Visit Berlin Mitte: Berlin's Most Central District Where History and Culture Meets Politics.

Visit Mitte: Explore Berlin’s history and culture in the German capital’s most central district

• Discover Berlin’s cultural treasures on Museum Island
• Visit iconic landmarks at the TV Tower and Brandenburg Gate 
• Walk through Berlin’s history in the city’s oldest neighbourhoods
• Explore the new creative scene in Mitte’s art galleries, design stores and fashion boutiques 

By Simon Clarke For Mailonline

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/destinations/article-5717391/guide-mitte-district-berlin.html

Did you know ... Berlin still has about 36,000 Gaslights?

The streetlighting in Berlin still shows the former division of the city. The majority of the streetlighting system was destroyed by allied bombing during the war. East Berlin rebuilt it using electricity with no real threat of being cut off. West Berlin with the Berlin Blockade in mind decided to keep the gaslights in operation as the gas could be produced using stores of coal for a while even when cut off supplies.

Of course people are preferring the tone of light over modern neon light so the city jumped a step and is going straight to LED light which imitates the shape and tone of gaslights except in protected areas where the gaslights will be kept in operation despite the fact that their energy consumption is at about 7 times the level of the LEDs.

When you drive or walk around the city you will not even recognize the modern versions of the gaslights.

Berlin Mitte in the Housing Market Report Berlin 2017

The borough or district of “Mitte“ in its current form was shaped by the administrative reform of 2001. It is made up by three former independent districts. “Mitte” which is the historic origin of Berlin, government and cultural centre and part of former East Berlin, Wedding and Tiergarten which were previously part of West Berlin. Especially Berliners will still make this differentiation, especially when looking for a new home. Just comparing the average rents, the old boundaries are still visible but so is the push of higher rents from the centre out (on the right in the map below).

Source: Housing Market Report Berlin 2017 with Housing Cost Atlas, BerlinHyp + CBRE

Mitte has the areas with the highest rents in the city. The basic rent or net rent (excluding utilities and heating) in the top market segment is in the postcode area 10117 around Friedrichstrasse at 20.87 €/m²/month and the highest average rent in the top market segment in the 10178 postcode area at 13.80 €/m²/month.


At the same time the postcode area 10117 around “Unter den Linden” has relatively low rents at 6.02 €/m²/month in the bottom market segment which ranks only at No.119 looking at the entire city.

The table below shows the full coverage of the district. It also provides detailed information of the income structure (purchasing power) of the households in relation to the average housing cost in the area including ancillary costs (heating and utilities etc.) paid to the landlord. Directly paid cost like electricity, telephone etc. are not included.

Source: Housing Market Report Berlin 2017 with Housing Cost Atlas, BerlinHyp + CBRE

To download the full Housing Market Report Berlin 2017 please leave your email, you will receive it immediately.

Distribution of the international population of #Berlin by nationality and district

Distribution of the international population of Berlin by nationality and district

Foreign population of Berlin

• People from about 190 countries call Berlin home and make this city a truly international metropolis.
• In 2015, 114,000 persons came to Berlin from abroad, about a quarter of which have Syrian nationality.
• The share of people from foreign countries in the total population is 17.2 percent.
• Berlin is a cosmopolitan city with international educational and cultural institutions.
• Workers from western European industrial nations and the states of central and eastern Europe are migrating to Berlin.

 http://www.businesslocationcenter.de/en/business-location/business-location/economic-data/demographic-data

A Temperature Map of Berlin Property Prices by Postcode

The weekly business magazine Wirtschaftswoche has published a map taking the price "temperature" of differen areas in Berlin. Their article in German highlights where they think it is stil worth while investing.
http://www.wiwo.de/finanzen/immobilien/immobilien-wo-der-kauf-noch-lohnt/12949368.html#

 and at this link they offer interactive maps

http://www.wiwo.de/my/finanzen/immobilien/kaufpreise-und-mieten-alle-wohnlagen-von-berlin-hamburg-muenchen-und-co-im-interaktiven-vergleich/12914428.html

It is part of their premium subscription but a free trial is available.

A Temperature Map of Berlin Property Prices by Postcode

For support in property search and assessment in the Berlin Property Market please contact us directly: Contact form

The New Lifestyle Center of Berlin-Mitte

Chausseestrasse at the north end of Friedrichstrasse in Berlin-Mitte is the new Lifestyle Center of the city.

The immediate environment is developing fast. Every visit brings new discoveries, a new espresso bar, a new restaurant, a hidden away well-established restaurant or the new bio-supermarket. There are attractions like the climbing garden “Mountmitte", the Natural History Museum and others at nearby Invalidenstrasse. For art lovers, the contemporary arts gallery at the “Hamburger Bahnhof” – is within a few minutes walking distance.
Looking at an aerial view, the amount of interspersed green areas become apparent. Bigger parks like Humboldhain or Tiergarten are within comfortable jogging distance. Pankepark and the Park am Hauptbahnhof (currently under development) surround the vicinity of  Chaussestrasse.

The company offices, some of them Germany headquarters, and federal ministries in the area are numerous. A few examples: Deutsche Bahn AG (3,000 office jobs), Vattenfall, Total, Bayer-Schering Pharma, Charité (University Hospital w. 3,800 doctors and scientists).  Federal Ministry (FM) of Transport, Building and Urban Development, FM of Economics and Technology, FM of Education
 
Currently there are several interesting property developments in construction or planned. There is "The Mile", "The Garden Living" and of course Daniel Liebeskind’s prestigious "Sapphire" project, with still more opportunities to come. For an interested buyer, especially living far away, it is a tedious task to follow all the developments, get brochures from all kind of agents and developers and at the same time know what is real and what is "pie in the sky" and might never be built. To help in those situations, there is a service available which provides an independent one-stop-shop for luxury condos in Berlin, especially in the central areas.

Sign up for information updates at condos.city-of-berlin.com

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Prices up by 10.1% for Condos in Berlin 2014

Average purchase prices for condominums in the Berlin property market increased significantly by 10.1 per cent in 2014. The highest asking prices for apartments in existing buildings were registered in the central districts.

Mitte	3,646 €/m²
Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg	3,269 €/m²
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf	3,129 €/m²

However the top market segment median in Mitte was at  6,184, up 3.8% from 2013.

At the same time dirstricts like Neukölln and Treptow-Köpenick also saw considerable in creases year-on-year with 17.4 per cent and 13.7 per cent for the latter.

Specific data down to postcode districts are in the Housing Market Report Berlin 2015 available for download at this link.

Asking rents decreased in certain areas of Berlin in 2014

In some areas where the rent increase was high over the last years  a further increase has been halted by the fact that the households living in those areas cannot afford any further increases in rent as they are already spending an average of over 30 % of their purchasing power on rent and ancillary costs.

This creates a "push" into neighbouring less expensive areas. Smart landlords have already reacted by adapting their asking rents to "what seems feasible".

Example areas are around Savignyplatz in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf where the asking rent has decreased by 4.3% over a 12 months period down to 11.01€/m² per month. Similar changes could be observed at Hackescher Markt in Mitte (decrease 3.8 % to 12.50 €/m²/month) and at Käthe Kollwitz Platz in Pankow (down 2.2% to 11.66€/m²/month).



Specific data down to postcode districts are in the Housing Market Report Berlin 2015 available for download at this link.

For property investors this means looking beyond historic data for investment decisions and not just extrapolating  the recent trend in the region into the investment plan. To support the development of the right property investment strategy Falkenberg Solutions - Real Estate Consultants provide a research service.

Highest rent increases in Berlin's peripheral districts in 2014

The willingness to pay higher rents has reached its limits in the central districts of Berlin, e.g. in Mitte the average rent is above 10 €/m² (net rent per month).

This has an effect on areas in North Moabit, Wedding and Lichtenberg, but also on peripheral city areas such as Spandau and Marzahn-Hellersdorf, where the percentage rent increase is far above average. The district of Lichtenberg recorded a 12.2 per cent rent increase in 2014, with a current average asking rent of € 7.98 per square metre.

Detailed data down to post code areas is shown in the Housing Market Report Berlin 2015 which is available on our website. Just follow the link above to get your free copy of the report.

Berlin Marathon 2012

Once again Berlin is in the center of attention: The 39th BMW Berlin Marathon.
Due to the fact that six world records have been broken since 1998, including Haile Gebrselassie’s 2011 record of 2:04, Berlin's is the world’s fastest marathon course. In addition to a fast course, it provides a great overview of the cities modern and historic sites.

Berlin Marathon

To visit the official website click here.

The marathon starts at the Brandenburg Gate on the boarder between the districts of Berlin-Mitte and Tiergarten.