Renaming?! – Street names and their stories in Pankow
Special exhibition at the Museum Pankow from 26.09.2025
From September 26, 2025, the Museum Pankow will be showing the special exhibition “Renaming?! – Street names and their history in Pankow.” There are currently around 1,300 streets in the district of Pankow. Between the suburban settlement of Malchow in the north, Weißensee, and Prenzlauer Berg lie the stories that can be told about these streets and their (re)naming.
The exhibition highlights the layers of time that overlap in street names and how visibly or invisibly the political systems of the 20th century have been inscribed in the streetscape. The colonial historical background of street names from the 19th century is addressed, as are ideological name changes during National Socialism, anti-fascist commemoration in the GDR, public staging, and current discourses.
To this day, the residents of the district continue to debate street names controversially and participate in their renaming. The exhibition features interviews that give voice to different perspectives. Visitors can suggest street names for the newly emerging neighborhood at Pankower Tor.
Objectifying the culture of debate
The two-year exhibition series organized by Berlin's regional museums takes visitors on a tour of all the city's districts, focusing on aspects of local history that are reflected in the names of the streets. This cross-district joint project, the first of its kind, aims to contribute to the objectification and contextualization of the debate surrounding street names.
Admission is free.
- Exhibition period: 26.09.2025 to 15.02.2026
- Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- Closed on public holidays
Location: Museum Pankow, Prenzlauer Allee site
Main building, Room 108
Prenzlauer Allee 227/228
10405 Berlin
A joint project of the Active Museum of Fascism and Resistance in Berlin e. V. and the Working Group of Berlin Regional Museums. Funded by the LOTTO Foundation Berlin.