringWedding, facilitating the spread of asmallpox epidemic.
In consequence, Berlin's city council, exhorted to do so byRudolf Virchow, built a second hospital (after theCharité), theKrankenhaus Moabit in 1872. In the 1880s,Robert Koch worked here on thesterilization of surgical instruments and the isolation of thetuberculosis bacterium. Ateaching hospital from 1920 on, theKrankenhaus Moabit employed notable physicians like theNobel LaureateWerner Forssmann,Lydia Rabinowitsch-Kempner and theresistance fighterGeorg Groscurth.
A first prison, theZellengefängnis (Cell Prison) onLehrter Strasse was built between 1842 and 1849 by order of KingFrederick William IV of Prussia, according to the "separate system" ofPentonville Prison. In 1878Max Hödel, who had shot at EmperorWilhelm I of Germany, was beheaded here. Political activists likeKarl Radek,Erich Mühsam,Werner Scholem andMusa Cälil were detained in Moabit.Wilhelm Voigt, the "Hauptmann von Köpenick", and the writerWolfgang Borchert served their prison sentences in the prison.
The vast building of theCriminal Court onTurmstraße was erected in 1906. In 1909, architectPeter Behrens built theAEG'sTurbine factory at the north-westernHuttenstraße, one of the first works ofModern architecture.
Large parts of Moabit are traditional working-class residential areas. Some areas were known for their political activity during theNazi era, such as theRed Beusselkiez or the neighbouringRostock Kiez. After the NaziMachtergreifung in 1933 they were considered Communist resistance cells.
On 11 April 1928, during theWeimar Republic, the 20-year-old Communist activistOlga Benário and several of her comrades managed to break into Moabit's prison and free the incarceratedOtto "Li De" Braun, a prominent party member and at the time Benario's lover. Despite being hotly hunted, the two lovers succeeded in escaping to Moscow and later rose (separately) to prominence in the International Communist movement (in Brazil and China respectively).
Between 1941 and 1945, around 1900 Jews were deported predominantly toAuschwitz,Theresienstadt orMinsk. Approximately as many survived by escaping abroad.
After the war, between 1945 and 1990, Moabit was part of the British sector ofWest Berlin. Due to its new peripheral location adjacent to theBerlin Wall, Moabit became a remote neighbourhood. Similar to Kreuzberg, it attracted mostly immigrants due to its low rents. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, Moabit's location has anew changed to its former centrality. Post-reunification, Moabit has faced problems such as drug trafficking and abuse (especially aroundKleiner Tiergarten), poverty (most notably in its Western parts), and crime.[2][3] Similar to neighbouring Wedding, lower rents have recently attracted artists and young people, and there are first unmistakable signs ofgentrification.[4]
At Moabit's eastern edge, bordering Mitte, Berlin's newCentral Railway Station was opened in 2006 on the grounds of the old Lehrter Bahnhof. The adjacentneoclassicalHamburger Bahnhof former train station now serves as Berlin's contemporary art museum, the Museum für Gegenwart. South of the Central Station, the German government district has expanded across theSpree into Moabit.
The Center forArt andUrbanism (ZK/U) is located on the grounds of the Stadtgarten Moabit, in the former Berlin-Moabit freight station.[5]
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For a long time, Moabit was sparsely inhabited. Its population grew considerably after its incorporation into Berlin in 1861:
Moabit's modern-day population is among Berlin's most diverse. As of 2022[update], out of 84,148 inhabitants, 29,533 (35.10%) were non-German citizens. 46,113 (54.80%) had amigration background, making it one of the highest percentages alongsideGesundbrunnen,Neukölln,Kreuzberg andWedding.[6]
Moabit is mentioned in countless books and films taking place in Germany or Berlin, primarily in reference to criminal court cases or incarcerations at the Central Criminal Court (Kriminalgericht) and detention centre. The district features briefly inJonathan Franzen's 2015 novelPurity and also extensively in Dan Fesperman's 2018 novel Safe Houses.
The Berlin-based band No Nebraska! released a song entitled "Moabit is an Island" on their EP "Serves Six" in 2007.
 Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf (4) | |
|---|---|
 Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg (2) | |
 Lichtenberg (11) | |
 Marzahn-Hellersdorf (10) | |
 Mitte (1) | |
 Neukölln (8) | |
 Pankow (3) | |
 Reinickendorf (12) | |
 Spandau (5) | |
 Steglitz-Zehlendorf (6) | |
 Tempelhof-Schöneberg (7) | |
 Treptow-Köpenick (9) | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
