Welcome to the Prenzlauer Berg Fire Station—the oldest professional fire station still in active service today.
The Berlin Fire Department laid the cornerstone in 1883. On November 25th of that year, the department moved into a new building on Oderberger Straße and commenced operations there—at the time, utilizing hand-pumped fire engines, crew wagons, and water tenders. The station became particularly renowned for its white horses, which pulled the fire wagons—a truly unique feature for the era.
The building is constructed of yellow brick, stands three stories high, and features rounded arches and modest ornamentation. It is considered a valuable landmark because its exterior remains virtually unchanged today compared to how it looked back then; it is a designated historical monument.
Due to the construction of the Berlin Wall, the street became a dead end. Consequently, the fire station found itself isolated, yet it remained fully operational—even throughout the period of the city’s division.
In 1956, the Prenzlauer Berg Volunteer Fire Department was established; initially, it operated out of the same building as the professional fire department. It was not until 1984 that the volunteer unit received its own dedicated facility on Schieritzstraße.
Today, the station operates as part of the Berlin Fire Department under the designation “Station 1300.” Approximately 16 firefighters are on duty during the day, with about 14 on the night shift. The station houses specialized teams—such as A.N.T.S., a unit specifically trained for respiratory protection operations—meaning they are equipped to handle incidents in smoke-filled or hazardous environments.
The station is colloquially referred to as a “Klingelwache” (Bell Station) because its emergency crews are alerted via radio dispatch. To this day, they open the station’s massive bay doors by hand—nothing here is automated. This is an unusual practice, yet one deeply rooted in the station’s history. Every month, the crews respond to over 1,000 calls—an exceptionally high volume for a municipal fire station. Over time, the station acquired modern vehicles: two fire and rescue trucks, a tall aerial ladder, and several ambulances—including one stationed there by the Bundeswehr.
What makes it unique is this: despite all the modern technology, the fire station remains a living monument. Many original details have been preserved: the narrow bay doors, the cobblestones in the courtyard, and even the old drill tower—originally four stories high, and still visible today.
Prenzlauer Berg Fire Station
Aus dem Audiowalk Berlin Like You’ve Never Heard It Before – True Stories & Secrets
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A Brief Excursion into Berlin's History (7:59 min) • St. Nicholas' Church / St. Nicholas' Quarter (2:49 min) • Newspaper District (4:28 min) • Checkpoint Charlie (1:55 min) • Former Gestapo Headquarters (2:57 min) • Former Tempelhof Airport (3:46 min) • 7 Wannsee Conference (4:45 min) • Walther Rathenau Memorial (2:34 min) • Olympic Stadium / 1936 Olympic Games (5:36 min) • Commune 1 (2:27 min) • Benno Ohnesorg / Student Movement (2:16 min) • Rolf Eden (1:54 min) • Café Kranzler (2:08 min) • Kurfürstendamm (3:03 min) • Zoo Palace (3:47 min) • Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (2:22 min) • Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg (3:28 min) • Schöneberg Town Hall (2:33 min) • Former Sportpalast / Sportpalast Speech (5:12 min) • Bendlerblock/Stauffenberg assassination attempt (4:47 min) • Kroll Opera House / Enabling Act (3:09 min) • Reichstag Building (4:14 min) • Reichstag Fire (4:28 min) • Brandenburg Gate (2:52 min) • People's Court (3:08 min) • Potsdamer Place (2:58 min) • Former "Führerbunker" (5:06 min) • "Tresor" (Safe) (1:43 min) • Popular Uprising in the GDR (2:11 min) • Reich Chancellery / Hitler's Seizure of Power (5:11 min) • "Die weiße Maus" (The White Mouse) (2:57 min) • Friedrichstraße Station / "Tränenpalast" (Palace of Tears) (3:46 min) • Humboldt University (1:56 min) • Berlin Palace (5:04 min) • Red City Hall (2:30 min) • Alexanderplatz (2:30 min) • Otto Weidt's Workshop for the Blind / Anne Frank Center (2:05 min) • Hackesche Höfe (5:21 min) • Rosenthaler Platz (2:58 min) • St. Sophia's Church (3:03 min) • Sophie-Gips Courtyards (2:08 min) • Koppenplatz (3:16 min) • Clärchen's Dance Hall (3:54 min) • New Synagogue (2:19 min) • Berliner Ensemble (3:55 min) • Friedrichstadt-Palast (4:02 min) • Dorotheenstadt Cemetery (2:25 min) • Bloody May (2:18 min) • Humboldthain Flak Tower (5:17 min) • Chris Gueffroy and the Victims of the Wall (1:28 min) • Tunnel 57 / Egon Schultz (2:40 min) • AMIGA (1:37 min) • Bernauer Street (4:07 min) • Former Bornholmer Straße Border Crossing (3:26 min) • Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn Sports Park (3:43 min) • Mauerpark (4:07 min) • Arkonaplatz (3:03 min) • Zion Church (3:44 min) • Hirschhof (2:41 min) • Freya Klier (2:28 min) • Prater (2:28 min) • Oderberger Straße Municipal Baths (3:36 min) • Oderberger Street 2 (1:58 min) • Currywurst (2:16 min) • Konnopke's Snack Bar (2:43 min) • Gethsemane Church (2:09 min) • Museum in the Kulturbrauerei (1:06 min) • Kulturbrauerei (3:24 min) • Frannz-Club (2:31 min) • Husemann Street (1:58 min) • Jews' Passage (3:32 min) • Prenzlauer Berg Water Tower (2:37 min) • Rosa Luxemburg Square (4:34 min) • Mont Klamott (1:43 min) • Samaritan Church (2:23 min) • Former Stasi Headquarters / Stasi Museum (2:48 min) • Berlin-Karlshorst Museum / Unconditional Surrender (2:54 min) • East Side Gallery (2:59 min) • House Squatting in the 1980s (2:34 min)
