• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Hansaviertel Berlin

Hansaviertel Berlin

  • Deutsch
  • English
  • Interbau 1957 live
    • Interactive map
    • Guided Tours
  • Interbau 1957
    • The History of Interbau 1957
    • Architects
    • Buildings
    • the city of tomorrow
    • Landscape architecture
    • Art
    • Unité d’habitation and the Congress Hall
    • Impressions
  • History
    • History until 1933
    • The years 1933–1945
    • November 22nd, 1943
    • The years 1945–1953
    • Jewish Neighbors
    • Prominent residents
    • Views of the old Hansaviertel
  • Actuality
    • News
    • Marketplace
    • Hansaviertel for children and young people
    • Sources of the Hansaviertel
  • Bürgerverein
    • About us
    • Activities and Working Groups
    • Partner
    • Charter
    • Become a member
    • Shop
  • UNESCO
    • On the way to becoming a World Heritage Site
    • Coalition Agreement
    • Submission
  • Downloads
  • Interbau 1957 live
    • Interaktive Map
    • Guided Tours
  • Interbau 1957
    • The History of Interbau 1957
    • Architects
    • Buildings
    • Impressions
  • History
    • History until 1933
    • The years 1933–1945
    • November 22nd, 1943
    • The years 1945–1953
    • Jewish Neighbors
    • Prominent residents
    • Views of the old Hansaviertel
  • Actuality
  • Bürgerverein
    • About us
    • Activities and Working Groups
    • Partner
    • Charter
  • UNESCO
    • On the way to becoming a World Heritage Site
    • Coalition Agreement
    • Submission
    • Publication of the proposal
Start | History | November 22nd, 1943

November 22nd, 1943

The southern Hansaviertel before and after its destruction

When time stood still – The bombardments of Berlin and the Hansaviertel

Life in the Hansaviertel was largely extinguished during the Second World War. When the Allied Air Force flew several waves of attacks on Berlin in March and November 1943, about two thirds of the residential buildings in the Hansaviertel were destroyed, along with many other districts of the city. The bombardments and the subsequent firestorm cost many people their lives. Those who were able to protect themselves in the bunkers lost their belongings and their homes.

As the imperial capital, industrial center and seat of Adolf Hitler’s government, as well as the official seat of all the important command authorities, Berlin was particularly targeted by the Allied attacks. They hoped that the “Battle of Berlin” would bring about a decisive change in the course of the war. There had already been several air attacks on Berlin since 1940, but the initial focus was on war-related targets such as armament facilities, industrial plants and infrastructure. In 1942, the Allies changed their strategy. As a reaction to the German bombing of London and the destruction of Rotterdam by the German Air Force, the British also set their sights on non-military targets – especially residential areas – with the Area Bombing Directive of February 1942. Through the so-called “moral bombing” (1) they hoped to demoralize the German civilian population, who would then overthrow the Hitler regime. This strategy was to be supported by the dropping of leaflets over Berlin with the message: “You can overthrow the Nazis and make peace” (2).

The Americans were also preparing for more effective air strikes against German cities. In May 1943, the German Village was built on the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, which consisted of replicas of typical tenement buildings. (3) Here the armed forces tested various warfare agents, and also the fire behavior of the residential buildings. The Royal Air Force and the United States Air Forces then used this knowledge during their attacks on German cities from 1943 onwards. In Berlin, large parts of the inner city were destroyed: the districts Wedding, Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Schöneberg, Steglitz, Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, as well as the center between Alexanderplatz and the Brandenburger Tor, were largely destroyed by the area bombardments (4).

Of the 343 residential buildings in the Hansaviertel, only 70 largely survived the destruction. Most of the trees in the Tiergarten also burned to the ground. Some of the remaining trees were chopped down by the needy population in the ice-cold winters after the end of the war to be used as fuel, while in spring they used the areas that were now freed-up to grow vegetables. Planting and reforestation did not begin again until 1949, when the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Ernst Reuter, symbolically planted the first linden tree on 17 March. (5) The Hansaviertel was not to be rebuilt until 1953 as part of the Interbau International Building Exhibition.

The war-damaged Hansaviertel and the burnt down vegetation of the Tiergarten, after 1945 Senatsverwaltung für Bau- und Wohnungswesen Berlin Luftbildstelle
The Hansaviertel, a wasteland: view from the Kaiser-Friedrich-Gedächtniskirche towards the former residential area, partly cleared of rubble. © Archiv der KFG
The house Altonaer Straße 12 after the bombardments in the night of 16 to 17 January 1943 Landesarchiv Berlin
Piles of rubble on the corner of Lessingstraße/ Händelallee Landesarchiv Berlin, Foto: Erich O. Krueger

Dr. Sandra Wagner-Conzelmann

>  The years 1945–1953

Primary Sidebar

Timeline

Timeline

  • Until 1933
    Development and settlement
    Until the end of the 18th century, the “Schöneberger Wiesen” are still undeveloped floodplains. At the end of the 19th century, the district quickly becomes a sought-after urban residential quarter.
  • 1933–1945
    Under the swastika
    Plans to convert Berlin into a prestigious seat of government and the imperial capital “Germania” also have an impact on the residents of the Hansaviertel. Many Jewish citizens are deported.
  • 1943
    Destruction in World War II
    Several air raids in January and March 1943 and, above all, a major attack in the night of 22 to 23 November 1943 almost completely destroy the Hansaviertel of the imperial age.
  • 1945–1953
    After the war
    Of the 343 houses, 70 remain, many of them badly damaged. About 4000 people still live in the narrowest of spaces and between rubble.
  • 1951
    Stalinallee
    Stalinallee is built before the Hansaviertel and is regarded as a model for metropolitan architecture and urban planning in the GDR. The architect Hermann Henselmann was inspired by the “Socialist Classicism” of the Soviet Union.
  • 1953
    Tendering of the Interbau
    As a reaction to Stalinallee, the Senate announces an ideas competition for the reconstruction of the Hansaviertel and declares it the core area of the International Building Exhibition Interbau.
  • 1957
    Interbau 57
    With the International Building Exhibition, the new Hansaviertel, a modern urban quarter with designs by numerous internationally renowned architects, is created. The individually designed buildings in an open development represent an alternative model to the uniform monumental architecture of Stalinallee in the eastern part of the city.
  • 1980er Jahre
    Hansaviertel before the fall of Communism
    Interest in this residential area wanes in the 80s. Among other things, the homogenous demographic is criticized. In addition, the peripheral location makes the Hansaviertel less attractive after the Wall is built.
  • 2018
    25 years after reunification
    The turning point comes after the fall of the Wall. The quarter moves back into the center. In 1995, it becomes a protected monument and gains popularity. Today, it is a sought-after residential area. Berlin wants to have the Hansaviertel and the former Stalinallee put on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Southern Hansaviertel before and after its destruction

Footer

This website was created with the kind support
of the LOTTO-Foundation Berlin

LOTTO-Stiftung

Unterstützen Sie uns!

Support us with a donation!
We will share our bank details with you at
info(at)hansaviertel.berlin.
If you give us your address, we will
gladly issue you with a donation receipt.

  • Bibliography
  • Contact
  • Imprint
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 · Bürgerverein Hansaviertel e. V.

  • Downloads
  • Interbau 1957 live
    ▼
    • Interaktive Map
    • Guided Tours
  • Interbau 1957
    ▼
    • The History of Interbau 1957
    • Architects
    • Buildings
    • Impressions
  • History
    ▼
    • History until 1933
    • The years 1933–1945
    • November 22nd, 1943
    • The years 1945–1953
    • Jewish Neighbors
    • Prominent residents
    • Views of the old Hansaviertel
  • Actuality
  • Bürgerverein
    ▼
    • About us
    • Activities and Working Groups
    • Partner
    • Charter
  • UNESCO
    ▼
    • On the way to becoming a World Heritage Site
    • Coalition Agreement
    • Submission
    • Publication of the proposal
Diese Website benutzt Cookies. Wenn du die Website weiter nutzt, gehen wir von deinem Einverständnis aus.OKNeinDatenschutzerklärung