Eiswerder

North of the Citadel is the island of Eiswerder in the middle of Spandauer See. Spandau’s only publicly accessible island is connected to the mainland by two road bridges: the Kleine Eiswerderbrücke takes you to the east bank of the island and the Große Eiswerderbrücke to the west.

Eiswerder’s explosive past is commemorated by several expansive red brick buildings: leftovers from the armaments industry that settled here in the 19th century. The first was the royal pyrotechnic laboratory, followed by factories producing gunpowder, cartridges, munitions and guns. The small island thus became one of Prussia’s most important military sites.

During the Cold War, the Berlin Senate maintained a secret food store, known as the Senate reserves, in the disused industrial plants. The intention was to ensure the population’s food supply for several months in the event of another Berlin blockade.

A piece of film history was also written on Eiswerder. From 1950 to 1970, the well-known producer Atze Brauner and his CCC film studios used one of the halls, making countless films, including the Edgar Wallace series. Today the island has a mixture of art studios, commercial premises and residential buildings.

Half of Eiswerder is covered in woods and you can walk or cycle almost all the way around it. The boathouse rents out pedal boats and rowing boats.