The Nikolai Quarter. A jewel of Berlin.
The Nikolai Quarter was first mentioned in the 12th century and, after the founding of Berlin, is the oldest medieval core of today’s capital.
Explore the Nikolai Quarter
Until the Second World War, the Nikolai Quarter was a lively neighborhood with inns, stores and crafts. Artists like Kleist, Hauptmann or Strindberg lived here. The German poet Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, one of the most important poets of the German Enlightenment, lived in the Nikolai Quarter from 1752 to 1775. He finished "Minna von Barnhelm" here.
Between 1943 and 1945, the Old Quarter was largely destroyed by bombing and reconstructed for Berlin's 750th anniversary from 1981-1987. There are still numerous traces from times gone by. Be it the oldest building in the city, the place of first court proceedings or be it a real treasure from earlier centuries.
Explore the Nikolai Quarter
The "Historical Path
guides through the neighborhood and highlights 19 panels, each with a short story. Information from around 750 years of the city's history is reproduced on them.
Next to the Nikolai Church, the Ephraimpalais, an example of beautiful Berlin palace architecture of the 18th century, belongs on the program of every visitor to Berlin.
is one of the few 18th-century Berlin town houses remaining on the original site. After the acquisition of the wealthy entrepreneurial family Knoblauch it is preserved today as well as 1759 identically. Once a residential building, it is now a museum and belongs to the Berlin City Museums and shows the Berlin residential culture of the Biedermeier period.
and "Zille sein Milljöh" can be experienced at the Theater im Nikolaiviertel. In the basement of the memorial library is the small theater that brings Berlin of the founding years to life with its program, as cheeky as Zille's pictures.
In addition to small cafés and restaurants, there are stores and arts and crafts stores to discover in the winding alleys around the Nikolai Church with its two double towers.
