Charlottenburg-Nord

Charlottenburg-Nord is a neighbourhood in Charlottenburg north of the S-bahn tracks. It is a quiet residential area entirely different in character from the rest of Charlottenburg. On its border with Siemensstadt are the worker housing estates—Grosssiedlung Siemensstadt, Charlottenbug-Nord Siedlung, and Paul-Hertz-Siedlung. Two major highways—the Stadtring and the Bundesautobahn 111—pass through the district.

Charlottenburg-Nord is a working class district proud of its history. They name their streets after Nazi resistance fighters, like Jakob Kaiser, a Christian Socialist politician; Niklaus von Halem, a lawyer who lost his life due to his failed plot to assassinate Hitler; and Friedrich Olbricht, a Wehrmacht general executed for his participation in the July 20 plot.

Generally conservative, the people of Charlottenburg-Nord form a tight-knit community and look out for each other's interests. Its proximity to the highways cause noise and pollution. The infrastructure here is passable; things are maintained but by no means luxurious. The information available in this district is very basic; official church records, birth and death records, municipal records and the like.

## Locations

### **Grosssiedlung Siemensstadt**

This housing estate shares a border with Siemensstadt, and was built to accommodate workers who make their living in the factories of the industrial district. The apartment blocks are five to six stories tall, and bear some quaint architectural features of the Modernist school. The apartment units are identical in design, small but spacious enough to accommodate a typical working class family.

### **Jakob-Kaiser-Platz**

Jakob-Kaiser Platz is a traffic circle named after Jakob Kaiser, a politician of the Christian Democratic Union and Nazi resistor. It is connected by ramp to motorway A100 (the Stadtring) which leads to Wedding. A road heads westwards in the direction of Siemensstadt, and southwards, Tegeler Weg connects the disctrict with Charlottenburg proper. The northern ramp feeds into A111, heading to Reinickendorf and all the way to the border crossing at Heiligensee/Stolpe. South of the traffic circle, the River Spree bends in a loop and continues westwards. The Westhafenkanal feeds into the River Spree.

#### **Maria Regina Martyrum**

With an address on Heckerdamm, this church is located roughly in the centre of Charlottenburg-Nord. It is a Roman Catholic church of the Archdiocese of Berlin, built to honour those who were martyred for their beliefs from the years 1933—1945. The landmark of the church is the campanile—two slabs of concrete straddling the main gate, supporting two cubed structures that house the bells. A panoramic sculpture made from scrap metal is on display in the courtyard.

The facade of the church is constructed from flat, blank slabs of white basalt. A gilded abstract sculpture, called “the Apocalyptic Woman”, is installed on the wall that directly overhangs the main entrance. Glass doors allow access to the interior of the church. Utilitarian and somewhat modern, the upper church is outfitted with plain wooden benches. The altar is set before a multicoloured fresco, comprised of abstract geometric shapes.

### **Ploetzensee Prison**

Ploetzensee Prison, in the eastern region of Charlottenburg-Nord, is named after a small lake in the neighbouring district of Wedding. The Berlin-Spandau Ship Canal divides the two locations. The original prison compound was constructed by the Prussians during the Weimar period. The boundaries of the prison are marked by a concrete wall coiled with barbed wire. The main buildings are constructed out of red brick. The prison has a capacity of 577 prisoners, and is currently being used as a youth detention centre for offenders from the age of 14 to 21.

There was a time when the rivers ran red with blood next to Ploetzensee. Under the Nazis, roughly 3,000 political prisoners were executed here, by hanging and guillotine, after they were sentenced by the Berlin Kammergericht. About half of those killed were German, and most of them were resistance fighters or opponents of the Nazi regime. The year of 1943 gave rise to “Ploetzensee Bloody Nights”, a five-day period where 250 executions were carried out. Today, the execution shed is separate from the prison compound and preserved as a memorial.

#### **Protestant Church of Ploetzensee**

* Intimidation 3

This church has an unimpressive facade of just a slab of concrete. A tall white cross in front of the entrance denotes this as a place of worshipping. Ramps on either side of the building allow for disability access. The blue paint is peeling on the lower walls of the church, and the sides of the ramp have been taken over by dirt and graffiti.

The church has a non-traditional layout where the benches are arranged in a square, facing the pulpit from all directions. Yellow globular lights are suspended on a metal frame across the ceiling. The walls of the church are adorned with black and white panels depicting twisted figures being imprisoned, tortured, and put to death. This installation is called the /Totentanz/, or the “Dance of Death”. Events in the Bible are related with the executions at Ploetzensee. In one panel, mirroring the execution of John the Baptist, faceless, contorted figures are shown being executed by the gallows and the guillotine. In another panel, the emaciated figure of Jesus hangs in the execution shed between two robbers, suspended on a steel beam and iron hooks. A spear tip wielded by a shadowy figure is seen piercing his ribs.