Neukölln is one of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. It is located in the southeastern part from the city centre towards Berlin Schönefeld Airport. It was part of the former American sector under the Four-Power occupation of the city. It features many Gründerzeit buildings and is characterized by having one of the highest percentage of immigrants in Berlin. In recent years an influx of students and creative types has led to gentrification.

Berlin is both a city and one of Germany's federated states. Since the 2001 administrative reform, it has been made up of twelve districts, each with its own administrative body. However, unlike the municipalities and counties of other German states, the Berlin districts are not territorial corporations of public law with autonomous competencies and property, but simple administrative agencies of Berlin's state and city government, the City of Berlin forming a single municipality since the Greater Berlin Act of 1920. Thus they cannot be equated to US or UK boroughs in the traditional meaning of the term.