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Together, we’ll explore the old and the new—a century of industrial history. Electric motors, electric razors, subways. Join us for a walking tour of Wilhelmsruh and Pankow Park with Michael Hinze.

To whet your curiosity, here is some background information from Michael Hinze:

“Wilhelmsruh, Bergmann-Borsig, PANKOW PARK

A small Berlin village becomes a major industrial hub

100 years ago, Leonhard Sigmund Ludwig Bergmann—born in Tennstedt, Thuringia, in 1851 and once a close associate of the American inventor Thomas Alva Edison—purchased a 76,000 m² site in the vicinity of the village of Wilhelmsruh. In 1907, the first industrial development of the site began, and as early as 1908, the metalworks began production.

In 1909, the cable plant opened and began manufacturing steam turbines and vehicles. By 1910, there were already 18 subsidiary operations on the factory grounds. The industrial settlement was facilitated by its proximity to existing rail lines and the stations of the Nordbahn and Heidekrautbahn railways, which thus ensured the smooth and industry-friendly handling of goods and passenger traffic.

With the outbreak of World War I, parts of the Bergmann Works were converted to arms production, and from 1932 onward, the company focused on the metalworks, the cable factory, and the production of insulated pipes, steel, machinery, and automobiles.

At the end of World War II, the Red Army occupied the Wilhelmsruh plant and seized the facility, which was converted into a state-owned enterprise in 1949 by decree of the Soviet Military Administration and henceforth bore the name VEB Bergmann-Borsig.

With the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, the Bergmann-Borsig site became a border zone that could only be entered with special authorization. In total, until the end of German division in November 1989, more than 2 kilometers of the company’s perimeter on the north and southwest sides of the premises also served as a heavily guarded border zone between “Berlin—Capital of the GDR” and West Berlin.

  • Date: Saturday, May 9, 2026
  • Time: 11:00 a.m.
  • Meeting point: Bus line 155, Hertzstraße / Fontanestraße stop, 13158 Berlin (Pankow, Wilhelmsruh)
  • Fee: 5 euros

Organizer: Förderverein Stille Straße 10 e.V., 13156 Berlin

Registration: stillestrasse@gmail.com or Tel. 030 47 36 79 70

Additional information
Dates
May 2026
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