Berlin-Reinickendorf: Architecture, Village History and Schäfersee

Berlin-Reinickendorf offers several specific starting points for planning your trip: architecture and art history, evidence of village architecture, and paths and landscapes by the water. If you are looking for a hotel, thinking about what you want to focus on may help: would you like to explore Berlin’s architectural history, or are walks and a lap around the lake more likely to be part of your plans? The following places offer different points of reference.

Architecture between modernism and village history

The White City along Schillerpromenade was built between 1928 and 1931 by Bruno Ahrends, Wilhelm Büning and Otto Rudolf Salvisberg. The estate is one of the six Berlin Modernist housing estates and has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008. It was built in the New Objectivity style. It covers 14 hectares and provides space for more than 1,000 apartments. Kindergartens, shops and doctors’ offices were also planned. The urban design thus combines housing with the facilities intended for the estate.

Another way to explore architectural history is to visit Alt-Reinickendorf village church. The late-medieval church has remained unchanged on the outside for more than 500 years. Its semicircular chancel is unique in Berlin. The church also houses a winged altarpiece from the 16th century. An unknown painter created it based on motifs from Albrecht Dürer’s “Small Passion” woodcuts. The church thus brings together a distinctive architectural feature and a specific work of art from the 16th century.

Büdnerhof Ribbe, at Alt-Reinickendorf 35, adds a house with a village history to these architectural landmarks. It is the oldest surviving residential house in the Angerdorf (a village arranged around a central green) and offers a glimpse of Reinickendorf’s original village character. While the White City represents a planned modernist housing estate, Büdnerhof points to the historic village structure. Both offer different perspectives on architectural history.

Parks, lakeshores and paths

Kienhorstpark is a garden monument dating from 1931–1932. Its design includes a pond with a landscaped shoreline and a viewing platform made of broken concrete stones. The platform is on the east side of the pond, exactly where the Kienhorstgraben flows out of it. The park’s design can therefore be read through its specific features: the pond shore, the course of the ditch and the platform’s position.

At Schäfersee, the focus is on walks and a short bike ride. Wide paths invite you to enjoy a relaxing walk or a short cycle. Walking around the lake takes between 20 and 25 minutes—a useful guide when planning time for a stroll. Birds use the reeds along the shore as a breeding ground, adding another aspect of the lakeside landscape.

For a longer ride, there is another option: cycling route 5 runs for 17 kilometres from Heiligensee to the Panke green corridor. Alt-Reinickendorf is among the sights and highlights listed along the route. The short bike ride at Schäfersee and the 17-kilometre route are therefore quite different in length. Depending on whether you are planning a walk by the water or a longer bike ride, you will find different points of reference for your trip planning here.

Discover more destinations: Velten, Hermsdorf, Friedrichshagen, Berlin, Kladow, Steglitz, Tiergarten, Adlershof.

Go to the main travel overview: Berlin.