The WGLi Wohnungsgenossenschaft Lichtenberg eG stands as Berlin's largest housing cooperative, managing 10,187 apartments across 113 buildings in the Lichtenberg district as of late 2023. Founded on June 4, 1954, as the Arbeiterwohnungsbaugenossenschaft Elektrokohle Lichtenberg by 22 individuals, the organization emerged from the collaboration of three companies: VEB Siemens Plania, VEB PKM Kohleverarbeitung, and a Konsum bakery, following the East German tradition of workplace-affiliated housing cooperatives.
The cooperative's first building was completed in 1955 on what was then Rittergutstraße, costing 761,000 marks. By 1974, it had delivered its 5,000th apartment, and by 1977, the portfolio had grown to 10,489 units. German reunification brought existential challenges: the cooperative faced 180 million deutschmarks in accumulated debt and lacked ownership of the land beneath its buildings. On September 26, 1990, members adopted the current name and restructured under West German cooperative law, with official registration following on November 27, 1991.
The organization serves nearly 11,000 members and employs 132 staff members. Average monthly rent stood at 5.68 euros per square meter in 2023. Recent construction includes the Wohnen am LichtGarten project, which added 107 apartments in 2019 within existing courtyards. The cooperative operates from its purpose-built headquarters at Landsberger Allee 180 A-B, completed in 2000, replacing decades of makeshift offices in former construction barracks. Four neighborhood meeting spaces serve members throughout Fennpfuhl and Friedrichsfelde-Süd districts.