Köpenick

Target Area Southern Berlin

Since Jan 01, 2000: District Treptow-Köpenick

Main traffic connection to the city centre is city-train S3 which stops at Köpenicks important places. Köpenick has also an excellent tram network.

Further information: Tourismusverein Berlin Treptow-Köpenick e.V.

In 2009 Berlin´s district Köpenick celebrates its 800^{th anniversary with numerous events throughout the whole year: In April and May the highlights consist of a pub festival, the Köpenicker Altstadtlauf, Winzerfrühling and the culinary festival “Köpenick à la carte’.
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This is the largest district of the city and it is even older than Berlin itself. Here in the southeast of the city, the quality of life is of great importance. Woods and hills attract those people looking for fun and recreation. Especially the many large lakes are important for the relaxed atmosphere of Köpenick. For example around Müggelsee, the largest lake in Berlin, are picturesque villages and woods to be found. People can easily get an idea of the manifold pretty sights of the district on a walk or just as well on a boat-trip. Köpenick was originally founded on a little island as a fisherman's village. Up to the present it kept the feeling of a small town, with its city hall, its churches and lanes.

Thinking of Köpenick, to most peoples heads comes the story of the "Hauptmann von Kopenick" (Captain of Köpenick). This was an unemployed shoemaker that in 1906 dressed up as a high-ranked member of the military and used peoples obedience to rob them. This way, he exposed the Prussian blind belief in military authority, made fun of it and used it to his advantage.

The former fishermen's village raised on an island has preserved its smalltown charme with its town hall (the scene for that farce), its churches and the narrow lanes. The beautiful baroque castle, where Friedrich I put on a trial against his son Friedrich II (later "the Great") because of desertion, has being wonderfully restored. The castle in general is one of the highpoints of architecture in Berlin and is the sole building left from the time around 1700.

Around Müggelsee, Berlin's largest lake, there are picturesque villages between wide forest areas. Especially lovely is Friedrichshagen on Müggelsee tunnel, where playwrights Gerhart Hauptmann and Erich Mühsam worked, or Neu-Venedig ("new Venice") in Rahnsdorf, where the residents row on their boats through narrow channels from house to house. Towards the city centre the visitor finds a vast recovery and amusement park in the Wuhlheide. Numerous activities for children and teenagers are offered in leisure and recreation centre FEZ in the Wuhlheide.