“Nothing is standing” they said. That’s what Berliners jokingly called Steglitz after the war. Its buildings lay in ruins. Bombs had fallen relentlessly. This wasn’t just any suburb. Steglitz bore the scars of World War II.
Steglitz a village once. A Slavic name for the European goldfinch. Its history stretches back to at least 1197. A deed mentioned Knight Henricus of Steglitz. The village’s official first mention is in 1375 in Emperor Charles IV’s land register.
Its location on the Imperial Highway Reichsstrasse 1. Today’s Bundesstrasse 1. This ancient trade route brought prosperity. The first paved Prussian road came in 1792. Steglitz flourished. Prussia’s first railway arrived in 1838 connecting Berlin and Potsdam. Steglitz was on the map.
The late 19th century transformed Steglitz. Luxurious areas grew in neighboring villages. Lichterfelde with its mansions. Sudennde founded in 1873. A major shopping area sprang up around Schlossstrasse. Catering to wealthy residents.
In 1920 Steglitz became part of Greater Berlin. During the Berlin Wall era it lay in the American sector. West Berlin. The 2001 administrative reform united Steglitz with Zehlendorf. Creating Steglitz-Zehlendorf. Now one of Berlin’s wealthiest boroughs.
But Steglitz holds more than wealth. The Neoclassical Gutshaus Steglitz. Built by David Gilly in 1801. It housed the Schlossparktheater. A Berlin state theatre until 2006. Schlossstrasse once West Berlin’s second largest shopping area after Kurfürstendamm. The Forum Steglitz one of Germany’s first shopping malls. It opened in 1970.
Steglitz’s Neo-Gothic town hall stands proud. Erected in 1898. The Lutheran Matthew Church. Built in 1880. The Catholic Rosary church. A basilica since 1950. The Steglitzer Kreisel. A high-rise. A ruin for years due to asbestos contamination. It housed the U-Bahn station Rathaus Steglitz.
The Bierpinsel the Beer Brush. A unique tavern tower. Built in 1976. The Titania-Palast. A grand cinema. The site of the Berlin Philharmonic’s first postwar concert. The Fichtenberg hill. Steglitz’s highest point at 68 meters.
The Spiegelwand the Mirrored Wall. A Holocaust memorial. Bearing the names of 1700 murdered Jews. This isn’t just a shopping district. This is history. This is life. This is Steglitz.