The Bavarian Quarter

The Bavarian Quarter

Within walking distance of the Hotel Schöneberg is the Schöneberg City Hall. The stately Bavarian Quarter extends from here to the KaDeWe department store on Tauentzienstrasse.

History of the quarter

It was built between 1900 and 1914 and was intended to attract a financially strong, upper-middle-class public to Schöneberg, which was independent at the time. The elegant house facades in particular characterize the neighborhood. The luxurious apartments, up to 250 square meters in size, were equipped with elevators and hot water systems. Wide, open squares and front gardens provided green places for recreation. Even today, the neighborhood is one of the most sought-after residential locations in western Berlin.
The first residents were mainly intellectuals and artists, doctors, lawyers and civil servants. Among them were numerous celebrities such as Albert Einstein, Gottfried Benn and Alfred Kerr.
In particular, the liberal Jewish middle classes settled. In 1933, around 16,000 Jews lived in Schöneberg, many of them in the Bayerisches Viertel.

Nazi past

During the Nazi era, thousands of Schöneberg residents of Jewish faith were disenfranchised, expelled and deported.

Dealing with these events is now deeply anchored in the culture of the neighborhood. The decentralized memorial “Places of Remembrance,” erected in 1993 by Renata Stih and Frieder Schnock, deserves special attention. On a total of 80 signs (each with text and images) are printed the excerpts from the laws that legitimized the gradual exclusion of Jewish fellow citizens.

Bavarian Square

The “Café Haberland” on Bayerischer Platz also offers the opportunity to immerse yourself in the history of the neighborhood.
The square itself was built in 1908 according to plans by garden architect Fritz Encke, who had previously designed the beautiful Viktoria-Luise-Platz. This is also located in the neighborhood.
Bayerischer Platz is strictly geometrically laid out with green spaces, trees and park benches. Since its redesign in 1958, it has been adorned with a roaring bronze lion – a gift from the Free State of Bavaria.
In addition to history and architecture, the Bavarian Quarter impresses with a variety of culinary and cultural options, such as a visit to the chocolate manufactory “Das süße Leben” (Salzburger Straße) or a lustful browse in the “Buchladen Bayerischer Platz” (Grunewaldstraße).

Picture Copyright: Von Marek Śliwecki – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0