Who shaped Berlin · Part 9
Ukrainian Berlin: from Lesya Ukrainka to the Ukrainian Institute
Ukrainian Berlin is much older than most people think: a poet lived here in 1899, there was an embassy as early as 1918 and a scientific institute from 1926. Here are the places where you can find this history, and where Ukrainian culture is at home in Berlin today.
1899 the poet Lesya Ukrainka lived in Berlin for almost half a year
1918 to 1923 the Ukrainian People's Republic had an embassy in Berlin
1926 to 1945 the Ukrainian Scientific Institute existed
71,838 people with Ukrainian citizenship in Berlin (30 June 2025), the second-largest group
A long, little-known history
Ukrainian Berlin did not begin in 2022; it reaches back into the 19th century. In 1899 the poet Lesya Ukrainka came to Berlin for an operation by the surgeon Ernst von Bergmann and lived for almost half a year in a guesthouse on Johannisstraße. After the First World War the Ukrainian People's Republic had an embassy in Berlin from 1918 to 1923, and in the 1920s the city became a centre of Ukrainian emigration. In 1926 the Ukrainian Scientific Institute was founded, with the historian Dmytro Doroshenko as its first director; it existed until 1945.
History also has its dark side: during the Second World War, many people deported from Ukraine were forced to work in Berlin. Since 2022, many people have fled the war in Ukraine to Berlin. According to the Statistical Office for Berlin-Brandenburg, 71,838 people with Ukrainian citizenship lived in Berlin on 30 June 2025, the second-largest group without a German passport after Turkish citizens.
Where you can see it today
01 Memorial plaque for Lesya Ukrainka · Mitte
about 2 minutes on foot from Oranienburger Straße S-Bahn station
Lesya Ukrainka, born Larysa Kosach, is regarded as one of Ukraine's most important poets. Since 2010 a granite plaque at Johannisstraße 11 has commemorated her stay, according to the Mitte district's memorial plaque database. The house she lived in no longer stands; the plaque is on a later building.
02 Ukrainian Institute in Germany · Mitte
about 5 minutes on foot from Friedrichstraße station
Directions in Google Maps · Official site
In March 2023 the Ukrainian Institute opened its first office abroad in Berlin; today it is based at Friedrichstraße 95. It presents Ukrainian culture in Germany with readings, films, concerts and talks. The current programme is on its website.
03 Memorial stone for the Chornobyl disaster · Mitte
about 2 minutes on foot from Klosterstraße U-Bahn station
On Klosterstraße a memorial stone commemorates the Chornobyl reactor disaster of 26 April 1986. According to the memorial plaque database it was dedicated on 4 March 1990, donated by the Green network arche, and a plaque was added for the tenth anniversary.
04 Ukrainian Greek Catholic Parish of St Nicholas · Johannisthal
about 15 minutes on foot from Schöneweide S-Bahn station
The parish celebrates its services in the Byzantine rite as a guest in the Catholic church of St John the Evangelist at Waldstraße 11. According to the Ukrainet association's map, services are on Sundays at 9 and 11 am. It is a place of prayer, and guests are welcome if they behave quietly.
Discover more places
The Ukrainet association has published a map of more than 60 Ukrainian places in Berlin, including memorial plaques for the actor Alexander Granach and the film director Oleksandr Dovzhenko, the former home of the sculptor Oleksandr Archipenko, churches, meeting places, cafés and restaurants. According to the map, the plaque for the first embassy of the Ukrainian People's Republic is on Ludwig-Erhard-Ufer in the Spreebogenpark.
Good to know
- Spellings: many names exist in several spellings, such as Chornobyl and Chernobyl or Kyiv and Kiev. We use the Ukrainian form.
- In church: do not take photos during the service and set phones to silent.
- More from the series: Polish Berlin, a neighbour with a related history, is in part 7.