Previous Articles

Charlottengrad: Little Russia in Berlin

Russian spirit inside Берлин

December 04th, 2014
Charlottengrad.jpg

There are 100 000 Russians in Berlin, and there are various ways that they have found their way to the German capital, but their destination is predictable: Charlottenburg, the historically urban old-money neighborhood of West Berlin, now better known as Charlottengrad.

History of the district

Charlottenburg used to be the heart of West Berlin and stretches between the Ku'Damm, jointly shared with Wilmersdorf, and the Charlottenburg Palace in the north. The southern part of the district is one of the wealthier areas of Berlin with posh villas and apartments. The northern part is a nice living area. Charlottenburg was the center of the former West Berlin and was well built-up after the war. Today it is mostly an upmarket shopping and living area for city slickers. After the First World War Charlottenburg had a large wealthy Russian scene, due to the refugees from St Petersburg after the Russian revolution. Thus, this gave rise to the area's new name - ‘Charlottengrad’. In contrast, German artists were fascinated by the changes occurring in Russia at that time and integrated revolutionary thinking in their works of architecture and painting.

Gastronomy and Fashion

At the supermarket “Rossiya”, right next to Charlottenburg station, there is a place to enjoy the Russian dumplings, wine, vodka and the classic Alyonka chocolate. It is a nice place to start a tour of Russian Berlin. The shop also offers a small cosmetics section, since “Russian girls only trust make-up products made in Russia”.

Russian speaking community

Members of this community hail from different areas and belong to different ethnic groups. In fact, there are few groups: there are the so-called accidental refugees, Jews who came from the former Soviet Union under an administrative accord with Germany. But the majority of the community is actually of German descent. Another group is more diversified, all from different former Soviet republics

If you wish to go somewhere in Berlin, where you will be surprised to hear Russian spoken everywhere, want to try Russian gastronomy and experience something new - Charlottengrad is waiting for you.

20141204- Charlottengrad 2.jpg
20141204- Charlottengrad 3.jpg

References and Links

News from Berlin
Berlin Global