Weiße Stadt

Berlin, Germany

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

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The Weiße Stadt, or White City, is a large housing estate of 1,268 apartments located in Berlin's Reinickendorf district, built between 1928 and 1931 to address the city's acute housing shortage during the Weimar Republic. Designed by architects Otto Rudolf Salvisberg, Bruno Ahrends, and Wilhelm Büning according to Salvisberg's blueprint, the complex embodies New Objectivity principles with its open internal structure of terrace buildings interspersed with green spaces. The estate pioneered central heating in large-scale housing and incorporated social amenities including a kindergarten and twenty shops within its bounds. Colorful details—painted drainpipes, doors, roof overhangs, and window frames—provide visual relief against the distinctive white facades, with the bridge house at Aroser Allee serving as the complex's architectural centerpiece. Recognized as one of six Berlin Modernism Housing Estates and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008, it remains the last major housing estate of the modern era built during the Weimar period.