Named after Spandau’s old town (Altstadt), right above the station.
The old town on the Altstadtinsel (old-town island) developed from 1232, when Spandau was first mentioned as a town. The castle had already been recorded in 1197, in a deed naming ‘Everardus advocatus in Spandowe’. The town’s spelling was changed from ‘Spandow’ to ‘Spandau’ only in 1878.