A Berlin-focused guide to Black history, living cultural spaces, archives, food, and the community work changing public memory. Street names, museum collections, and performance spaces all shape whose history is visible. These places offer different ways to encounter that work.
Renaming the city: resistance in public space
These changes reflect sustained organizing by Black, African, and decolonial initiatives. Use the current names below for navigation; the earlier names are provided to help readers recognize older maps and records.
| Current name | Earlier name | Where / when | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anton-Wilhelm-Amo-Straße | Mohrenstraße | Mitte · 2025 | Honors the African philosopher Anton Wilhelm Amo. |
| Martha-Ndumbe-Platz | Nettelbeckplatz | Wedding · 2025 | Honors the Black Berliner Martha Ndumbe, who died in Ravensbrück concentration camp. |
| Manga-Bell-Platz | Nachtigalplatz | Wedding · 2022 | Honors Emily and Rudolf Duala Manga Bell and anticolonial resistance in Cameroon. |
| Cornelius-Fredericks-Straße | Lüderitzstraße | Wedding · 2022 | Honors the Nama resistance leader Cornelius Fredericks. |
| Anna-Mungunda-Allee | Part of Petersallee | Wedding · 2024 | Honors the Herero anticolonial activist Anna Mungunda. |
| Maji-Maji-Allee | Part of Petersallee | Wedding · 2024 | Commemorates resistance to German colonial rule in East Africa. |
| May-Ayim-Ufer | Gröbenufer | Kreuzberg · 2010 | Honors poet, educator, and Black feminist activist May Ayim. Visit the memorial stele near Bevernstraße. |
Sources: Berlin-Mitte: colonial street names and renaming · The two former Petersallee sections · Community campaign for Anton-Wilhelm-Amo-Straße · May-Ayim-Ufer memorial
Stolpersteine, graves & remembrance
Mahjub / Bayume Mohamed Husen
Stolperstein · Brunnenstraße 193 · Mitte
This stone remembers Mahjub bin Adam Mohamed, also known as Bayume Mohamed Husen, the actor and former colonial soldier who died in Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Read the biography alongside the stone to connect colonial histories, film, family life, and Nazi persecution.
Martha Ndumbe
Stolperstein · Max-Beer-Straße 24 · Mitte
The memorial at her former address helps place the life behind Martha-Ndumbe-Platz in Berlin’s everyday geography. The official biography documents the overlapping forms of persecution she experienced.
May Ayim’s grave
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof · Schöneberg
Visit the poet and activist’s resting place on the historic cemetery at Großgörschenstraße. Pair the visit with May-Ayim-Ufer and her archival papers to encounter her life through poetry, public memory, and research. Consult the cemetery’s current visitor information and on-site grave plan.
Black archives, projects, museums & cultural spaces
Each One Teach One (EOTO)
Community library & archive · Wedding
A key starting point for Black German and afrodiasporic writing, history, and community knowledge. Its Sankofa BRD / Sankofa DDR archive preserves material around Black German cultural production and the period of reunification. Check the organization’s current library information before visiting.
AfricAvenir International
Political education · Film · Publishing · Wedding
African perspectives guide its programs on history, racism, decolonization, and cultural exchange. The Berlin office is listed at Kameruner Straße 1; public events can take place at other venues. Read our AfricAvenir profile.
May Ayim papers, Freie Universität Berlin
University archive · Research by arrangement
The university archive preserves material documenting May Ayim’s personal, literary, and scholarly work, alongside important records of Black history. Arrange research access with the archive; this is a research collection rather than a walk-in museum.
SAVVY Contemporary
Art · Library · Archive · Wedding
An art space whose exhibitions, performances, research, library, and documentation center question dominant ways of knowing. Consult current visiting and library arrangements rather than assuming archival access is unrestricted.
Ballhaus Naunynstraße
Theater · Performance · Kreuzberg
A major space for Black, queer, and postmigrant artistic production. Its program includes the Black Berlin Black festival and work engaging decolonial questions. Book for the production dates listed in the current program.
Museum Treptow: zurückgeschaut | looking back
Museum · Johannisthal
The exhibition examines the First German Colonial Exhibition of 1896, colonial racism, and Black resistance. Created with the Dekoloniale project, it offers a critical approach to a history rooted in Treptower Park. Museum location: Sterndamm 102.
FHXB Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Museum
Museum · Local history · Research
Explore migration and local public memory, including the museum’s collaborations on colonial history. Its collection and library can support further research; past exhibition pages document earlier work and do not guarantee that an exhibition is still on display.
Dekoloniale / Berlin Museum
Research · Mapping · Public memory
The 2020–2024 project linked community organizations, researchers, and museums. Its documentation offers routes into Berlin’s colonial histories and Black resistance. The project record remains useful even where particular events have ended.
Decolonize Berlin
Community advocacy · Renaming & structural change
Follow the coalition’s work on colonial continuities, public commemoration, and the transformation of institutions. Useful for understanding the organizing behind changes visible in the streets.
Black Central Europe
Digital history · Maps & sources
An online research companion to visits, with maps of Black histories and African American performers. Use its historical locations as research starting points; they are not all surviving or publicly accessible venues.
Deutsches Museum für Schwarze Unterhaltung und Black Music
Art & archive project · Check current host venue
This project collects and reinterprets German Black popular culture through music, ephemera, performance, and exhibitions. Its exhibitions travel: consult the current program rather than treating it as a permanent Berlin museum address.
Food, music & meeting places
These entries highlight African and afrodiasporic food and cultural exchange. Cuisine alone does not establish an owner’s identity; follow the linked restaurant information for menus, reservations, access, and current hours.
YAAM – Young African Art Market
Music · Food market · Friedrichshain
A sociocultural space at An der Schillingbrücke 3, with African and Caribbean food, music, art, and community activities. Individual stalls and events follow their own schedules.
Bantabaa
West African food · Kreuzberg
At Wrangelstraße 82, Bantabaa connects Senegambian cooking with a history of refugee support and building a shared livelihood. The restaurant’s own story explains its development and the people behind it.
Didi Pa
West African food · Neukölln
At Sonnenallee 31, with a menu featuring Ghanaian and other West African dishes, including jollof, waakye, and plantain dishes.
Bejte Ethiopia
Ethiopian food · Schöneberg
At Zietenstraße 8, with injera-based dishes and an Ethiopian coffee tradition. A possible food stop alongside a Schöneberg visit; confirm current service and accessibility directly.
For performances and people behind these spaces, explore Artists & Performers. For further community connections, see Organizations & Projects.