Weißensee

Weißensee is a locality (Ortsteil) of the Pankow district, bordering Prenzlauer Berg to the south-west. It grew out of a thirteenth-century village on the eastern shore of a lake originally called Großer See, today the Weißer See. It covers about 7.9 km², and about 59,000 people were registered here on 30 June 2026.

In the late nineteenth century Weißensee became a popular excursion destination for Berliners. A horse-drawn tram from Alexanderplatz started running in 1877, and the district office describes this route as Berlin's oldest surviving tram line. The estate district of Neu-Weißensee became a municipality in 1880 and merged with the old village in 1905. In the early twentieth century Weißensee was briefly known as a film city, with several studios and cinemas.

Today it is a mainly residential area with its own centre around Antonplatz and Berliner Allee. Cultural institutions include the Weißensee Academy of Art (Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee), the Brotfabrik arts centre and the Kino Toni cinema.

Weißensee is quieter and much less densely populated than neighbouring Prenzlauer Berg: about 7,400 residents per km² at the end of 2025, roughly half the density of inner-city localities such as Wilmersdorf. On 30 June 2026 about 20% of residents held a non-German citizenship (Berlin: about a quarter), and children under 15 made up about 14%, slightly above the Berlin average.

Its main areas are:

• Alter Ortskern / Berliner Allee: the historic village core around Antonplatz, today the main shopping street.
• Komponistenviertel in the south-east, with Gründerzeit apartment blocks and streets named after composers.
• Gründerviertel in the north-west along Langhansstraße, with mixed residential and commercial buildings.
• Munizipalviertel around the Kreuzpfuhl pond, developed in the early twentieth century.
• The Bruno Taut estate on Buschallee, a residential ensemble from 1925 onwards.

The large Jewish Cemetery Weißensee on Herbert-Baum-Straße is one of the locality's most significant historic sites.

Weißensee has no U-Bahn or S-Bahn station. Public transport relies on trams and buses:

• M4: Buschallee, Weißer See, Antonplatz and Greifswalder Straße to Alexanderplatz and Hackescher Markt.
• 12: from Pasedagplatz via Weißer See and Antonplatz to Eberswalder Straße, Friedrichstraße and Am Kupfergraben in Mitte.
• M13: from Weißer See and Antonplatz west to Prenzlauer Berg and Wedding, and south to Frankfurter Allee and Warschauer Straße in Friedrichshain.
• 27: from Pasedagplatz east and south to Hohenschönhausen, Karlshorst and Köpenick.

The nearest S-Bahn station is usually Greifswalder Straße (S41, S42, S8, S85) in Prenzlauer Berg, about a kilometre from the southern edge and reached by the M4.

Housing ranges from Gründerzeit apartment buildings (Komponistenviertel, Langhansstraße) to 1920s estates such as the Bruno Taut ensemble on Buschallee, later blocks and some new builds.

There is no official rent figure for Weißensee alone. As a citywide anchor, the IBB Housing Market Report 2025 found a median asking rent of €15.78 per m² net cold for flats advertised in Berlin in 2025. Use the official rent index query (Mietspiegel 2026) to check what is legally usual for a specific address.

Children under 15 make up about 14% of residents (Berlin: about 13%, 30 June 2026). Family life centres on the lake: the Park am Weißen See surrounds the Weißer See and has a bathing beach (Strandbad) and the historic Milchhäuschen café. Smaller green spaces include the Kreuzpfuhl pond in the Munizipalviertel.

For childcare, search by address in the city's Kita-Navigator. Primary school places are normally allocated by registered address, as decided by the district school office.