A “Vorstadt” is a suburb. So might expect to find a neighborhood called Stralauer Vorstadt somewhere on the city’s outskirts. But you’d be wide of the mark: today, the Stralauer Vorstadt is part of central Berlin and almost exclusively situated in Friedrichshain, especially in the area where Friedrichshain borders the Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg districts. This is a very desirable area.
One of Berlin’s many peculiarities is the speed with which old areas are reinvented. Centuries ago, the Stralauer Vorstadt was nothing more than a large, half-empty field beyond the Berlin city limits, which in those days was admittedly a lot closer to the center. Back then, one “border station” on the way into Berlin was the beautiful oriental-looking Oberbaum Bridge, which still marks the edge of the Stralauer Vorstadt today. Here, as in Prenzlauer Berg, hundreds of apartment blocks for manual workers sprang up during the mid and late 19th century and, due to the strategic unimportance of their location, they survived the war years very well. Even today the Stralauer Vorstadt has a stock of intact older buildings that add much to the area’s flair. An area where the common people once lived is now home to high-earning white-collar workers and lots of creative types. The student population is high, as is the proportion of families with children. As a consequence, the Stralauer Vorstadt is a very young and lively area. But its northern section lacks a central nightlife area, which makes for quiet streets at night.
