Steglitz

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Location of Steglitz within Berlin

The "Steglitzer Kreisel", the building housing the administrative office of Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough.

Steglitz is a neighborhood in the Steglitz-Zehlendorf-bourgough of Berlin, the capital of Germany. The village was first mentioned in 1375 in the "annals" of King Karl IV.

Steglitz witnessed the construction of the first paved Prussian country road, in 1792. The former village profited largely from its location on the Imperial Highway No. 1, famous "Reichsstraße 1", today "Bundesstraße", which follows a trading route that dates back to the Middle Ages. The old Reichsstraße used to stretch from the far West of Germany through Aachen and Cologne to Berlin, then went on eastward to end some two hundred miles northeast of Königsberg in East Prussia. The village of Steglitz also received an economic boost with the construction of a railroad line in 1838, which ran between Berlin and Potsdam. The Steglitz neighborhood was included in the southern line of Berlin's rail and transit systems from around 1850 (nowadays S-Bahn line 1 and 2 and U-Bahn line 9).

The South Western surroundings of Berlin saw considerable change in the second half of the 19th century when luxurious residential areas were developed in the neighbouring villages of Lichterfelde and later Dahlem. Lichterfelde West and East were developed as so called "Villen Kolonien", settlements entirely made up of mansion houses or villas. In Steglitz a shopping area developped around Schlosstrasse, catering also for the wealthy villages of Lichterfelde and Dahlem.

Steglitz was incorporated into the city of Greater Berlin in 1920 together with its neighbour villages. From 1920 to 2000 the administrative district IX was called Steglitz Bezirk. In 2000 the the Berlin South West area was united in the newly created borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf. Thanks to these and other expensive residential developments, Steglitz-Zehlendorf is today the wealthiest of the twelve Berlin boroughs.

The highest point in Steglitz is a hill called Fichtenberg, 68 m (223 ft) high.

Steglitz is home to the second largest shopping district in Berlin (around Schlosstrasse)and houses a large university hospital, the Benjamin Franklin Klinikum, which was built from 1958-1964 on a large campus on Hindenburgdamm. The buildings were conceived by American and German architects.

Steglitz is twinned with Qiryat Bialik in Israel.

[edit] History

1197 - Knight Henricus of Steglitz mentioned.
1375 - Village of Steglitz mentioned in the annals of Karl IV.
1860 - The two Villenkolonien in the neighbour village of Lichterfelde are founded by the entrepreneur Johann Von Carstenn.
1872 or 1873 - The settlement of Südende is founded.
1878 - the Prussian Hauptkadettenanstalt / Imperial Cadett School moves to new buildings in neighbouring Lichterfelde West.
1881 The world's first electrical tram connects the Hauptkadettenanstalt to the Lichterfelde Ost train station.
1897 to 1909 - The new Berlin Botanical Garden is constructed in the neighbour village of Lichterfelde, close to the Steglitz Schlosstrasse.
1901 - The Wandervogel youth group is founded in the basement of the Steglitz government house.
1920 - Incorporation into Berlin proper.

[edit] Points of interest

The Bierpinsel.

Berlin Botanical Garden and Museum

Gutshaus Steglitz, an architecturally interesting building which houses a music theater, the Schlossparktheater (English: Castle Park Theater). [Gutshaus:[1]
Schloßstrasse (English: Castle Street), a large shopping area
Steglitz City Hall [Steglitz Rathaus:[2]
Villenkolonie Lichterfelde West, historical district of 19th century mansion houses and cobbled streets
Federal Institute for Material Research and Testing (German: Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung)
Benjamin Franklin Campus of the Free University of Berlin

[Rosenkranz Basilica:[3],[4]