The neighbourhood

The Brandenburg Quarter (BV) is a prefabricated housing estate built in industrial style in four construction phases (BA) between 1977 and 1989. The development in the residential area consists mainly of six-storey blocks of flats with spacious inner courtyards. The eastern extension is officially part of the BV district, but is not within the funding framework of the "Socially Integrative City" programme, now known as "Social Cohesion".

The housing estate was originally called Wohnsiedlung Max Reimann (1978 - 1993). Many people moved to Eberswalde when the former Eberswalde Slaughtering and Processing Combine (SVKE) went into operation. New flats were built on an 82-hectare site. On 19 July 1977, the foundation stone was laid for the largest development area in Eberswalde.

Over 6,000 flats of different sizes were built:

665 1-room flats = 11.1 %

1.101 2-room flats = 18.3 %

3.194 3-room flats = 52.1 %

1.036 4-room flats = 17.2 %

76 5-room flats = 1,3 %

The following facilities were also planned: Residential area restaurant, specialist retail facilities, savings bank, post office, pharmacy and youth club, schools and day care centres.

On 8 November 1987, the first and still familiar trolleybuses drove through the district. As the Berlin Wall fell a few years later, the neighbourhood was never completed.

in 1992, over 10,000 people lived in the new BV (renamed in 1993). The district was given a shopping centre and a bank building, creating a central square (today's Potsdamer Platz). However, many residents moved to the former West after reunification or built their own homes in the neighbourhood.

Due to the high vacancy rate, demolition or partial demolition of the buildings began at the turn of the millennium.

The neighbourhood today

The centre of the district is Potsdamer Platz with the Heidewald shopping centre, the Sparkasse bank, Schwärzesee primary school, the SV Motor sports hall and the Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Haus. There are numerous social facilities such as the family centre in Spreewaldstraße, the Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Haus with parent-child centre in Potsdamer Allee, the community centre in Schorfheidestraße and the various offers in the clubhouse in Havellandstraße 15 and the leisure ship in Prignitzer Straße. There are also two schools, three sports halls, three daycare centres, an after-school care centre and a youth club with a skate park and currently two galleries.

The BV is a green neighbourhood. In addition to Barnim Park, there is Märkischer Park with many play, recreation and exercise areas. Due to the demolition of schools and residential buildings, there are now numerous brownfield and open spaces that offer potential for new uses.

The BV as a neighbourhood with a future

BV is growing. Since 2014, there has been a steady increase in population, which has also resulted from an influx of refugees. Today, 7,129 people (as of 01/2025) live in the neighbourhood. The BV therefore plays an important social integration role for the city as a whole and must be supported in overcoming the resulting challenges and strengthening neighbourly coexistence. Population growth and the increase in younger residents represent great potential. They are being used by the city as an opportunity for a strategic new start in the continuation of the "Social Cohesion" urban development programme. Important new impetus in the neighbourhood is also currently being provided by the housing companies, which are becoming increasingly involved in the BV and thus contributing significantly to the image change.