Pankow is a locality of Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 in the district (Bezirk) of Pankow

Pankow

Pankow is the third borough of Berlin. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was merged with the former boroughs of Prenzlauer Berg and Weißensee; the resulting borough retained the name Pankow.- Overview :...

. Until 2001 it was an autonomous district with the localities of Niederschönhausen

Niederschönhausen

Niederschönhausen is a German locality within the borough of Pankow, Berlin. It is commonly known also as "Pankow-Schönhausen".-History:...

, Wilhelmsruh

Wilhelmsruh

Wilhelmsruh is a German locality within the borough of Pankow, Berlin. It is the littlest locality of the city after Halensee and Hansaviertel.-History:...

, Rosenthal

Rosenthal (Berlin)

Rosenthal is an affluent locality within the Berlin borough of Pankow. The old village first mentioned in a 1356 deed as Rosendalle became a part of Greater Berlin in 1920 .-Overview:The Rosenthal locality includes the Nordend neighborhood....

, Blankenfelde

Blankenfelde

Blankenfelde is a German locality within the Berlin borough of Pankow. Per population density it is the lesser one into the city .-History:...

, Buch

Buch (Berlin)

Buch is a German locality within the Berlin borough of Pankow.-History:The village was founded in 1347, on Panke river, a tributary of Spree . Until 1920 Buch was a Brandenburger municipalty merged in Berlin with the "Greater Berlin Act"...

 and Französisch Buchholz

Französisch Buchholz

Französisch Buchholz , also known simply as Buchholz, is a German locality within the Berlin borough of Pankow.-History:...

.

History

The village of Pankow is named after the small Panke

Panke

The Panke is a small river in Brandenburg and Berlin.It is 29 km in length with its source at Bernau bei Berlin, and in Berlin is a relatively well known tributary of the Spree, into which it enters close to the Weidendammer Bridge....

 river, a tributary of the Spree

Spree

The Spree is a river that flows through the Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin states of Germany, and in the Ústí nad Labem region of the Czech Republic...

. The settlement was first mentioned in a 1311 deed by the Margraves of Brandenburg

Margraviate of Brandenburg

The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....

, though the "Four Evangelists

Four Evangelists

In Christian tradition the Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament that bear the following titles:*Gospel according to Matthew*Gospel according to Mark...

" fieldstone church

Fieldstone church

The term fieldstone church denotes a type of church, built using fieldstone of glacial erratics and glacial rubble. Such churches occur mostly in areas where the ice ages have deposited such rock material on the one hand, and where on the other hand there is little or no access to natural rock for...

 had already been erected about 1230. In 1691 Elector Frederick III

Frederick I of Prussia

Frederick I , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia in personal union . The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first King in Prussia . From 1707 he was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...

 acquired the neighbouring Schönhausen Palace

Schönhausen Palace

Schönhausen Palace is a Baroque palace at Niederschönhausen, in Berlin's borough of Pankow. It is surrounded by gardens through which the Panke river runs...

 from the heirs of General Joachim Ernst von Grumbkow

Joachim Ernst von Grumbkow

Joachim Ernst von Grumbkow was a general and statesman of Brandenburg-Prussia.Grumbkow came from a family of Pomeranian nobility whose first mention was the brothers Bisbranus, Gneomarus and Tezlaus in 1277....

, which promoted the development of the Pankow village.

In the 19th century Pankow had grown due to the industrialization and turned into a suburb - and popular day trip destination - of Berlin. It was finally incorporated by the Greater Berlin Act

Greater Berlin Act

The Greater Berlin Act , in full the Law Regarding the Reconstruction of the New Local Authority of Berlin , was a law passed by the Prussian government in 1920 that greatly expanded the size of the German capital of Berlin.-History:...

 of 1920. During the period 1949-1990 it was considered, also with neighbouring Niederschönhausen, the most important quarter of East Berlin

East Berlin

East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...

. It was because Schönhausen Palace

Schönhausen Palace

Schönhausen Palace is a Baroque palace at Niederschönhausen, in Berlin's borough of Pankow. It is surrounded by gardens through which the Panke river runs...

 was chosen as the presidential residency of the East Germany 

Geography

Pankow is situated in the south-western side of its district. It borders with the localities of Niederschönhausen

Niederschönhausen

Niederschönhausen is a German locality within the borough of Pankow, Berlin. It is commonly known also as "Pankow-Schönhausen".-History:...

, Französisch Buchholz

Französisch Buchholz

Französisch Buchholz , also known simply as Buchholz, is a German locality within the Berlin borough of Pankow.-History:...

, Heinersdorf, Weissensee, Prenzlauer Berg

Prenzlauer Berg

Prenzlauer Berg is a locality of Berlin, in the borough of Pankow.Until 2001, Prenzlauer Berg was a borough of Berlin; in that year it was included in the borough of Pankow....

 and Gesundbrunnen

Gesundbrunnen

Gesundbrunnen is a locality of Berlin in the borough of Mitte. It was created as a separate entity by the 2001 administrative reform, formerly the eastern half of the former Wedding district and locality...

. Through Pankow (in East Berlin

East Berlin

East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...

) and Gesundbrunnen (in West Berlin

West Berlin

West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...

) passed, from 1961 to 1990, the Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...

.

Transportation

The locality is served by the Berliner S-Bahn

Berlin S-Bahn

The Berlin S-Bahn is a rapid transit system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It consists of 15 lines and is integrated with the mostly underground U-Bahn to form the backbone of Berlin's rapid transport system...

 lines S1

S1 (Berlin)

The S1 is a line on the Berlin S-Bahn. It operates over:*the Prussian Northern Railway, opened on 10 July 1877 and electrified in 1925,*a short section of the Berlin-Szczecin railway, opened on 1 August 1842 and electrified in 1924,...

, S2

S2 (Berlin)

S2 is a line on the Berlin S-Bahn. It operates from Bernau to Blankenfelde over:*the Berlin-Szczecin railway, opened on 1 August 1842 and electrified on 8 August 1924,...

, S25

S25 (Berlin)

S25 is a line on the Berlin S-Bahn. It operates from Teltow Stadt to Hennigsdorf over:*the Anhalt Suburban Line, opened on 1 December 1901, electrified in 1929 and extended to Lichterfelde Süd in 1943 and Teltow Stadt in February 2005,...

, S85

S85 (Berlin)

S85 is a line on the Berlin S-Bahn. It operates from Grünau to Waidmannslust over:*the Berlin–Görlitz railway, opened on 13 September 1866 and electrified on 4 January 1929,*the Ringbahn, opened on 17 July 1871 and electrified in 1926 and...

; by the U-Bahn

Berlin U-Bahn

The Berlin is a rapid transit railway in Berlin, the capital city of Germany, and is a major part of the public transport system of that city. Opened in 1902, the serves 173 stations spread across ten lines, with a total track length of , about 80% of which is underground...

 line U2

U2 (Berlin U-Bahn)

U2 is a line on the Berlin U-Bahn. The U2 line starts at the Pankow urban rail station, runs through the eastern city centre to Potsdamer Platz, the western city centre and finally to the Ruhleben terminal station.The U2 has 29 stations and a length of...

, and by several lines of tramway

Berlin Straßenbahn

The Berlin tram network is the main tram system in Berlin, Germany. It is one of the oldest tram networks in the world having its origins in 1865 and is operated by , which was founded in 1929. It is notable for being one of the largest tram systems; there are 22 tram lines operate across a...

.