of Wilmersdorf, 1930 The village near Berlin was first mentioned in 1293 as
Wilmerstorff, probably founded in the course of the German
Ostsiedlung under the
Ascanian margraves of
Brandenburg. From the 1850s on
Deutsch-Wilmersdorf was developed as a densely settled, affluent residential area, which in 1920 became a part of
Greater Berlin. The former borough of Wilmersdorf included the localities of
Halensee,
Schmargendorf and
Grunewald. During the era of the
Weimar Republic Wilmersdorf was a popular residential area for artists and intellectuals. After the
Russian Revolution, in the late 1910s, Wilmersdorf and
Charlottenburg became popular amongst
white émigré. Café Prager Diele (formerly located on the corner of Trautenaustraße and Prager Platz) became a meeting points for many prominent Russians in exile. Russian poet
Marina Tsvetaeva lived in a house on Trautenaustraße, 9. The memorial plaque was installed on the house by volunteers. In 1923 the foundation stone for the first mosque in
Germany was laid on the initiative of some Islamic students in Wilmersdorf. It was completed in 1925. The so called
Wilmersdorfer Moschee (
Mosque of Wilmersdorf) is still owned and maintained by the
Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement. In 1933, the year in which
Hitler came to power, 13.5% of the population was
Jewish; many of them were deported by the Nazis from
Berlin-Grunewald Station.
Deutsche Bahn established a memorial on 27 January 1998 at the historic track 17 ("Gleis 17"), where most of the deportation trains departed. The
synagogue of Wilmersdorf in the
Prinzregentenstraße was destroyed by the Nazis in the
Reichspogromnacht on 9–10 November 1938. A memorial plaque commemorates the former synagogue. A new synagogue and community centre was established 2007 in the
Münstersche Straße for the growing Jewish community in Wilmersdorf. During
World War II, Wilmersdorf was the location of a subcamp of the
Sachsenhausen concentration camp. After 1945 Wilmersdorf was located in the
British Zone of occupation. The famous German musical
Linie 1 features a song titled "Wilmersdorfer Witwen" ("The Widows of Wilmersdorf"), performed by characters in the show. The song offers a satirical portrayal of the widows of long-deceased Nazis, depicting them as women who "see themselves as the defenders of an older Berlin". ==Sights==