Who lived in your Berlin apartment 100 years ago? You can find out for free on this website. There are even editions dating back to 1707 (319 years ago!).

In the Berlin Address Book Archive, you can find out whether a Prussian privy councilor, a poor baker’s apprentice, or a vaudeville dancer used to live in your apartment!

Historic Berlin address book from 1926 in front of an old Berlin bridge—the standard reference work for researching Berlin neighborhood history in landscape format. — Images: Creative Commons and Berlin Central and State Library

Moritz Klein

– Editor

· July 9, 2026

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Have you ever wondered, while sipping your Sunday hangover coffee in the kitchen, who lived in your apartment and sipped coffee there 100 years ago ? The answer to that question is just a few clicks away.

First, a quick tip: If you ever find yourself longing for 1920s Berlin and its seedy jazz bars, then check out this resource.

Neighborhood History: From Coal Store to Vintage Shop

Open pages from a historic Berlin business directory featuring old advertisements and phone numbers for auto salvage yards and flower shops, perfect for researching neighborhood history. — Images: Creative Commons and Berlin Central and State Library

The Berlin State Digital Library has unearthed a treasure trove for all neighborhood history buffs: Berlin’s historical address, telephone, and business directories from 1707 to 1991/1992 are now fully available online.

You can look up your grandparents’ phone number and see which neighborhood your grandparents, parents (or you yourselves as children) grew up in. And you can even go back further— all the way to 319 years ago!

The ultimate time machine for your neighborhood

Open pages of a historic Berlin address book in Fraktur script, featuring old street names and occupations for researching neighborhood history. — Images: Creative Commons and Berlin Central and State Library

The old address books document the real Berlin through changing times and political systems. Of course, it’s especially fascinating to take a look at your own neighborhood. Where you enjoy your cappuccino today on Neukölln’s Weserstraße, cigar makers and coal merchants still had their shops in 1926.

On Kastanienallee in Prenzlauer Berg, umbrella repairers and hatmakers lined the street instead of expensive boutiques. And on Torstraße in Mitte (which was still called Elsasser Straße back then), the air reeked of horse-drawn carts and breweries instead of vegan truffle pasta.

Here’s how to start your journey back in time to old Berlin

Screenshot of the digital annual overview of the ZLB Online Archive for historical Berlin address books, available for digital research from 1799 to 1970. — Images: Creative Commons and Berlin Central and State Library

You don’t have to trudge halfway across town or climb a rickety ladder to fish dusty files off high shelves. All the information is easily accessible online.

All available digitally: Just visit the Central and State Library of Berlin’s web portal and search for the address books.
Searching for Streets and Names: Pick an exciting year (for example, exactly one hundred years ago!). These thick tomes are sorted either by name or directly by district, street, and house number!
The Fraktur Trick: Sometimes you’ll still find Old German script in the books. Don’t let that put you off. If you really can’t make it out, you can decipher the texts with Google Lens!