City West (formerly known as Neuer Westen ("New West") or Zooviertel ("Zoo Quarter")) is an area in the western part of central Berlin. It is one of Berlin's main commercial areas, and was the commercial centre of former West Berlin when the city was divided by the Berlin Wall.
The area stretches from the localities of Charlottenburg and Wilmersdorf in the west to Schöneberg and Tiergarten in the east. It is located southwest of the central Mitte locality and the Großer Tiergarten park, along Kurfürstendamm and Tauentzienstraße, two leading shopping streets meeting at Breitscheidplatz, where the landmark of the ruined Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church rises.
The major part belongs to the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough, while the eastern half of Tauentzienstraße with the famous Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe) department store on Wittenbergplatz belongs to Tempelhof-Schöneberg. The adjacent streets of Tiergarten in the northeast since 2001 are part of the Mitte borough.
City West started developing in the Wilhelmine era from about 1895 onwards as a commercial and entertainment centre of the German Empire's capital, in addition to the historical centre in Mitte. At that time, Charlottenburg, Schöneberg and Wilmersdorf still were towns in their own right, rivalling with Berlin for locational advantages. The KaDeWe opened in 1907 competed with the Wertheim and Tietz department stores on Leipziger Straße in Mitte. Likewise, the Theater des Westens opened in 1896 or the Romanisches Café from 1916 were newly established cultural institutions.
In the time of the Weimar Republic after World War I, the New West incorporated by the 1920 Greater Berlin Act became synonymous to the Golden Twenties. Large cinemas like the Ufa-Palast am Zoo opened, then the main locations of German film, accompanied by a lively variety and Kabarett scene, while in 1928 Max Reinhardt took over the Kurfürstendamm theatres in the rooms of the former Berlin Secession. Shortly afterwards, first antisemitic encroachments occurred on Jewish residents and shopkeepers, culminating in the Kristallnacht pogrom of 1938.
After World War II and the division of Germany the area around the Zoologischer Garten railway station developed to the West Berlin city centre in the Cold War era. The process was reinforced by the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, followed by the opening of the Europa-Center high-rise on Breitscheidplatz two years later. After the German reunification in 1990, the central administrative functions of reunified Berlin are today again located in Mitte. Nevertheless, City West has struggled to maintain its status as "second centre" and one of the main commercial areas of the city beside Alexanderplatz, Friedrichstraße and Potsdamer Platz, stressing its distinct boulevard character and the exclusive range of items. Recent building projects like the Zoofenster document these efforts.
The Kurfürstendamm is one of the most famous avenues in Berlin. The street takes its name from the former Kurfürsten (prince-electors) of Brandenburg. The broad, long boulevard can be considered the Champs-Élysées of Berlin and is lined with shops, houses, hotels and restaurants. In particular, many fashion designers have their shops there, as well as several car manufacturers' show rooms.
Mitte is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding.
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf is the fourth borough of Berlin, formed in an administrative reform with effect from 1 January 2001, by merging the former boroughs of Charlottenburg and Wilmersdorf.
Charlottenburg is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Prussia, it is best known for Charlottenburg Palace, the largest surviving royal palace in Berlin, and the adjacent museums.
Tempelhof-Schöneberg is the seventh borough of Berlin, formed in 2001 by merging the former boroughs of Tempelhof and Schöneberg. Situated in the south of the city it shares borders with the boroughs of Mitte and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg in the north, Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Steglitz-Zehlendorf in the west as well as Neukölln in the east.
Tiergarten is a locality within the borough of Mitte, in central Berlin (Germany). Notable for the great and homonymous urban park, before German reunification, it was a part of West Berlin. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, Tiergarten was also the name of a borough (Bezirk), consisting of the current locality (Ortsteil) of Tiergarten plus Hansaviertel and Moabit. A new system of road and rail tunnels runs under the park towards Berlin's main station in nearby Moabit.
U1 is a line on the Berlin U-Bahn, which is 8.8 kilometres (5.5 mi) long and has 13 stations. Its traditional line designation was BII. It runs east–west and its eastern terminus is Warschauer Straße S-Bahn station where it connects to the Schlesische Bahn. From there it runs through Kreuzberg via Gleisdreieck and Wittenbergplatz on to the Kurfürstendamm.
Grunewald is a locality (Ortsteil) within the Berlin borough (Bezirk) of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Famous for the homonymous forest, until 2001 administrative reform it was part of the former district of Wilmersdorf.
Breitscheidplatz is a major public square in the inner city of Berlin, Germany. Together with the Kurfürstendamm boulevard, it marks the centre of former West Berlin and the present-day City West. It is named after Rudolf Breitscheid.
The Greater Berlin Act, officially Law Regarding the Creation of the New Municipality of Berlin, was a law passed by the Prussian state government in 1920, which greatly expanded the size of the Prussian and German capital of Berlin.
Tauentzienstraße is a major shopping street in the City West area of Berlin, Germany. With a length of about 500 m (1,600 ft), it runs between two important squares, Wittenbergplatz in the east and Breitscheidplatz in the west, where it is continued by the Kurfürstendamm boulevard. While the eastern half belongs to the Schöneberg district, the western part is in Charlottenburg.
Wittenbergplatz is a square in the central Schöneberg district of Berlin, Germany. One of the main plazas in the "City West" area, it is known for the large Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe) department store on its southwestern side.
Halensee is a locality (Ortsteil) of Berlin in the district (Bezirk) of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Halensee was established as a villa and tenement settlement in about 1880, in the suburb of Wilmersdorf, which became part of Greater Berlin in 1920. In 2004, Halensee became its own Ortsteil. With an area of 1.27 km2 it is the smallest Ortsteil in Berlin after Hansaviertel.
Charlottenburg-Nord is a locality (Ortsteil) in the northern part of the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough of Berlin, Germany. It is chiefly composed of after-war housing estates, allotment gardens and commercial zones. The locality comprises the Großsiedlung Siemensstadt, part of the Berlin Modernism Housing Estates UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as Plötzensee Prison.
Charlottenburg Town Hall is an administrative building situated in the Charlottenburg locality of Berlin in Germany. It was built between 1899 and 1905 at the behest of the then independent city of Charlottenburg in the Prussian province of Brandenburg.
Berlin is recognized as a world city of culture and creative industries. Numerous cultural institutions, many of which enjoy international reputation are representing the diverse heritage of the city. Many young people, cultural entrepreneurs and international artists continue to settle in the city. Berlin has established itself as a popular nightlife and entertainment center in Europe.
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million people, Berlin is the most populous city proper, the sixth most populous urban area in the European Union, and the largest German city.
Berlin's history has left the city with an eclectic assortment of architecture. The city's appearance in the 21st century has been shaped by the key role the city played in Germany's 20th-century history. Each of the governments based in Berlin—the Kingdom of Prussia, the 1871 German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, East Germany and the reunified Federal Republic of Germany—initiated ambitious construction programs, with each adding its distinct flavour to the city's architecture.
The Café des Westens, on No.18/19 Kurfürstendamm in Berlin, was a coffeehouse which operated from 1898 to 1915, and became famous as a meeting place for turn of the century artists. It was known colloquially as Café Größenwahn; the German Größenwahn meaning "delusions of grandeur".
