Discover your neighbourhood: Berlin Tempelhof-Schöneberg

Unconventional, colourful, vibrant: Discover 9 spots in your new neighbourhood Berlin Tempelhof Schöneberg.

Marle

5 minute read

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Updated on 5 Aug 2024

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Living

The neighbourhood of Berlin Schöneberg's just as vibrant and diverse as the locals themselves. Any internationals who mingle with the hustle and bustle in one of the most lively and beautiful districts reap the rewards: you can get to anywhere in no time, whether you're in the countryside or in the middle of the buzz.

The name gives the best away: Berlin Schöneberg (meaning ‘beautiful hill’) features plenty of beautiful spots, from Nollendorfplatz to Winterfeldtplatz. As an international in Berlin Schöneberg, you'll find them right on your doorstep.

We made our way through the streets of the Akazienkiez in Berlin Tempelhof Schöneberg, over to Motzstraße and made a detour at Tempelhofer Feld and discovered 11 spots worth checking out as a newcomer to Berlin Tempelhof Schöneberg.

Ask a Berliner to describe the Tempelhof-Schöneberg neighbourhood in one word, and the answer will probably be: unconventional.

Along Motzstraße and Nollendorfplatz, small boutiques, delicatessens and cafés line up next to each other, and there and around Viktoria-Luise-Platz, the Regenbogenkiez (Rainbow district) has established itself as a true gay community in Berlin.

Every year, on a weekend in the summer, the Lesbisch-Schwulen Stadtfest (Lesbian-Gay City Festival) takes place there, attracting a colourful crowd with a blend of information, show stages, and snack and sales stalls.

To the east, Berlin Schöneberg sits shoulder to shoulder with the neighbourhood in Kreuzberg, to the west with Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, while the north borders on the chic area in Tiergarten. But what exactly belongs to Berlin Tempelhof Schöneberg?

There are 6 districts in Berlin Schöneberg Tempelhof

• Schöneberg
• Friedenau
• Tempelhof
• Mariendorf
• Marienfelde
• Lichtenrade

And even though Berliners could spread out over six districts, more than a 3rd of the population lives in Berlin Schöneberg.

Unconventional, colourful, full of life: things never get boring in Berlin Schöneberg Tempelhof. In the Regenbogenkiez you can absorb the joie de vivre while discerning shoppers live out their shopping whims in the Kaufhaus des Westen (KaDeWe). Over on Potsdamer Straße, Turkish eateries and grocery shops line up next to original galleries, and delicatessens and small cafés await you on Goltzstraße and Akazienstraße.

In Berlin Schöneberg and Tempelhof, however, there are 9 places that you, as an international, should not miss in your new Berlin neighbourhood.

Watching the sunset over Berlin with a glass of wine, that's what it's all about. As romantic as that sounds, the Gasometer is an unconventional and typically Berlin Schönebergian place.

If you can easily walk a few stairs to watch the sunrise or sunset over the rooftops, you should take a tour of the Gasometer in Schöneberg. Spoiler: Fear of heights has no place here. After 420 metal steps (yes, we counted!) you have a view over the roofs of Berlin 78 metres above the ground. In summer you can book a tour for up to 9 people, which then rewards you with 80 minutes of the most beautiful views.

From the Gasometer, it's back down to earth and to the next must-do on our list: Schöneberg Town Hall. Have you seen Schöneberg station from above? Then walk in this direction and along Dominicusstraße, and you'll be standing in front of Schöneberg Town Hall.

Why not give your room in Berlin Schöneberg an individual vintage touch? On John-F.-Kennedy-Platz, where history was once made, you can now trade your vintage pieces down to €1. At the flea market at Rathaus Schöneberg, bargain hunters and antique lovers can decorate their flats with second-hand items.

With your hands full, you can enjoy a little art and culture after the shopping frenzy. Luckily, all you have to do is walk up Belziger Straße until you reach the Art Gallery in Berlin Schöneberg.

An array of black and white photographs adorns the Hilaneh of Kories Gallery, where, amidst the work of first-class photographers such as Stephan Vanfleteren and Dana Gluckstein, young up-and-coming talents such as street photographer Vivian Maier can also be found.

In the gallery visit of Hilaneh von Kories from Hamburg, you come across photographs by German and international photographers; sometimes black-and-white shots from the 1950s in New York, another time she dedicates exhibitions to refugees in Greece.

Passing fitness studios and ice cream parlours, you turn left onto Golzstraße.

To peek behind the closed windows, you have to knock on the door. Then you walk straight into the golden era between colourful Art Deco tiles and crumpled Chesterfield sofas.

The bar manages to strike a balance between urban edginess and bourgeois glamour, taking its guests back in cocktail history with its alcoholic evergreens as they passed over the counters in the 20s and 30s. Does it surprise you that the Salut! Bar was named one of the world's best bars in 2016?

Back to the present, it's off to open-air shopping, just up the road behind the Kirchengarten on Winterfeldtplatz.

Some soil is shaken off the colourful red, orange and yellow carrots, the colourful wildflower mix is wrapped in paper. On the border of Wilmersdorf and Kreuzberg, Schöneberg is home to Berlin's largest weekly market: the Winterfeldtplatz weekly market, where you can grab high-quality fruit and vegetables with a coffee in hand and pick out your favourite among a variety of cheeses.

With colourful cut flowers under your arm, it's time for a round of unwinding. Where, if not in a hammam? It's just up Winterfeldtstraße, hidden in a backyard on Bülowstraße.

Give your face a fresh glow with a facial treatment and let your body recharge its batteries in the Turkish bath. Promise: after a few hours in the Turkish bath, you'll feel as if you've been reborn. At the Sultan Hamam, pure bathing culture is highly praised, so here you'll find an authentic Hamam bath without pseudo chichi.

With a fresh mind, head into the colourful world of street art on Bülowstraße.

Art, and it’s open to everyone. Berlin without street art would be one thing above all: grey. Concrete blocks are covered with street art all over the city and on Bülowstraße an art exhibition has been created in a public space: the up and coming urban artist Yasha Young dresses up house façades and shop windows with her urban art. A free art gallery? Why not!

Speaking of urban life, let's jump straight into the next stop. Grab a rented bike and ride through the Bergmannkiez, where you're almost in Kreuzberg. In the middle of Volkspark, you'll find the Floating University Berlin. Floating, huh? You'll see in a moment.

What if...? Many internationals come to Berlin with a vision, be it to develop their personal skills or to plant ideas in a start-up. And so the scientists at the Floating University in Berlin set about creating new visions of the future. In their offshore laboratory raumlabors, students and teachers from 20 different universities are working on new visions for urban life from April to September.

Then it's off to Tempelhofer Feld, just next door.

What is there that you can't do on the Tempelhofer Feld? As you stroll across the huge grounds, roller skaters brush past you, wind skaters jet close with their sails next to each other and others let the afternoon sun splash into their faces over a beer.

On the Neukölln side of Tempelfhofer Feld, a community garden of self-built wooden raised beds with vegetables and flowers is growing and thriving. Do you have a green thumb? Then this will make your green heart beat faster.

But more in the mood for Tocotronic and Arctic Monkeys? Between Tempelhof and Kreuzberg is the Columbiahalle, where you'll find comedy shows to sporting events, trade fairs and concerts.

Now, when are you heading off to your new neighbourhood Berlin Tempelhof Schöneberg? One thing's for sure, you can't get bored here.

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