Wittenau

Wittenau includes the neighbourhoods Borsigwalde and Maerkisches Viertel. It used to be known as “Dalldorf”, but “Dalldorf” became synonymous with “madhouse”, after the city established the Dalldorf Asylum in 1879. The name of the locality was changed to “Wittenau” in 1905, but despite the people's best efforts, the locality continues to suffer from a bad reputation and people have started to equate the name “Wittenau” with the insane asylum.

After the Wall went up, Wittenau, unlike other districts, underwent rapid development and modernisation. High-rises were built to accommodate the booming population; roads, factories, and commercial centres were continuously developed. Until the quality of life catches up with the infrastructure, crime continues to be a problem. The community lacks cohesion due to the rapidly changing demographics.

## Loccations

### **Borsigswalde**

Borsigswalde is a neighbourhood developed by engineer August Borsig. It was an industrial district centred around the manufacture of steam locomotives. The production begins at the harbour where ships brought in materials for locomotives. After the war, the company became Borsig AG (share corporation), and expanded their production to the manufacture of compressors, boilers, pressure vessels, blowers, coolers, and other specialised industrial equipment.

### **Maerkisches Viertel**

These high-rise, low-cost apartments were hastily built with inadequate infrastructure. The apartments can go up to 18-storeys high; together there are about 17,000 apartments in the quarter housing a population of 36,000. The housing area covers about 3 square kilometres.

Here, the sky is blocked out by a forest of cold, grey concrete towers. The ground of the parks are paved with concrete—grey upon grey upon grey. A large portion of the residents were relocated from the inner city, where their old houses were demolished during the rebuilding. They live lonely, isolated lives—so much so that now and again, one of them jumps to their death from the top of these high-rise buildings. The conditions are especially dreary in the winter, during the cold and rainy months.

### **Wittenau**

#### **Karl Bonhoeffer Mental Clinic**

* Medicine 3
* Status: Health

Once known as Dalldorf Asylum, the Karl Bonhoeffer Clinic was constructed on a large piece of land, built “pavillon-style” with a series of interconnected buildings. It was built during the Prussian Empire, and was one of the pioneering institutions in German psychiatry.

The buildings were built in an antiquated style and surrounded by trees and grassy lawns. Climbing plants have found their way onto the walls of some of the main buildings. The central axis is reserved for administrative and economic facilities. On the left and right, ten symmetrically arranged patient buildings form four semi-open courtyards. At the upper end of the central axis, you will find the official's house on the right and the mortuary on the left. Behind the administration building is the utilities building. Further off to the west, some star-shaped buildings are designed as dormitories. Other facilities include a kitchen and a chapel.

The institution seems to have undergone extensive renovations in the past few decades. Walls were torn down and floors resurfaced; the functions of rooms were converted, and medical facilities expanded according to the needs of the time.