Köpenick

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The title of this article contains the character ö. Where it is unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Koepenick.

Location of Köpenick in the Treptow-Köpenick borough of Berlin

Köpenick is an area in the borough of Treptow-Köpenick in Berlin. It is located in the south-east of the city.

Prior to Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, Köpenick was a borough in its own right—Berlin's largest by area—consisting of the localities of Köpenick, Oberschöneweide, Grünau, Schmöckwitz, Müggelheim, Rahnsdorf, and Friedrichshagen. It also has the largest percentage of its area covered by forests and water (most notably the Müggelsee lake).

Until 2002 there was near Uhlenhorst a large radio facility for MW and FM with a 248 metre high self-radiating radio mast, which was insulated against earth. The FM services of this facility were moved to the central TV Tower near the Alexanderplatz and the AM transmitters were moved to a new aerial mast at Zehlendorf (near Oranienburg).

[edit] Geography

Köpenick lies in the middle of the at the confluence of the river Dahme with the Spree. The Spree connects Köpenick with the Müggelsee and the centre of Berlin. Shortly before the coming together of the Spree and Dahme, the Schlossinsel lies on the Dahme. Its Köpenicker Schloss was renovated in 2004. The Müggelberge hills in the south-east of Köpenick reach 114.7 m above sea level, making them this the highest natural point of Berlin.

With 12,776 hectares (14.3 % of the area of Berlin) the Bezirk of Köpenick has the largest extent of all the districts (Stadtteile) of Berlin, while with 116,000 inhabitants (about 3,3 % of Berlin's population) Köpenick is one of the least settled parts of the city. Köpenick is sometimes called the "green lungs" of Berlin (Grüne Lunge Berlins).

[edit] History

A statue of Wilhelm Voigt, "Captain of Köpenick".

Before Köpenick became part of "Greater Berlin" in 1920, it had a long history as an independent town. Its first known mentioning in a document dates back to 1209, then under the name "Copanic" (Slavic Kopanica). For the most part of Köpenick's history, the town was known as Cöpenick - the modern spelling of the name was officially adopted in 1931.

In 1906, a shoemaker called Wilhelm Voigt masqueraded as a Prussian officer and took over the city hall of Köpenick. He became famous as the "Captain of Köpenick" (Hauptmann von Köpenick), and the borough is still most well known for this incident.

During the Cold War, Köpenick was part of East Berlin.