The Schloßstraße in Steglitz

The Schloßstraße in Berlin Steglitz stretches for approximately 1.7 km between Walther-Schreiber-Platz in the north, where it merges with Rheinstraße, and the junction with Am Fichtenberg in the south, where Schloßstraße merges with Unter den Eichen.

Shopping-Street in Berlin’s South

The Schloßstraße is probably one of the busiest and most popular shopping streets in Berlin. It may not be as well known to tourists and visitors to Berlin as Kurfürstendamm, for example, but it has always been an important shopping street, especially for Berliners from the southern districts of West Berlin. A walk along Schloßstraße may therefore turn into a shopping experience.

I would recommend starting the walk at Walther-Schreiber-Platz. You can travel quite comfortably on the U9 and get off directly at Walther-Schreiber-Platz station. This is where Rheinstraße and Bundesallee meet coming from the north and merge into Schloßstraße, so to speak.

If you look or think to the south, there are still quite a few small stores on the left-hand side, which merge seamlessly from Rheinstraße into Schloßstraße. Kebab stands next to jewelers, hairdressing salons and pharmacies. A very colorful, natural mix, as you would expect in any reasonably well-stocked city center. On the right-hand side, on the other hand, you can see large, flat facades, some of which are quite modern. The Bierpinsel can be seen some distance away on the right. On the left, you can see the Steglitzer Kreisel highrise, which is – or is to be – converted into a residential building for several years.

The Schloss-Straßen-Center has been located directly on the corner of Bundesalle and Walther-Schreiber-Platz since 2007. With a good 16,000 square meters of retail space, it is the smallest of the four shopping centers that can be found along Schloßstraße. Hertie-Kaufhaus used to stand here, followed by Kaufhaus Held until 1973.

Directly behind the Schloss-Straßen-Center, between Bornstraße and Gutsmuthsstraße, is the Forum Steglitz, which was completed in 1970. With a sales area of around 32,000 square meters, it was roughly twice the size of the Schloss-Straßen-Center in 2019. The structure of Forum Steglitz was however fundamentally changed following a conversion, which was completed in 2022. A large part of the retail space was converted into office space – smaller retail areas were merged into larger ones. Back in 2005, a weekly market located at the rear of the shopping center disappeared – now many small stores and businesses have also disappeared in favor of a large supermarket, a DIY store and a fitness center. Of course, there are still a few smaller stores – but the variety that Forum Steglitz had to offer in the 70s and 80s has disappeared.

The next thing you will problably notice is the imposing facade of the Titania Palace. The Titania Palace was built in the 1920s – and you can definitely see that from the facade. Originally, the Titania Palace was a luxury movie theater that could seat almost 2000 people. Unfortunately, the large auditorium no longer exists. Today, the building houses various smaller stores and a modern cinema with seven screens.

…to be continued…

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