Gartenstadt Falkenberg
With its small houses, colourful facades and well tended garden plots, Siedlung Falkenberg exudes a Mediterranean flair within Berlin. Gartenstadt Falkenberg was built shortly after the turn of the century in 1913-1916. Thirty building cooperatives founded the "Baugenossenschaft Gartenvorstadt Groß-Berlin" in order to construct this extraordinary district.
The lead architect of the Deutschen Gartenbaugesellschaft, Bruno Taut, in his visionary concept, envisaged a spacious garden suburb for 7,500 inhabitants from all sectors of society. There were to be small apartments with kitchen, living room and small rooms as well as spacious villas.
As a consequence of WWI, however, only a portion of the single and multiple family homes could be built. Nowadays the estate consists of the Akazienhof, the Gartenstadtstraße and a square surrounded by small houses. Typical of the Siedlung Falkenberg remain the garden allotments that were specially designed for the self-sufficiency of the tenants.
The allotments were designed by Berlin’s Director of Parks and Gardens, Ludwig Lesser. It is assumed that Lesser also designed the open spaces. Gartenstadt Falkenberg is currently owned by the Berliner Bau- und Wohnungsgenossenschaft von 1892 eG.
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