Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf added to UNESCO World Heritage List

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee, meeting in Busan, South Korea, voted to expand the existing "Siedlungen der Berliner Moderne" site to include the Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf in Berlin’s Zehlendorf district. The enclave, built between 1926 and 1932 under the direction of architects Bruno Taut, Hugo Häring and Otto Rudolf Salvisberg, is famed for its colourful façades and the nickname “Papageiensiedlung.”

The extension brings the Berlin modernist housing ensemble to seven sites, showcasing the New Building principles of “light, air and sun” that aimed to provide affordable, healthy living spaces. German UNESCO representatives Maria Böhmer and Kerstin Pürschel highlighted the settlement’s lasting relevance to contemporary housing concepts. With the addition, Germany retains 55 UNESCO World Heritage sites.

The decision underscores the international significance of early‑20th‑century social housing and affirms the Waldsiedlung’s role as a landmark of modernist architecture.