When news came through that the war and Adolf Hitler were over, Ella Kay set out for Prenzlauer Berg. The walk from Müggelheim, across what was left of Berlin, took her eleven hours. Twelve years after her eviction from the town hall, she now returned and reported for duty. The entire eastern part of Berlin, which included Prenzlauer Berg, was now being administered by the Soviet military. Most of the district mayors in the Soviet occupation zone had been (and now became again) Communist Party members. Ella Kay was not, and returned to her earlier work heading up the youth welfare office. Although she never joined the Communist Party, during 1946 or 1947 the authorities installed her as mayor of Prenzlauer-Berg.