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Areas Overview

Steglitz-Zehlendorf.

The borough was formed by merging the former boroughs of Steglitz and Zehlendorf. The borough is located on the extreme south west of the city and covers some of the least developed areas in the city. The borough has two distinct areas, to the west it mostly consists of green areas, lakes and waterways, the eastern side of the borough it is more urban, with a mix of residential and retail but not much industry. The local districts of the borough are: Steglitz, Lichterfelde, Lankwitz, Zehlendorf, Dahlem, Nikolassee and Wannsee.

Steglitz (pop 70,000) in the north east of the borough is based around the historic Prussian village of Old Steglitz. It's located on one of the major ancient highways through Germany. The area saw great population growth (from 5,000 to 80,000) in the first half of the 20th century. The area around the "Schlossstraße" (Castle Street) in Steglitz is heavily built up and contains one of the largest retail areas in Berlin.

Lichterfelde (pop 78,000) is an old residential district of Berlin and contains many fine villa's and mansion houses built on large plots dating from the 19th century with more variety added early in the 20th century. Parts of Lichterfelde have seen some of the highest rates of increase in real estate and rental prices for any former West Berlin district. There are some areas with single family homes and high rise developments in the south of the district. The most notable high rise development is the so-called "Thermometersiedlung" (Thermometer Development) which contains approx 4,500 apartments and dates from the late 1960's and early 1970's. There are some smaller commercial areas on either side of the Teltowkanal.

Lankwitz (pop 41,000) is in the north east of the borough and it primarily contains single-and multi-family houses with some Villa's dating from the 19th Century.

The area along the Teltowkanal has some nice walkways and the water quality in the canal has improved dramatically in recent years.

Zehlendorf (pop 58,000) in the middle of the borough is developed from an old village area. The area is renowned for its fine period mansion houses and villas built with very low density.

Overall the district has a suburban feel with quite a significant number of residential settlements which reach out towards the Wannsee Lakes area, while not quite as densely populated as Lichterfelde it is much more developed than the west of the borough.

Dahlem (pop 14,000) is a hamlet bordering Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf which is renowned for its villa developments and very grand environment. There are a number of prestigious scientific institutions located in the area, including the Free University of Berlin.

Nikolassee (pop 16,000) and Wannsee (pop 9,000) make up the west of Steglitz-Zehlendorf on the extreme south west of Berlin and includes most of the rural areas and waterways in the borough. The districts have very little residential development, with most of this in the fine residential area centred around Nikolassee, it is one of the least populated parts of Berlin. The area is dominated by its lakes and waterways and includes, Wannsee lake, Wannsee Beach - on the eastern shore of the lake, Wannsee Island and some noted bridges connecting the island to the surrounding areas.

Wannsee is infamous as the location for the "Wannsee Conference" which took place in a Villa in the district and where the planning for the deportation and murder of European Jews took place.

What's happening in Steglitz-Zehlendorf?

Steglitz -Zehlendorf has been pretty immune to the vagaries of the market problems seen in other boroughs over the last few years. Rents and prices have remained high in comparison with other areas, it is one of four boroughs with higher than average rental rates, and upside potential is probably not as good as other areas that are in the turn –around stage.

The "Thermometer Development" in the south of the borough has historically been seen as a troublesome neighbourhood. The developments have a large proportion of foreign residents who arrived during partition, very much like the settlements that happened in areas of Kreuzberg at the same time. Efforts have been made to improve the environment and character of the area with limited success. Close by the development there are plans to re-develop the former American military training ground on Osdorfer Str. Plans allow for the construction of single-family, Twin-Family and terraced houses for up to 8,000 people which should improve the character of the area.

In Lichterfelde West the "Villen Kolonie" (Colonial Villas) is an exclusive residential area dating from 1860 with tree lined cobbled streets and fine residences. 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).Steglitz-Zehlendorf suffered comparatively little from the past crisis and therefore in the short term shows less potential for increase than other districts. With above average rental costs there is probably less room for increased rents than in other similar semi-rural boroughs.

The growing popularity of the southern districts of Berlin has seen good property price growth in this part of Berlin. With the borough's bordering Steglitz-Zehlendorf doing particularly well it is expected that this positive bias in the south will also extend into the borough.

The "Green" factor also helps make it an attractive area for families and outside of a small area in the Lichterfelde district which has a concentration of high-rise developments the positive local environment enjoyed through most of the borough is a constant positive influence.

As the borough with the highest "Owner Occupancy" rate in Berlin with nearly 25 % it is one of a group of four boroughs (Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Reinickendorf, Treptow-Köpenick and Marzahn-Hellersdorf) which have noticeably higher owner occupancy rates than elsewhere in the city. The common geographic locations of these four boroughs, stretching out to the rural periphery of the city boundaries, is indicative of the tendency for higher owner occupancy rates in more rural neighbourhoods which have higher levels of single family properties.

With a low ratio of property price to income the borough has the potential to increase the rate of owner occupancy and see an increase in the premium on property values that these higher rates generally can lead to in an area. For more information on "Owner Occupancy Rates" and other general analysis data visit our Graphs of Economic Performance page.

Landmarks and Attractions

Borough landmarks include, the "Bierpinsel" (The beer brush), a 1970s style tower which originally operated as a tower restaurant in Steglitz.

The Botanical Gardens, with the Botanical Museum. The Botanical Garden has an area of about 43 hectares and approximately 22,000 different plant species, it is one of the largest and most important botanical gardens in the world and the biggest in Europe.

The first herbarium collection recorded here dates from the 17th century, over the following 300 years a large collection was established.

During the war a bomb destroyed a major part part of the hugh collection with the loss of over 80,000 books and 200,000 prints. Since then there has been a concerted effort to rebuild the collection. In 1993, a long-term seed storage programme was commenced for the retention of potentially extinct plants, over 5000 different types of seeds are now in storage.

The Library of the Free University of Berlin in Dahlem. The library includes the stocks of the formerly independent philological faculty libraries and the former library of the Institute of Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy and Humanities. Further items from the Institute of the Free University of Berlin are also held here. It has one of the largest collection of German and Dutch publications and a large international collection. In 1997 Sir Norman Foster won a competition for the design of the new Library building and this was completed in 2005, this is now referred to as the "Berlin Brain" due to its similarities with the structure of the human brain.

The "Wannsee" (Wannsee lake) is a large lake on the river Havel, it contains the Wannsee Beach with its historical beachside buildings. The area is a popular recreation area for the residents of Berlin and elsewhere in Germany.

Neighbourhood Areas of Steglitz-Zehlendorf.

Steglitz, Lichterfelde, Lankwitz, Zehlendorf, Dahlem, Nikolassee, Wannsee.