Berlin Property Portal

and welcome to BerlinPropertyPortal.com.
t: +35 314 43 3237
t: +44 787 503 1517
t: +49 152 242 11524

Areas Overview

Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf.

The borough was formed in 2001 by merging the former boroughs of Charlottenburg and Wilmersdorf. Charlottenburg was an independent and wealthy city to the west of Berlin until 1920 when it was incorporated into "Groß-Berlin" (Greater Berlin) and transformed into a borough. In 2004, the new borough's districts were rearranged, dividing the former borough of Charlottenburg into the sub-districts of Westend, Charlottenburg-Nord and Charlottenburg. Wilmersdorf consisted of the south of the combined borough and now structured as the districts of Schmargendorf, Grunewald, Halensee and Wilmersdorf.

Charlottenburg (pop 118,000) is one of the wealthier areas of Berlin with posh flats and apartments. Charlottenburg Nord is a generally nice living area if not as affluent as Charlottenburg. The Westend district, named after the west end of London, is a leafy suburb characterised by grand old mansion houses and some less grand newish developments.

The old borough of Charlottenburg was in the center of the former West Berlin and was relatively well developed after the war. Today it's mostly an up market shopping and living area for the affluent professional class or wealthy retired residents.

Charlottenburg maintained its affluent image even during the period of partition and walking down the Schlossstr it is easy to imagine residents here passing time immune to a lot of the difficulties that partition brought to the remaining residents of Berlin.

The old borough area of Wilmersdorf mostly consists of lower density residential areas consisting of single family houses and villas, residents are generally from the wealthier segment of the population.

The district of Grunewald (pop 12,000) evolved as one of the most prosperous residential areas of Berlin with grand detached villas built on large plots of land. The surrounding countryside was preserved as open countryside and waterways. The area became home to a large number of entrepreneurs, bankers, professors and artists. The exclusive developments of Grunewald merge into the exclusive developments at Dahlem in the borough Steglitz-Zehlendorf. Grunewald, a sub-district, is both a forest in Berlin on the east side of the Havel and a municipal district. Today, the social structure of Grunewald is still influenced by these origins. The Rot-Weiss Tennis Club, home of the WTA Tour German Open, has been located in the district since 1897.

Halansee a small pocket between Grunewald and Carlottenburg was once a favourite neighbourhood for retired military officers and writers, in the 1920s, many Russian immigrants settled her after fleeing Russia. The area thus developed with a large Jewish community and an important synagogue was created here but this was destroyed in 1938 during the suppression of the Jewish communities in Germany. Properties in the district are some of the most expensive in Berlin. Schmargendorf (pop 20,000) a small low density area originally developed with funds raised from the sale of lands to the extending old city areas and is sandwiched between Grunewald and Wilmersdorf.

The Wilmersdorf area of the borough includes Kurfürstendamm (a street rather than an area), known locally as "The Ku'damm" is one of the most famous avenues in Berlin.

This very broad, long boulevard can be considered the Champs-Élysées of Berlin - full of shops, houses, hotels restaurants and in particular the most important international designers have their shops there (Gucci, Bvlgari, Chanel, Louis Vuitton etc).

When Berlin was separated into East and West Berlin Kurfürstendamm became the leading commercial street in West Berlin. It starts near Bahnhof Zoo and runs through Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf.

Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf still has a large Jewish community - now mostly of Russian descent – and is home to most of Berlin's estimated total Jewish population of 5%.

What's happening in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf?

The borough Charlottenburg - Wilmersdorf was, and is still seen as, a very middle class area which due to its location close to town has maintained high rental rates with consistent demand for both rented and owner occupied property. The borough is one of three that has higher than average rental rates and overall has the highest rates in Berlin.

As a combination of two mature West Berlin Neighborhoods the borough has probably undergone the least amount of change and development since re-unification. The combined borough is almost entirely residential based without much heavy industry and as a result it did not suffer as much damage during the war as other more industrialised areas. This consistency has meant that gains in the property market have been less than other areas that have undergone total re-newel and turnaround.

A detailed discussion on the range of properties in Berlin and issues relating to renovation and re-development is available in the Property Types section.

Future Trends

(Anecdotal based rather than data based).As one of the most exclusive, if not the most exclusive, boroughs of Berlin Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf has a stock of high quality properties which have generally benefited from continuously high occupancy rates, good quality maintenance programmes and quality tenancies. This has meant that it has maintained its position at the top of the market as the borough with both highest rental rates and the most expensive properties.

With higher levels of retained wealth and lower vacancy rates than elsewhere in Berlin this borough should maintain its premium position for the foreseeable future. The Borough is predicted to be a "steady as she goes" area maintaining a bellow average yield but providing some of the most secure residential property investment opportunities in the city.

The Borough has one of the highest ratio's of residential value to salaries which points to the limited potential for dramatic property price increases. Again with yield compression across the board in Berlin a steady increase in capital values can still be expected as it will maintain a slight premium in values over most areas.

With an "Owner Occupancy" rate of approximately 11% the borough has close to the average rate for Berlin (13 %) which is a little bit of a surprise based on the historical affluence in the area and re-enforces the impression that Berliners are quite happy to rent. For more information on "Owner Occupancy Rates" visit our Graphs of Economic Performance page.

Landmarks and Attractions

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church stands as a reminder of the terrible destruction caused during the Second World War. Commissioned by Emperor William II in 1891, and dedicated to his grandfather, William I. The church contains numerous exhibits and a few artefacts left intact after the war. Kurfürstendamm, and its surrounds, are one of Berlin's most elegant shopping areas even during partition.

The Schloss Charlottenburg in Charlottenburg is the palace of Germany's former royal family, it was badly damaged during World War II, but has been recently restored to its former glory.

The Egyptian Museum exhibits a large collection of fascinating Egyptian sculptures, paintings and other artefacts. The museum's most famous piece is the 3300-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti.

Other attractions in the borough are: The Technical University of Berlin, the Berlin University of the Arts, the Deutsche Opera Berlin, the Olympic Stadium, Unité d'Habitation by Le Corbusier and the Studio of sculptor Georg Kolbe with the accompanying museum. Grunewaldturm, an historic observation tower in the forest near the river Havel. Museum Berggruen near Charlottenburg Palace, also known as "Picasso und sein Zeit", is a small but high quality museum which hosts a very good collection of paintings and sculptures signed by Picasso, Klee, Matisse, Giacometti, and others from the first decades of the XX century. Museum Scharf-Gerstenberg. A museum dedicated to surrealist art will be reopened near Charlottenburg Palace this year. The Olympic Stadium in the west of the borough was originally built for the Summer Olympic Games in 1936 and was radically transformed and modernised for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Neighbourhood Areas of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf

Charlottenburg, Wilmersdorf, Schmargendorf, Grunewald, Westend, Charlottenburg-Nord and Halensee.