Wasserturm Prenzlauer Berg

The Prenzlauer Berg Water Tower on Knaackstraße is the oldest surviving structure of its kind in Berlin. The complex on Windmühlenberg (Windmill Hill) in the Kollwitzkiez neighborhood consists of two protected parts: the slender standpipe tower from 1856 and the massive water tower, which was completed in 1877. The complex originally supplied drinking water to what was then a rapidly growing working-class district. The six-story tower, with an outer diameter of 24 meters, was a brick structure faced with clinker bricks and is distinguished by its round-arched windows and a broad ornamental frieze at the top.

Today you can experience the historic fabric of the site, which has been a protected landmark since the 1980s. The six lower floors of the tower house renovated apartments that were originally intended for the machine workers and are now highly sought after. A public green space laid out in the 1930s extends around the tower. On the grounds, a memorial wall recalls the site's dark history: during the Nazi era, the adjoining engine house was misused as an improvised concentration camp and later as an SA clubhouse. The tower itself remained in operation until 1952 and continues to shape the cityscape and the history of the Pankow district.