In the GDR, theaters and other cultural venues were controlled by the state. One exception was the Hirschhof on Oderberger Straße. With the support of the Wohnbezirksausschuss (WBA), the residential district committee of the National Front, it was able to partially avoid control by the government. The Hirschhof became a popular meeting place for the Opposition and alternative scene in East Berlin. Numerous Opposition artists such as Freya Klier and Stefan Krawczyk, as well as the theater group Zinnober, performed there.
After 1990, in the course of the upcoming renovation of the houses and the threat of displacement of the residents, a new citizens’ alliance was formed. It also called itself the W.B.A.: “Wir bleiben alle” – We all stay. The new W.B.A. quickly focused its activities on Helmholtzplatz.
Beginning in 1990, some local residents also got involved in the preservation and refurbishment of the disused Oderberger Straße municipal swimming pool. They succeeded in founding a cooperative and then buying the pool in 2000. But after the project failed in 2011, the GLS Language Center acquired the building. After its renovation, it reopened in 2016 as the Hotel Oderberger Berlin with 70 rooms and a swimming pool open to the public.
In 2007, the Pankow district office planned to renovate the street sidewalks. Resistance to the plans led to the founding of yet another citizens’ initiative. In a process that was unique in the district, the wishes of the residents were incorporated into the plans, and existing flower tubs, street furniture, and recreational areas remained. The Hirschhof was expanded to the northwest to include a playground and a plaza building. In 2014, however, claims by houseowners led to the original Hirschhof, as part of the adjacent properties, being withdrawn from public use and becoming private property.
