GRUNEWALD AND DAHLEM
Berlin’s green southwest, which includes the districts of Grunewald and Dahlem, is dotted with lakes, rivers, residential villas, private estates and small castles. Grunewald and Dahlem have a charming suburban character that has always drawn affluent and famous Berliners. Visitors can enjoy extensive walks in the Grunewald forest, take a ferry ride across picturesque Wannsee to the romantic ruins at Pfaueninsel or relax at Europe’s largest inland beach. Dahlem’s Museum of Europäischer Kulturen has a terrific collection, while the Haus der Wannsee Konferenz and Alliiertenmuseum recall a more painful period in Berlin’s history.
1. Pfaueninsel
Pfaueninselchaussee • (030) 80 58 68 30 • Open 10am–sunset daily • Adm (castle) • www.spsg.de
Visitors to Pfaueninsel are immediately enchanted by the romantic palace ruins and the eponymous peacocks that run around here. The Wannsee island, which can only be reached by ferry, is one of the most charming spots for a walk in Berlin.
Friedrich Wilhelm II’s charming ruined castle folly on Pfaueninsel
2. Museum Europäischer Kulturen
Arnimallee 25 • Open 10am–5pm Tue–Fri, 11am–6pm Sat & Sun • Adm • www.smb.museum
Out of the three museums in Dahlem, only the Museum of European Cultures will remain once the Museum of Asian Art and the Museum of Ethnology move to the Humboldt Forum, which is due to open in late 2019. The museum’s vast array of objects, including graphic art and jewellery, represent life in Germany and other European countries from the 18th century to the present day.
3. Schloss Glienicke
Königstr. 36 • (0331) 969 42 00 • Open Apr–Oct: 10am–6pm Tue–Sun; Nov, Dec & Mar: 10am–5pm Sat & Sun • Adm • www.spsg.de
One of Berlin’s most beautiful Hohenzollern palaces, the Schloss Glienicke is a romantic castle built by Schinkel in 1824–60. It served as a summer residence for Prince Carl of Prussia. The landscaped garden was designed by Lenné and includes pavilions called “Große” and “Kleine Neugierde” (large and small curiosity), a teahouse and the Orangerie.
Schloss Glienicke, detail
4. Strandbad Wannsee
Wannseebadeweg 25 • (030) 803 54 50 • Call for opening times • Adm
Europe’s largest inland beach (see Großer Wannsee) is a picturesque spot on the edge of the city, attracting up to 40,000 daily visitors. The renovated swimming baths were built in 1929–30 as a recreation area for workers.
White-sand artificial beaches at the beautiful Wannsee lake
5. Gedenkstätte Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz
Am Großen Wannsee 56–58 • (030) 805 00 10 • Open 10am–6pm daily • www.ghwk.de
It is hard to believe that something as abhorrent as the Holocaust could have been planned at this elegant villa. Built by Paul Baumgarten in 1914–15 in Neo-Baroque style for businessman Ernst Marlier, it hosted the Nazi elite, among them the infa-mous Adolf Eichmann, on 20 January 1942. They met to discuss the details of the mass extermination of Jews. An exhibition documents the conference and its consequences, as well as the history of the villa.
6. Alliiertenmuseum
Clayallee 135 • (030) 818 19 90 • Open 10am–6pm Sun–Tue • www.alliiertenmuseum.de/en
This museum recalls the 50 or so years of partnership between West Berliners and the Western Allies. Based in a former US barracks, it uses uniforms, documents, weapons and military equipment to tell the story of Berlin’s post-war history, though not only from the military point of view.
7. Grunewald Villas
Some of Berlin’s most attractive 19th-century villas are found in the streets around the Grunewald S-Bahn station. Especially worth seeing are Nos. 15 and 11 in Winklerstraße, the latter of which was built by Hermann Muthesius in the style of an English country house. Villa Maren at No. 12 is a beautiful example of the Neo-Renaissance style. The villas on Furtwänglerstraße and Toni-Lessler-Straße are also worth a detour.
8. Jagdschloss Grunewald
Hüttenweg 100, Grunewaldsee • (0331) 969 42 00 • Open Apr–Oct: 10am– 6pm Tue–Sun; Nov, Dec & Mar: tours only, 10am–4pm Sat & Sun • Adm • www.spsg.de
This small white 1542 palace is the oldest of its kind in the city area. It was once a hunting lodge for the Electors. Built in the Renaissance and Baroque styles, it holds paintings by Cranach the Elder and 16th–19th-century portraits of Hohenzollern rulers.
9. Museumsdorf Düppel
Clauertstr. 11 • (030) 802 66 71 • Open Apr–Oct: 10am–5pm Sat & Sun • Adm • www.dueppel.de
This lively open-air museum serves as a reminder that Berlin was once a series of villages dating back to the 13th century. Costumed actors enact the daily life of the Middle Ages, with bread-baking, pottery and basket-weaving demonstrations. The gardens are fascinating.
10. Mexikoplatz
Idyllic Mexikoplatz in the southern district of Zehlendorf is one of the most atmospheric and architecturally fascinating squares in Berlin. It is flanked by elegant semicircular Jugendstil apartment blocks, and in front of these stands Berlin’s last remaining Art-Deco-style S-Bahn station. In summer, the buildings’ balconies are richly decked with greenery and flowers. Some of Berlin’s most magnificent mansion houses line Argentinische and Lindenthaler Allee, the streets leading into the magnificent square.
Villas of Mexikoplatz
PRUSSIA AND ANTIQUITY
From 1821, Lenné and Schinkel tried to turn the Potsdam countryside into an “island paradise”. Their idea was based on Classical ideas of the harmonious ensemble of architecture and landscape, in line with the idealized views of antiquity prevalent in the Neo-Classical period. The architectural style of Prussian palaces such as Sanssouci thus harks back to Greek and Roman models and the Italian Renaissance.
A DAY IN THE SOUTHWEST
MORNING
Start your morning walk through Berlin’s southwestern districts by taking the S-Bahn (line S1) to Mexikoplatz. Here you can admire the beautiful villas and the lovely green square before dropping in at Café Krone (No. 2 Argentinische Allee) for a late breakfast. Then take bus No. 118 southwards to the open-air museum Museumsdorf Düppel. From there, take bus No. 115 north to the Alliiertenmuseum. Afterwards, a 20-minute walk through the park opposite leads right up to the beer garden Luise near the Free University, where you may like to have lunch.
AFTERNOON
Resume your explorations with a stop at the Museum Europäischer Kulturen, a 2-minute walk south of the café, or discover exotic flora in the giant greenhouses of the Botanischer Garten, a 20-minute walk east. The seasonal displays are spectacular at any time of year. Then find your way to the Botanischer Garten S-Bahn station to take the train to the Wannsee station, gateway to the sights of southwestern Berlin. When the weather is right, head to the beaches of Strandbad Wannsee. Alternatively, pay a visit to the Gedenkstätte Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz and then admire the park and Schloss Glienicke. After your day out, allow yourself to be tempted by coffee and cake or supper at Restaurant Remise im Schloss Glienicke. Your best option for the return journey is the S-Bahn from Wannsee.
The Best of the Rest
1. Open Air Museum Domäne Dahlem
Königin-Luise-Str. 49 • Open 10am–6pm Mon & Wed–Sun • Adm • www.domaene-dahlem.de
Learn about modern organic farming techniques at this historic working farm.
2. Grunewaldturm
Havelchaussee
This Neo-Gothic brick tower was built in 1897 as a memorial to Kaiser Wilhelm I.
Grunewaldturm
3. Onkel-Tom-Siedlung
Argentinische Allee
The “Uncle Tom’s Hut” settlement, developed in 1926–32 according to designs by Bruno Taut and others, was intended to create a modern housing estate for workers, unlike the narrow and dark old tenement blocks they lived in.
4. Free University
Habelschwerdter Allee 45 • Library: Open 9am–10pm Mon–Fri (until 5pm Sat & Sun)
Berlin’s largest university, founded in 1948 as a rival to the East-Berlin Humboldt University, has a campus covering large parts of Dahlem. It is worth looking at the 1950s Henry-Ford-Bau and the Philological Library, designed by Lord Norman Foster.
Norman Foster’s Philological Library
5. Teufelsberg
Both the hill and the dark green Teufelssee lake are popular destinations for flying kites and biking. Swimming and sunbathing at the lake is mainly nude.
6. Heinrich von Kleist’s Tomb
Bismarckstr. 3, Am Kleinen Wannsee
German playwright Kleist and his companion Henriette Vogel committed suicide by shooting themselves in 1811; they are buried here together (near the S-Bahn overpass).
7. St-Peter-und-Paul-Kirche
Nikolskoer Weg 17 • (030) 805 21 00 • Open 11am–4pm daily
This charming stone church, built in 1834–7 by Stüler, resembles Russian-Orthodox churches and is used for marriage ceremonies.
8. Blockhaus Nikolskoe
Nikolskoer Weg 15 • (030) 805 29 14 • Open 10:30am–6pm daily (summer: until 10pm)
This wooden, Russian-style dacha, built in 1819, was a gift from King Friedrich Wilhelm III to his daughter Charlotte and his son-in-law, the future Tsar Nicholas I. The house is now a restaurant.
9. St-Annen-Kirche
Königin-Luise-Str./Pacelliallee
This 14th-century Gothic church has attractive murals depicting scenes from the life of St Anna, as well as late Gothic figures of saints and a Baroque pulpit.
10. Liebermann-Villa
Colomierstr. 3 • Open summer: 10am–6pm Wed–Mon; winter: 11am–5pm Wed–Mon
The home of Berlin painter Max Liebermann, on the Wannsee shore, is now a museum of his art.
Restaurants
1. Mutter Fourage
Chausseestrasse 15a • (030) 805 23 11 • Open summer: 9am–7pm; winter: 10am–6pm daily • €
Hidden in the yard of a market garden and an atelier, this charming café has a delicious selection of homemade cakes and snacks.
2. Haus Sanssouci
Am Großen Wannsee 60 • (030) 805 30 34 • Open 11:30am–11pm Tue–Sun • €€
Offering great views of Wannsee, this idyllic cottage-style restaurant serves up mostly German food, but it has lobster nights and other specials too.
3. Wirtshaus Schildhorn
Havelchaussee/Straße am Schildhorn 4A • (030) 30 88 35 00 • Open summer: noon–midnight daily; winter: noon–10pm Sat & Sun • €€
In summer enjoy your bratwurst outside, in this picturesque spot on the Havel riverside.
4. Wirtshaus zur Pfaueninsel
Pfaueninselchaussee 100 • (030) 805 22 25 • Open summer: 10am–8pm daily; winter: 10am–6pm Wed–Mon • €
A small venue serving rustic German food in the open air. An ideal place for a break before a Pfaueninsel visit.
5. Alter Krug Dahlem
Königin-Luise-Str. 52 • Open 10am–midnight daily • (030) 832 70 00 • No credit cards • €
Relax in the porch swings of this large beer garden. A barbecue provides the food at mealtimes.
6. Blockhaus Nikolskoe
Nikolskoer Weg 15 • (030) 805 29 14 • Open from 10:30am daily • No credit cards • €€
Traditional German fare in a historic log cabin, built as a Russian dacha.
The Blockhaus Nikolskoe restaurant
7. Luise
Königin-Luise-Str. 40 • (030) 84 18 88 0 • Open 10am–1am daily • €
One of Berlin’s nicest beer gardens, on the Free University campus, Luise’s is always crowded and always has a good atmosphere. Try the delicious salads and sandwiches.
8. Grunewaldturm-Restaurant
Havelchaussee 61 • (030) 41 72 00 01 • Open 10am–7pm daily • €€
This restaurant is a great place to relax after a long hike and enjoy the views of Wannsee.
9. Restaurant Remise im Schloss Glienicke
Königstr. 36 • (030) 805 40 00 • Open Mar–Jan: 11am–late daily • €€
Sophisticated surroundings and cuisine. Fish dishes and salads in summer, game and roasts in winter.
10. Chalet Suisse
Clayallee 99 • (030) 832 63 62 • Open noon–midnight daily • €€
A cosy atmosphere and Swiss hospitality are the order of the day. Local and exquisite Swiss cooking features strongly on the menu.