During World War II Friedrichshain was one of the most badly damaged parts of Berlin, as Allied strategic bombers specifically targeted its industries.

Stalinallee (previously Große Frankfurter Straße) was built in Friedrichshain in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a prestige project; the architecture of its 'workers' palaces' is strongly reminiscent of the ostentatious Soviet-era Moscow boulevards and is sometimes mockingly described as Zuckerbäckerstil ('wedding cake style').

The 1953 uprising had its origins in these construction projects, as increased work quotas led to protests that soon spread throughout East Germany, and were only put down by armed Soviet intervention.

In the following years further squatters were evicted under the hardline conservative Senator for the Interior, but others were able to buy the houses they lived in, and they remain a distinct counter-cultural influence in the district to this day.

[citation needed] Alongside the neighbouring districts of Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, and Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain is now considered one of Berlin's most fashionable areas, and is home to numerous design and media companies.

In contrast to the districts of Prenzlauer Berg and Mitte, which have experienced high levels of demographic change and rented accommodation is higher price, it is only since the late 1990s that Friedrichshain has undergone a similar trend.

[citation needed] At the opposite end of the district, the Volkspark Friedrichshain is a large park serving the densely populated area of Prenzlauer Berg on the other side.

Its distinctive features include the Märchenbrunnen (Fairytale Fountain) and two wooded "mountains" consisting purely of rubble and the ruins of two World War II Flak towers.