200 years of gas lighting in Berlin

It was a surge of innovation that transformed Berlin for good: on 19 September 1826 at 7.00 pm, according to Berlin local time at the time, the city’s first gas-powered street lamps were lit on the boulevard ‘Unter den Linden’ in the presence of the press and many onlookers.

This led to far-reaching social changes; amongst other things, the night-time lighting enabled the emergence of a vibrant nightlife, for which Berlin is world-famous today and which attracts millions of tourists every year.

The 200th anniversary of this event will be on 19 September 2026. To mark the occasion, the Gaslicht-Kultur e.V. association will, at the original location and at the original time, light a replica of these historic Camberwell lamps, which were delivered to Berlin in large numbers from England – the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution – at that time.

The event will begin on 19 September at 7.30 pm in front of the Alte Kommandantur, Unter den Linden 1 (Bertelsmann representative office), with an appeal to the Senate to preserve the cultural heritage known as ‘Public Gas Street Lighting in Berlin’. This will be followed by a fascinating walk through the eventful history of gas lighting in Berlin, which will highlight the cultural and historical significance of this lighting system and demonstrate what Berlin would lose if this cultural heritage were to be demolished.

At 8.07 pm CEST (corresponding exactly to 7.00 pm Berlin local time back then), the historic lamp will be lit.

Following the event, at 8.30 pm, there will be an opportunity to take part in a bus tour lasting around one hour through the historic gas-lit areas of Kreuzberg. As space is limited, booking is recommended; we ask for a small donation upon boarding the bus.

Email: berlin@gaslicht-kultur.de