Pankow

Pankow is in the north-east of Berlin and borders the state of Brandenburg. The present district was formed in 2001 from three former districts, Prenzlauer Berg, Pankow and Weißensee, and it has 13 localities (Ortsteile): Prenzlauer Berg, Weißensee, Blankenburg, Heinersdorf, Karow, Stadtrandsiedlung Malchow, Pankow, Blankenfelde, Buch, Französisch Buchholz, Niederschönhausen, Rosenthal and Wilhelmsruh.

On 30 June 2026, 428,973 people were registered in Pankow, more than in any other Berlin district (Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg). Population is very unevenly spread. Prenzlauer Berg alone had about 169,400 residents, the Ortsteil Pankow about 68,900, Weißensee about 58,900 and Niederschönhausen about 33,500, while Blankenfelde (about 2,100) and Stadtrandsiedlung Malchow (about 1,100) remain largely rural. The district office gives the area as just over 103 km², the second-largest in Berlin after Treptow-Köpenick, and it expects Pankow to keep growing.

The district changes considerably as you travel north from the city centre.

Prenzlauer Berg

Prenzlauer Berg has the largest continuous area of late-19th-century (Gründerzeit) apartment buildings in Berlin, laid out on the street grid drawn up by the planner James Hobrecht in the 19th century. Most of it was extensively renovated after 1990. The south, around Kollwitzplatz, Kastanienallee and Oderberger Straße, is an established area for cafés, bars and shops. The north-west, around the Gleimviertel, Mauerpark and Humannplatz, is more residential and popular with families. The east has East German prefabricated estates, such as those around Ernst-Thälmann-Park, alongside older buildings, newer homes and some detached houses.

Pankow and Niederschönhausen

The Ortsteil Pankow is the area around Breite Straße, Bürgerpark and Schloss Schönhausen, and is quieter and more residential than Prenzlauer Berg. It has apartment buildings, small urban villas and single-family homes. Schloss Schönhausen served as the residence of the East German head of state from 1949 to 1960. Niederschönhausen combines late-19th and early-20th-century apartment buildings and villas with parks and the Schönholzer Heide woodland.

Weißensee

Weißensee grew around its lake and a medieval village. It includes the Komponistenviertel, originally built as a middle-class quarter, and the large Jewish cemetery on Herbert-Baum-Straße. It has more of a small-town feel than Prenzlauer Berg.

The north: Heinersdorf to Buch

Further out, the localities have village cores, single-family homes and garden plots, along with some large newer estates. Karow-Nord, built from the 1990s, has more than 5,000 homes. Buch, the northernmost locality, is home to several large hospitals and clinics and has extensive forest, and about half its area is undeveloped. The Fauler See in Weißensee is a nature reserve.

Transport is excellent in Prenzlauer Berg and the southern Ortsteil Pankow, and thinner further north.

• U-Bahn: the U2 runs through Prenzlauer Berg (Senefelderplatz, Eberswalder Straße, Schönhauser Allee) to Vinetastraße and its terminus at S+U Pankow.
• S-Bahn: the Ring (S41, S42) serves Schönhauser Allee, Prenzlauer Allee and Greifswalder Straße, and the S8 and S85 also run along this eastern section. The S2 runs north from Pankow via Pankow-Heinersdorf, Blankenburg and Karow to Buch. The S8 continues via Pankow and Blankenburg towards Birkenwerder, and on weekdays the S26 runs through the north–south tunnel to Blankenburg. The S1 and the S85 (towards Frohnau on weekdays) stop at Wilhelmsruh.
• Tram: Pankow has some of Berlin's densest tram coverage: M1 (to Pankow and Rosenthal), M2 (to Heinersdorf), M4 and line 12 (to Weißensee), M10 and M13 (across Prenzlauer Berg), line 27 (Weißensee to Hohenschönhausen and Köpenick) and line 50 (to Französisch Buchholz).

Weißensee has no U-Bahn or S-Bahn station of its own, so trams and buses are the main way into the city. In the outer north, many residents rely on the S-Bahn plus buses, a bike or a car.

• Older apartment buildings (Altbau): dominate Prenzlauer Berg, where much of the housing stock dates from before the First World War, and are also common in the Ortsteil Pankow, Niederschönhausen and Weißensee. Most has been renovated, and rents for new lets in Prenzlauer Berg are high.
• East German prefabricated housing (Plattenbau): in the east of Prenzlauer Berg, in parts of Weißensee and in Buch.
• Villas, urban villas and single-family homes: in the Ortsteil Pankow, Niederschönhausen, Rosenthal, Wilhelmsruh, Französisch Buchholz, Blankenburg, Heinersdorf and Karow, many of them owner-occupied.
• New builds: the outer localities have seen extensive new construction on former open land, such as the large Karow-Nord estate built from the 1990s, and the district office describes large-scale new development as ongoing.

In the 2025 IBB housing market report, Pankow's median asking rent was above the Berlin median but below the three most expensive inner-city districts. Expect a large gap between Prenzlauer Berg and the outer north.

On 30 June 2026, about 21,100 children under six lived in Pankow, the highest number of any Berlin district (Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg). That reflects how popular the district is with families, and it means demand for Kita places and primary school places is high, especially in Prenzlauer Berg.

Family-friendly green spaces include Mauerpark and Volkspark Prenzlauer Berg, Ernst-Thälmann-Park with its indoor pool and the Zeiss planetarium, Bürgerpark Pankow and Schlosspark Schönhausen, the lake and park at Weißer See, the Schönholzer Heide, and the forests around Buch. Outer localities such as Karow and Französisch Buchholz offer more space and gardens, in exchange for longer journeys.

Use the city's Kita-Navigator to see daycare centres near an address, and the Senate's school directory to find schools by type in the district. Our guides on childcare and schools in Berlin explain the application steps.