Berlin’s house numbering system is often a mystery to newcomers. Finding a building can turn into a challenge because the number assigned to a structure depends on the district. Let’s say you are getting your hair done at a Beauty Salon at Windscheidstrasse 1 in Berlin Charlottenburg and would like to grab a bite to eat afterward at Mirko, a Croatian restaurant, at Windscheidstrasse 40. The street is only four blocks long, and you decide to walk the short distance.
Since the Beauty Salon is on the west side of Windscheidstrasse at the northern end, you head south expecting to find the restaurant at the end of your walk on the opposite side of the street. Wrong. The last building on the west side of Windscheidstrasse is the number 19. Across the street, on the east side, is the number 20. What happened to Windscheidstrasse 40? You walk north on the east side, and the numbers increase again. Guess what? After walking the four blocks back to where you started, you find yourself standing in front of Mirko’s and directly across from the Beauty Salon you came from. How did that happen?
The horseshoe system of numbering to help the mail carrier. Photo © J. Elke Ertle. www.walled-in-berlin.com
Berlin has two distinct house numbering systems.
Depending on the district in which the building is located, one of two house numbering methods is used: The horseshoe system and the odd/even (zigzag) system. The historic center of Berlin, such as Charlottenburg and Mitte, uses the horseshoe method. The odd/even system governs the newer districts, such as Dahlem and Zehlendorf.
Origin of the horseshoe system
When Berlin began numbering houses, city officials wanted to simplify the task of the mailman. Soon after the French Revolution, Paris had introduced house numbers. In 1799, the Prussian capital copied Paris, which had used the horseshoe system. Now, when the letter carrier delivered the mail, he started at house number 1 and walked toward the end of that side of the street and back on the other. House numbers were consecutive from the first to the last number. That is why house number 1 in the Windscheidstrasse ends up straight across from house no. 40.
Origin of the odd/even system
The odd/even system also originated in France. Soon after introducing the horseshoe system, France switched to the odd-even numbering system because it allowed for extending streets without having to change house numbers. Under the odd/even system, all houses on one side have even numbers. All buildings on the other side have odd numbers. In 1927, Berlin also switched to the odd/even system, but only for the houses in the newer communities. Because of cost considerations, city officials decided to keep the horseshoe system in the original districts, the center of town.
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Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall, and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.
