During World War II, a branch of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp was located in this locality.

During the Cold War it was a part of West Berlin bordering with East Germany.

Its long boundary with Brandenburg was surrounded by the Berlin Wall from 1961 to 1989.

[3] Located in the southern suburb of Berlin, it is one of the southernmost areas of the city, largely bounded by the Brandenburger municipalities of Schönefeld (Dahme-Spreewald district), Blankenfelde-Mahlow and Großbeeren (both in Teltow-Fläming district).

It borders with the Berliner localities of Marienfelde, Mariendorf and Buckow (this one in the district of Neukölln).