Treptow-Köpenick von Berlin, Germany

Berlin, the capital and at the same time a federal state of Germany, is located in the Eastern part of Germany and surrounded by the federal state of Brandenburg which was the former empire of Prussia. Treptow-Köpenick is one of the twelve Berlin boroughs.

The Borough of Treptow is first mentioned in the history of Berlin (Brandenburg) during the period of 1568 and again in 1874 when it became a separate administrative district. The Borough of Köpenick, on the other hand, traces its history back to the year 1209 when "Copanic" with Berlin/Cölln and Spandau received the designation of "city" in the area now known as Berlin. The history of Köpenick has close ties with the fishery trade because the region is abundant with water and the first settlers were fishermen who settled at the confluence of the two rivers Dahme and Spree. The two pikes and the key of Petrus (the patron saint of the fishermen) in the coat of arms of Treptow-Köpenick today still remind us of these roots. The letter "T" stands for Treptow and the green color symbolizes the abundance of green space and forest within the borough. With the enactment of the Greater Berlin Act in 1920 Treptow and Köpenick became the 15th and 16th Borough of the city of Berlin. With the construction of the Berlin Wall around the Western sectors of Berlin, Treptow had the longest inner-city border, 17 kilometers long.

The two Boroughs of Treptow and Köpenick were formed into one Borough, Treptow-Köpenick through the "borough reform" of Berlin on January 1, 2001. The borough reform reduced the 23 boroughs of the divided (East and West) Berlin to 12 boroughs in the unified Berlin. Of these, the new Borough Treptow-Köpenick is the largest of all the boroughs in terms of land area totaling 168 square kilometers. However with a population of about 229,000, it ranks as 12th. Of the total borough area, about 40% is made up of forests and green space and another 13% is made up entirely of water (a large lake, "Grosser Müggelsee" and the rivers "Spree" and "Dahme"). The city of Berlin has a population of approximately 3.4 million and a total land area of 891 square kilometers.

Currently, Treptow-Köpenick as a part of the million-strong city Berlin is a place full of contrasts, an interface between neighborhood and metropolis. Places of history and culture are nearby as well as beautiful landscape and business locations. With its three technology parks the borough has a unique technology oriented infrastructure and one of them, the City of science, economy and media (WISTA) belongs to the 15 largest technology parks worldwide.

Dr. Klaus Ulbricht mayor (Bürgermeister) of Köpenick since 1991 was elected as the first mayor of the newly formed borough of Treptow-Köpenick in 2001 and distinguished himself in that office until 2006 when he retired from elected service. Mrs. Gabriele Schöttler succeeded Dr. Ulbricht as Bürgermeisterin in the election of September 2006 and serves in that capacity to this day. Mr. Siegfried Stock was elected as the Chairman of the Borough Assembly which consists of 55 elected members.

East Norriton Township's ties to Treptow date back to April of 1991, shortly after the fall of the wall (iron curtain) in 1989, when the then first democratically elected (Bürgermeister) mayor, Michael Brückner contacted East Norriton Township to establish a partnership program.

After the end of the division of the Eastern and Western Bloc in Europe there was a strong desire to contact people from the as yet unknown part of the world. The people of Treptow were enthusiastic about getting to know people from East Norriton Township; they wanted to know how they live, what they think and how they work. Talking to and learning from each other, exchanging ideas and experiences were the major reason for a twinning between Treptow and East Norriton Township. Mutual visits of political, business and citizen representatives of both towns, study visits of administrative staff and pen pals between students attests how stable and fruitful the cooperation between Treptow-Köpenick and East Norriton Township is to this day. Sonja Eichmann, Treptow/Köpenick

You may visit our sister city's web site at:  www.berlin.de/ba-treptow-koepenick