Named after the Köllnische Heide, the old heathland of the town of Kölln.
Kölln was Berlin's medieval twin town on the left bank of the Spree, and its woods and meadows stretching south-east towards Köpenick were called the Köllnische Heide ('Heide' = heath). The name also lives on in Neukölln: the town of Rixdorf took that name in 1912. The station area marks roughly the northern end of the old heath.