View source for Wilmersdorf

{{for|the Brandenburg municipality|Madlitz-Wilmersdorf}}
{{Infobox German location
|borough        = Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf
|year           = 1220
|name           = Wilmersdorf
|name_local     = 
|image_photo    = WilmersdorfRüdesheimerPlatz2.jpg
|image_caption  = Rüdesheimer Platz
|type           = Quarter
|City           = Berlin
|image_flag     = DEU Wilmersdorf (district) Flag.svg
|image_coa      = DEU Wilmersdorf (district) COA.svg
|coordinates    = {{coord|52|29|00|N|13|19|00|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|state          = Berlin
|district       = 
|divisions      = 
|elevation      = 43
|area           = 7.16
|pop_ref          = <ref>{{Population Germany|key=11|datref=QUELLE}}</ref>
|population       = {{Population Germany|key=110402}}
|population_as_of = {{Population Germany|key=11|datref=STAND}}
|postal_code    = 10707, 10709, 10711, 10713, 10715, 10717, 10719, 14197, 14199
|area_code      = 
|licence        = B
|plantext       = Location of Wilmersdorf in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Berlin
|image_plan     = Berlin Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Wilmersdorf.png
|website        =
}}

'''Wilmersdorf''' ({{IPA|de|ˈvɪlmɐsdɔʁf|-|De-Wilmersdorf.ogg}}) is an [[inner-city]] locality of [[Berlin]] which lies south-west of the central city. Formerly a borough by itself, Wilmersdorf became part of the new [[Boroughs of Berlin|borough]] of [[Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf]] following [[Berlin's 2001 administrative reform]].

==History==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-10414, Berlin-Wilmersdorf, Synagoge.jpg|left|thumb|upright|[[Synagogue]] of Wilmersdorf, 1930]]
The village near Berlin was first mentioned in 1293 as ''Wilmerstorff'', probably founded in the course of the German ''[[Ostsiedlung]]'' under the [[House of Ascania|Ascanian]] margraves of [[Margraviate of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]]. From the 1850s on ''Deutsch-Wilmersdorf'' was developed as a densely settled, affluent residential area, which in 1920 became a part of [[Greater Berlin Act|Greater Berlin]]. The former borough of Wilmersdorf included the localities of [[Halensee]], [[Schmargendorf]] and [[Grunewald (locality)|Grunewald]].

During the era of the [[Weimar Republic]] Wilmersdorf was a popular residential area for artists and intellectuals.

After the [[Russian Revolution]], in the late 1910s, Wilmersdorf and [[Charlottenburg]] became popular amongst [[white émigré]]. Café Prager Diele (formerly located on the corner of Trautenaustraße and Prager Platz) became a meeting points for many prominent Russians in exile. Russian poet [[Marina Tsvetaeva]] lived in a house on Trautenaustraße, 9. The memorial plaque was installed on the house by volunteers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-11 |title=Wilmersdorf: More colorful than its reputation |url=https://www.berlin.de/ba-charlottenburg-wilmersdorf/ueber-den-bezirk/spazieren-und-wandern/stadtspaziergaenge/artikel.1496071.en.php |access-date=2025-06-30 |website=www.berlin.de |language=en}}</ref>  

In 1923 the foundation stone for the first mosque in [[Germany]] was laid on the initiative of some Islamic students in Wilmersdorf. It was completed in 1925. The so called [[Berlin Mosque|Wilmersdorfer Moschee]] (''Mosque of Wilmersdorf'') is still owned and maintained by the [[Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement for the Propagation of Islam|Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement]].

In 1933, the year in which [[Adolf Hitler's rise to power|Hitler came to power]], 13.5% of the population was [[Jews|Jewish]]; many of them were deported by the Nazis from [[Berlin-Grunewald station|Berlin-Grunewald Station]]. [[Deutsche Bahn]] established a memorial on 27 January 1998 at the historic track 17 ("Gleis 17"), where most of the deportation trains departed. The [[synagogue]] of Wilmersdorf in the ''Prinzregentenstraße'' was destroyed by the Nazis in the [[Reichspogromnacht]] on 9–10 November 1938. A memorial plaque commemorates the former synagogue. A new synagogue and community centre was established 2007 in the ''Münstersche Straße'' for the growing Jewish community in Wilmersdorf.

During [[World War II]], Wilmersdorf was the location of a subcamp of the [[Sachsenhausen concentration camp]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Megargee|first=Geoffrey P.|year=2009|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume I|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|page=1290|isbn=978-0-253-35328-3}}</ref> After 1945 Wilmersdorf was located in the [[Allied-occupied Germany|British Zone of occupation]].

The famous German musical [[Linie 1]] features a song titled "Wilmersdorfer Witwen" ("The Widows of Wilmersdorf"), performed by characters in the show. The song offers a satirical portrayal of the widows of long-deceased Nazis, depicting them as women who "see themselves as the defenders of an older Berlin".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Goldmann |first=A. J. |date=2023-12-08 |title=Berlin’s Subway Musical Captures the Soul of the City |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/theater/linie-1-tarifzone-liebe.html |access-date=2025-06-30 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==Sights==
* [[Gothic Revival architecture|Neo-Gothic]] [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] [[Louis IX of France|Saint Ludwig]]'s Church, 1897
* Borough of the ''Rheingauviertel'' with the central Place ''Rüdesheimer Platz'', 1910–1914
* The historical subway stations on the line [[U3 (Berlin U-Bahn)|U3]] from the times of the [[German Empire]] between [[Hohenzollernplatz (Berlin U-Bahn)|Hohenzollerplatz]] and [[Rüdesheimer Platz (Berlin U-Bahn)|Rüdesheimer Platz]], 1913
* [[Friedhof Wilmersdorf]]
* [[Ahmadiyya Mosque Berlin]], Germany's oldest mosque from 1925
* ''Artist Colony'', built by the [[Guild of the German Stage]], 1927
* [[Schaubühne]], famous theatre in the former ''Universum Cinema'' by [[Erich Mendelsohn]], 1928
* [[Kirche am Hohenzollernplatz]] by [[Ossip Klarwein]] and [[Fritz Höger]], 1933
* [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodox]] cathedral of the [[Death and resurrection of Jesus|Resurrection of Jesus]], 1938
* [[Power station Berlin-Wilmersdorf]], 1977

==Education==
[[File:UdK Musik Haupteingang.jpg|thumb|[[Berlin University of the Arts]], faculty of music]]

=== Higher education ===
* [[Berlin University of the Arts|Universität der Künste]] ''(Berlin University of Arts)'', Faculty of Music
* [[IBZ Berlin]], International Meeting Centre of Science

=== Primary and secondary schools ===
{{expand section|date=April 2015}}
* ''Comenius-Schule'', a primary school, is in Wilmersdorf.<ref>"[http://www.berlin.de/special/jobs-und-ausbildung/adressen/grundschule/comeniusschule-d058f42b22117f877e8cdc827b3c7e16.html Comenius-Schule]." City of Berlin. Retrieved on April 6, 2015. "Comenius-Schule Gieselerstr. 4 10713 Berlin–Wilmersdorf"</ref>
*
* ''Halensee-Grundschule'', a primary school, is in [[Halensee]], near Wilmersdorf.<ref name="HalenseeGrund">"[http://www.berlin.de/special/jobs-und-ausbildung/adressen/grundschule/halenseegrundschule-d058f42b22117f877e8cdc827b3e31ac.html Halensee-Grundschule]." City of Berlin. Retrieved on April 2, 2015. "Halensee-Grundschule Joachim-Friedrich-Str. 35–36 10711 Berlin–Wilmersdorf"</ref>
* ''Svenska Skolan Berlin,'' Swedish School Berlin
* ''Katholische Grundschule Sankt Ludwig'', a catholic primary school
* [[Nelson Mandela School, Berlin|Nelson-Mandela-School]], International School
* Friedrich-Ebert-Gymnasium, a [[secondary school]] which is close to the Fennsee'''''.'''''
* ''Goethe-Gymnasium'', one of the most popular [[secondary school]]s in Berlin
* ''Annie Heuser Schule'', a private [[Waldorf education]] school

===Weekend schools===
* ''Zentrale Schule fur Japanisch Berlin e.V.'' (共益法人ベルリン中央学園補習授業校 ''Kyōeki Hōjin Berurin Chūō Gakuen Hoshū Jugyō Kō''), is a [[Hoshuko|weekend Japanese supplementary school]].<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20140330190146/http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/clarinet/002/006/001/002/004.htm 欧州の補習授業校一覧（平成25年4月15日現在]". MEXT. Retrieved on May 10, 2014. "c/o Comenius-Schule Gieselerstr. 4, 10713 Berlin, GERMANY"</ref> Established April 1997.<ref>"[http://www.chuo-gakuen.de/deutsch/ Deutsch]." ''Zentrale Schule fur Japanisch Berlin e.V.''. Retrieved on April 6, 2015. "Die Zentrale Schule für Japanisch Berlin e.V. wurde im April 1997 als gemeinnütziger Verein durch eine Elterninitiative gegründet, um Kindern und Jugendlichen aus japanischen, deutschen und interkulturellen Familien die Möglichkeit zu geben, ihre japanischen Sprachkenntnisse in Wort und Schrift zu erhalten und weiter zu entwickeln."</ref> The ''Japanische Ergänzungsschule in [[Berlin]] e.V.'' (ベルリン日本語補習授業校 ''Berurin Nihongo Hoshū Jugyō Kō''), another weekend Japanese school, is held at ''Halensee-Grundschule''.<ref>"[http://www.berlin-hoshuko.de/Gakkouannai2014.pdf 2014 年度]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160325030025/http://berlin-hoshuko.de/gakkouannai2015.pdf Archive]). ''Japanische Erganzungsschule in Berlin''. Retrieved on February 14, 2015. "Japanische Ergänzungsschule in Berlin e.V. c/o Halensee – Grundschule Joachim – Friedrich – Str. 35/36 10711 Berlin"</ref>

== Notable people ==
[[File:Gedenktafel Detmolder Str 11 (Wilmd) Maria Gräfin von Maltzan.JPG|thumb|Plaque commemorating [[Maria von Maltzan]], Detmolder Straße 11]]
* [[Maria von Maltzan]] German resistance against Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party, saved the lives of Jews in Berlin. Lived at Detmolder Straße 11, 1909–1997.
* [[Paul Abraham]], composer lived before he left Germany in 1933.
* [[Jérôme Boateng]], footballer for [[Bayern Munich]] and [[Germany national football team|Germany]], grew up in the area.<ref name="The Boateng Brothers">{{cite web | url = http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,689431,00.html | title = <nowiki>The Boateng Brothers' World Cup Duel</nowiki> | date = 16 April 2010 | access-date = 26 January 2012 | publisher = [[Spiegel Online]] }}</ref>
* [[Heinz Berggruen]], art dealer and founder of [[Museum Berggruen]], grew up in the area<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grendler |first=Paul F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gDVuEAAAQBAJ&dq=heinz+berggruen+wilmersdorf&pg=PA149 |title=Humanism, Universities, and Jesuit Education in Late Renaissance Italy |date=2022-05-02 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-51028-9 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Bertolt Brecht|Berthold Brecht]], poet, lived in Wilmersdorf with his partner [[Helene Weigel]], until they left Germany in 1933.
* [[Marlene Dietrich]], actress, lived with her husband and her family in Wilmersdorf, before they finally left Germany in 1933. 
* [[Franz Pfemfert]], published ''[[Die Aktion]]'', the anti-nationalist, anti-militarist expressionist journal from premises at Nassauische Straße 17, 1911–1932. 
* [[Margarete Kahn]], one of the first women to obtain a doctorate in Germany, Holocaust victim. Lived at 127 Rudolstädter Straße.
* [[Erich Kästner]], author and poet, lived in Wilmersdorf, while he wrote [[Emil and the Detectives]], one of the most famous children's novels in Germany. The view out of his window with the colorful street scene at the ''Prager Platz'' was the inspiration for the book.
* [[Eva Siewert]], journalist, writer and activist, grew up in Wilmersdorf.
* [[Hans Haustein]] (August 27, 1894 in Berlin – November 12, 1933 Ibid.) was a Jewish doctor and scientist in the Weimar Republic.
* [[Konrad Zuse]] (June 22, 1910 – December 18, 1995), German inventor, born in Wilmersdorf
* [[Ski Aggu]], musical artist and rapper born and raised in Wilmersdorf. He references his upbringing in the title of his 2024 album ''[[Wilmersdorfs Kind]]''.

==Photogallery==
<gallery widths="115">
File:WilmersdorfLudwigkirchplatz.JPG|St.-Ludwig's-Church
File:Heidelberger Platz Berlin U3.jpg|Berlin Heidelberger Platz station
File:VolksparkWilmersdorf1.JPG|Volkspark Wilmersdorf
File:Wilmersdorfer Moschee 20151219 23.jpg|[[Berlin Mosque]]
File:Berlin Schaubühne nachts.jpg|Theatre [[Schaubühne]]
File:Fehrbelliner Platz 4 Berlin-Wilmersdorf.jpg|Town Hall
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Berlin-Wilmersdorf|Wilmersdorf}}

{{Boroughs of Berlin}}
{{Former Boroughs of Berlin}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Localities of Berlin]]
[[Category:Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf|*]]<!--ORTSTEIL. MARKED WITH AN ASTERIKS-->
[[Category:Former boroughs of Berlin]]
[[Category:Boroughs of West Berlin]]