UNESCO World Heritage White City Reinickendorf – The New Objecitivity along the traffic axis

In the 1920s, Berlin was one of the most exciting cities in the world. The city, considered to be liberal and cosmopolitan, was a centre of modern art, culture and industry. But it was also bursting at the seams. In order to alleviate the enormous housing shortage, new housing estates were built on a grand scale thanks to clever politics.

In 2008, six particularly outstanding ensembles were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With its clear and angular structures, the Weisse Stadt (White City) housing estate in Berlin-Reinickendorf most closely embodies the formal principles of the New Building movement and the so-called "Bauhaus style". Its two central landmarks – the gate buildings and bridge house – celebrate the rise of the automobile.

In contrast to Bruno Taut's starkly colored facades, at first glance this complex designed by a trio of architects shines in brilliant bright white. A closer look, however, reveals many colourful details of the grounndbreaking estate plannend by four different planners: Otto Rudolf Salvisberg, Bruno Ahrends, Wilhelm Büning and garden architect Ludwig Lesser.

(Program in English)