Boroughs and Localities of Berlin - History

History

Each borough is made up of several officially recognized localities (Ortsteile in German, sometimes called subdistricts in English). These localities typically have a historical identity as former independent cities, villages, or rural municipalities that were united in 1920 as part of the Greater Berlin Act, forming the basis for the present-day city and state. The localities do not have their own governmental bodies, but are recognized by the city and the boroughs for planning and statistical purposes. Berliners often identify more with the locality where they live than with the borough that governs them. The localities are further subdivided into statistical tracts, which are mainly used for planning and statistical purposes. The statistical tracts correspond roughly but not exactly with neighbourhoods recognized by residents.

When Greater Berlin was established in 1920, the city was organized into 20 boroughs, most of which were named after their largest component locality, often a former city or municipality; others, such as Kreuzberg and Prenzlauer Berg, were named for geographic features. By 2000, Berlin comprised 23 boroughs, as three new boroughs had been created in East Berlin.

An administrative reform in 2001 merged the existing boroughs into the current 12 boroughs. As of 2012, these 12 boroughs were made up of a total of 96 officially recognized localities, as listed below.