Men dominate Berlin's streets: only 4.7% wear women's names!

Men dominate Berlin's streets: only 4.7% wear women's names!

Berlin, Deutschland - The discussion about naming roads and squares in Berlin is becoming increasingly important. According to an investigation of rbb24 , more than 25% of the streets are named after men, while only less than 5% female names have. A total of around 10,000 streets and squares are recorded in Berlin, of which only 4.7% bear the name of a woman. This discrepancy illustrates that more than six times as many streets are named after men.

The situation in the districts of Treptow-Köpenick and Pankow is particularly striking, where the proportion of women's names is around 2%. In the Mitte district, which is characterized by numerous renams, the proportion is 13%. In Pankow, only around 9% of the streets and squares are named by people, while in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg almost half of the honor experiences this honor.

inequalities in the culture of memory

An analysis of Strasslaerm Berlin postulates that these inequalities in the street name are not only gender-specific, but also with regard to ethnicity. Only 10% of the streets in Berlin honor women, with only nine roads named after non-white people. This gender and racist inequality reflects a patriarchal and colonial racist culture of remembrance.

The organizations Straße noise Berlin e.V. and AK urban space of the alliance Decolonize Berlin e.V. have created a digital list of all Berlin streets and squares to draw attention to this problem. Their goal is a greater representation of women, People of African Descent (PAD) and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Scientists and experts are calling for a feminist and decolonial culture of remembrance to sustainably change the road racing.

renovation in the focus

In the past ten years, at least 25 streets and squares have been renamed Berlin. Eight renams have currently been decided, but have not yet been implemented. In addition, there are at least eight further renams for examination. In these renaming, it is recommended to vote for more women's names, which is considered to be equality as a necessary step. Nevertheless, there are challenges: renaming is only possible under certain conditions, for example with double street names or the honor of racist and colonial references.

However, some districts proactively take place. In Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, for example, only women's names will be used until 50% of the streets are named after women. An example of a renamed renaming is the Manteuffelstraße, which has now become the Audre-Lordstraße. Freia-Icener-Straße was also officially inaugurated in Tempelhof-Schönberg in October 2024 and the proposal to create a Betty-Katz-Straße in Steglitz-Zehlendorf is also up for debate.

The Tagesspiegel reported that the proportion of streets with women's names is between 3 and 13 percent, whereby Spandau and Reinickendorf do not provide any current data have. The high proportion of men's names has historical roots because new roads are rarely created.