Reinickendorf
A shorter entry. The sources are real, but this district had less written about it than the central ones. Last updated 2 August 2026.
Some points below are marked unverified. That means the research found conflicting sources or none at all, and left the question open rather than picking an answer.
Current description
Reinickendorf stretches across 11 Ortsteile in Berlin's north-west. The district tourism office describes a landscape shaped by forests, fields, lakes and waterways, with Tegeler See as its main water setting. 1 The southern and central parts around Alt-Tegel, Borsigwalde and Alt-Reinickendorf combine shopping streets, workplaces, housing and older village traces. 2 3 4 The Märkisches Viertel has the scale of a planned West Berlin housing estate, with large buildings, open green areas and a central shopping and services area. 5 Lübars keeps a village core, fields and horse farms. 6
Why visit
Visit Tegel for the Greenwichpromenade and the Tegeler See. The district presents Tegel as an excursion place with boat trips, pedal boats and family recreation, and construction of a new playground ship began there in February 2025. 2 7 Alt-Tegel adds a waterfront shopping street with landing stages, boat hire and food places. A local Reinickendorf publication reported in November 2025 that a citizen-backed study was preparing improvements to the street and its link to the Greenwichpromenade. 8 Lübars suits visitors who want a preserved rural edge within Berlin, while the former Tegel airport area suits visitors interested in a district still being reshaped through public planning. 6 9
When to skip
Skip Reinickendorf when the trip depends on a compact central circuit or dense nightlife. Its documented visitor offer is spread across waterfront Tegel, village Lübars and several residential or work areas, so the district rewards a planned excursion. 1 Skip the former TXL site when you need a finished visitor attraction. In May 2025 the district was still gathering resident views on new paths, entrances, public places and the effects of the planned Schumacher Quartier. 9 The Märkisches Zentrum was also still in a planning phase in February 2025, with a revised scheme that proposed more housing and no visible construction at that point. 10
History
- 13th century and 1247: Reinickendorf was founded during Askanian colonisation, and Lübars was first recorded as Lubars in 1247. Agriculture and handicraft shaped the early settlements. 4 6
- 1840 to 1924: Lübars developed brickworks on local clay. The larger works founded in 1854 supplied building material to the expanding city, and one former works building remains at Benekendorffstraße 115. 6
- 1885 to 1920: The former Amtshaus in Alt-Reinickendorf was built as a municipal office and served as the local administrative centre until incorporation into Berlin in 1920. Older farmhouses, a barn and stable buildings remain around the village green. 4
- 1945 to 1975: Reinickendorf belonged to the French sector after 1945. The Berlin Wall reached the Pankow border from 1961 to 1989, and the Märkisches Viertel was built in West Berlin from 1963 to 1975 to provide large-scale housing at the city's edge. 11 5 12
- 1948, 1974 and 2020: Tegel's airport began with a 1948 runway built for the Berlin Airlift, the present terminal opened in 1974, and the airport closed on 8 November 2020. The airport and the later housing estates helped form the district's postwar character. 13 14
Source gap: Dated resident reporting on daily life outside Tegel and the Märkisches Viertel was limited in the sources checked. unverified.