Named after Spandau, the old town on the Havel, first recorded in 1197.
Spandau grew from a Slavic settlement where the Spree meets the Havel. Its castle is first mentioned in 1197 (‘Spandowe’), and it is documented as a town from 1232; the spelling changed from Spandow to Spandau in 1878. Until 1997 the name Berlin-Spandau belonged to the old station east of the Havel, today Stresow. It then passed to the new station about one kilometre west, close to the old town.