The history of Adlershof in brief

The first German powered flight once took place on the former Johannisthal airfield and Melli Beese was the first woman in Germany to receive her pilot’s license. Johannisthal quickly developed into a center of the German aircraft industry at the beginning of the 19th century and also became the center of German air armament during the First World War.

This was followed by the first scheduled flights, the production of the BMW Dixi and feature film productions at the site. During the Nazi era, the large wind tunnel was put into operation and the regime promoted the expansion of the site for aviation research. Under the shadow of the Nazi dictatorship, aircraft and rocket parts for the Second World War were produced here in Berlin’s largest forced labor camp using prisoners of war and concentration camp inmates.

After the liberation from National Socialism, the technical equipment and objects such as airplanes, engines and weapon models were dismantled and taken to the Soviet Union. Flight operations were discontinued in 1954. The German Academy of Sciences was founded, later renamed the Academy of Sciences of the GDR. In the following years, East German television was broadcast from Adlershof and a large scientific research center was established here. In the 1980s, the Institute for Cosmos Research was established here. After reunification, some research facilities remained from the Academy of Sciences, such as the DLR institutes, which today focus on space and transportation.

The foundations for Germany’s most modern technology park were laid in the 1990s. Entwicklungsgesellschaft Adlershof mbH was founded (later WISTA-MANAGEMENT GmbH), the technical infrastructure and old buildings were renovated and new construction projects were implemented. With the help of subsidies, new roads and modern specialist centers for new innovations were built here. The Humboldt University of Berlin moved its mathematics and natural sciences faculties to Adlershof.

In the following years, Adlershof became an important location for film and television productions, the landscape park became a nature reserve and new residential areas were created. The infrastructure continued to be expanded, giving the district a connection to the federal highway and public transportation. Students also moved to Adlershof and an urban appearance gradually became visible.

Today, almost 23,000 employees from 1,200 companies and institutes are drawn to Adlershof every day – to a neighborhood that is constantly evolving and is one of Berlin’s places of the future.