Grunewald () is a locality within the

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf 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. Overview Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf covers the ...

. Until 2001 administrative reform it was part of the former district of

Wilmersdorf Wilmersdorf () is an inner-city locality of Berlin which lies south-west of the central city. Formerly a borough by itself, Wilmersdorf became part of the new Boroughs of Berlin, borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf following Berlin's 2001 admin ...

. Grunewald forest lies partly within the locality and is Berlin's largest green area. Next to

Lichterfelde West Lichterfelde West is part of Lichterfelde (Berlin), Lichterfelde in the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough of Berlin. It is known for its historic mansions, tree-lined streets and green squares. Next to Dahlem (Berlin), Dahlem and Grunewald (locality), G ...

, Dahlem and Westend, it is part of the affluent Berlin "Villenbogen", a row of suburbs completely made up of 19th century mansions.

Geography

The locality is situated in the western side of the city and is separated from

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs of Berlin, boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence (geography), confluence of the Havel and Spree (river), Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smalle ...

by the river

Havel The Havel () is a river in northeastern Germany, flowing through the States of Germany, states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. The long Havel is a right tributary of the Elbe. However, the direct distance from ...

. It borders with the localities of Westend,

Halensee 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 Gre ...

, Schmargendorf, Wilhelmstadt, Gatow (both in Spandau district), Nikolassee, Zehlendorf and Dahlem (all three in

Steglitz-Zehlendorf Steglitz-Zehlendorf () is the sixth Boroughs of Berlin, borough of Berlin, formed in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by merging the former boroughs of Steglitz and Zehlendorf, Berlin, Zehlendorf. Home to the Free University of Berlin, the Be ...

district). The Grunewald forest is 10 km away from

Berlin-Mitte Mitte (; German for "middle" or "center") is a central section () of Berlin, Germany, in the eponymous Boroughs of Berlin, borough () of Mitte. Until 2001, it was itself an autonomous district. Mitte proper comprises the historic center of Old ...

History

Etymology

The name derives from the Grunewald hunting lodge of 1543, the oldest preserved castle in Berlin, which is, however, officially located within the adjacent Dahlem locality. It was erected in an Early

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

style by order of Elector Joachim II Hector of Brandenburg and named ''Zum Gruenen Wald'', the umlaut spelt with a following "e" instead of a

diacritic A diacritic (also diacritical mark, diacritical point, diacritical sign, or accent) is a glyph added to a letter or to a basic glyph. The term derives from the Ancient Greek (, "distinguishing"), from (, "to distinguish"). The word ''diacrit ...

as depicted above the main entrance. A corduroy road leading from the Berlin Stadtschloss to the lodge was laid out, which later would be known as the Kurfürstendamm boulevard.

Overview

The neighbourhood developed out of a so-called "mansion colony" at the western end of the Kurfürstendamm. Promoted by

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

, Grunewald was found to be a preferred residential area from the 1880s onward. Grunewald was incorporated into Greater Berlin in 1920. Today, the social structure of Grunewald is still influenced by these origins. The Rot-Weiss Tennis Club, home of the

WTA Tour The WTA Tour (also known as the Hologic WTA Tour for sponsorship reasons) is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women and organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125 series, and third-tier is the ITF Wome ...

German Open, has been located in the district since 1897. On 24 June 1922 Foreign Minister of Germany

Walther Rathenau Walther Rathenau (; 29 September 1867 – 24 June 1922) was a German industrialist, writer and politician who served as foreign minister of Germany from February 1922 until his assassination in June 1922. Rathenau was one of Germany's leading ...

was assassinated by ultra-nationalist radicals of the Organisation Consul in a curve of the main street called ''Koenigsallee.'' A memorial stone marks the scene of the crime. Since 1981 the Grunewald district is the home of the

Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin The Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin () is an interdisciplinary institute founded in 1981 in Grunewald (locality), Grunewald, Berlin, Germany, dedicated to research projects in the natural and social sciences. It is modeled after the orig ...

. It also houses the embassies of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. Within the Grunewald forest lies the artificial Teufelsberg hill, once a listening station of the US

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

. On the shore of the Havel, the Grunewaldturm, built by

Franz Heinrich Schwechten Franz Heinrich Schwechten (12 August 1841 – 11 August 1924) was one of the most famous German architects of the Wilhelmine era, and contributed to the development of historicist architecture. Life Schwechten was born in Cologne, the son of ...

in 1898, offers views over the

Havelland Geographically, the Havelland () is the region around which the River Havel flows in a U-shape between Oranienburg to the northeast and Rhinow to the northwest. The northern boundary of the Havelland is formed by the River Rhin and the Rhin Cana ...

region.

Deportation memorial

Bahnhof Berlin-Grunewald Messingplakette am Mahnmal Gleis 17 mit Trauerkranz

Between October 1941 and February 1945 more than 50,000 Jews were deported by German

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

to extermination camps from the Grunewald freight railway station and murdered. Memorials from the district of

and the

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

("Gleis 17") commemorate this spot in Grunewald's history. The area is accessible by the Berlin-Grunewald station.

Transport

Grunewald railway station is served by the S7 line of the Berlin S-Bahn, which connects the locality to Berlin Mitte, Ahrensfelde and

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

. One of Germany's busiest freeways, the AVUS

Autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...

, runs through the locality and was used as a marathon and bike path during the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

Notable residents

* Fritz Ascher, Bismarckallee 26 * Berthold Auerbach, Auerbacher Straße *

Ingeborg Bachmann Ingeborg Bachmann (; 25 June 1926 – 17 October 1973) was an Austrian poet and author. She is regarded as one of the major voices of German-language literature in the 20th century. In 1963, she was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature b ...

, Hasensprung 2, Koenigsallee 35 * Vicki Baum, Koenigsallee 43–45 *

Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin ( ; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German-Jewish philosopher, cultural critic, media theorist, and essayist. An eclectic thinker who combined elements of German idealism, Jewish mysticism, Western M ...

, Delbrückstraße 23 *

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Dietrich Bonhoeffer (; 4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, neo-orthodox theologian and anti-Nazi dissident who was a key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity's role in the s ...

, Wangenheimstraße 14 *

Arno Breker Arno Breker (19 July 1900 – 13 February 1991) was a German sculptor who is best known for his public works in Nazi Germany, where he was endorsed by the authorities as the antithesis of degenerate art. He was made official state sculptor, ...

, Koenigsallee 65 *

Isadora Duncan Angela Isadora Duncan (May 26, 1877, or May 27, 1878 – September 14, 1927) was an American-born dancer and choreographer, who was a pioneer of modern contemporary dance and performed to great acclaim throughout Europe and the United States. Bor ...

Lion Feuchtwanger Lion Feuchtwanger (; 7 July 1884 – 21 December 1958) was a German Jewish novelist and playwright. A prominent figure in the literary world of Weimar Republic, Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht. ...

, Regerstraße * Samuel von Fischer, Erdener Straße 8 *

Carl Fürstenberg Carl Fürstenberg (28 August 1850 – 9 February 1933) was one of the most prominent German bankers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and was responsible for the revival of the German mining industry during his era. B ...

, Koenigsallee 53 *

Maximilian Harden __NOTOC__ Maximilian Harden (born Felix Ernst Witkowski, 20 October 1861 – 30 October 1927) was an influential German journalist and editor. Biography Born the son of a Jewish merchant in Berlin, he attended the '' Französisches Gymnasium'' ...

, Wernerstraße 16 *

Gerhart Hauptmann Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of Naturalism (literature), literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into h ...

, Trabener Straße, Hubertusallee *

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...

, Hagenstraße 22 * Engelbert Humperdinck, Trabener Straße *

Harald Juhnke Harald Juhnke (, born Harry Heinz Herbert Juhnke, 10 June 1929 – 1 April 2005), was a German actor, comedian, and singer. Life and career Juhnke was born in Berlin-Charlottenburg. His father was a police officer and his mother came from a ...

, Richard-Strauss-Straße 26, Lassenstraße 1 *

Helmut Käutner Helmut Käutner (25 March 1908 – 20 April 1980) was a German film director active mainly in the 1940s and 1950s. He entered the film industry at the end of the Weimar Republic and released his first films as a director in Nazi Germany. Käu ...

, Koenigsallee 18g * Alfred Kerr, Gneiststraße 9, Höhmannstraße 6, Douglasstraße 10 * Harry Graf Kessler, Höhmannstraße 6 *

Hildegard Knef Hildegard Frieda Albertine Knef (; 28 December 19251 February 2002) was a German actress, singer, and writer. She was billed in some English-language films as Hildegard Neff or Hildegarde Neff. Early years Hildegard Knef was born in Ulm in 19 ...

, Bettinastraße 12, Brahmsstraße 12 * Else Lasker-Schüler, Humboldtstraße 13 *

Otto Lessing (sculptor) Otto Lessing (24 February 1846 – 22 November 1912) was a prominent German Historicist (art), Historicist sculptor whose work largely shaped the appearance of Berlin in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was the son of history an ...

, Wangenheimstraße 10 *

Brigitte Mira Brigitte Mira (, 20 April 1910 – 8 March 2005) was a German actress. She worked in both theater and film, and on many occasions, with Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Believed to have been born in Hamburg, she moved when young to Berlin. Mira's moth ...

, Koenigsallee 83 *

Friedrich Olbricht Friedrich Olbricht (4 October 1888 – 21 July 1944) was a German general during World War II. He is known for being one of the plotters involved in the 20 July Plot, an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944. Olbricht was a senior staff o ...

, Wildpfad * Ernst Oppler and Alexander Oppler, Hagenstraße 8 * Max Pechstein, *

Max Planck Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck (; ; 23 April 1858 – 4 October 1947) was a German Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist whose discovery of energy quantum, quanta won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918. Planck made many substantial con ...

, Wangenheimstraße 21 *

, Koenigsallee 65 *

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his radically innovative and avant-gard ...

, Fontanestraße 8 * Ferdinand Sauerbruch, Herthastraße 11 * Ulrich Schamoni, Furtwänglerstraße 19 *

Romy Schneider Rosemarie Magdalena Albach (23 September 1938 – 29 May 1982), known professionally as Romy Schneider (), was a German and French actress. She is regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses of all time and became a cult figure due to ...

, Winkler Straße 22 * Angelika Schrobsdorff, Johannaplatz 3 *

Werner Sombart Werner may refer to: People * Werner (name), origin of the name and people with this name as surname and given name Fictional characters * Werner (comics), a German comic book character * Werner Von Croy, a fictional character in the ''Tomb Rai ...

, Humboldtstraße 35a *

Hermann Sudermann Hermann Sudermann (30 September 1857 – 21 November 1928) was a German dramatist and novelist. Life Early career Sudermann was born at Matzicken, a village to the east of Heydekrug in the Province of Prussia (now Macikai, in southwestern ...

, Bettinastraße 3 * Grethe Weiser, Herthastraße 17a

Forest

The forest of Grunewald, is located mainly in the quarter but also in Nikolassee, Zehlendorf, Dahlem and Westend is, with an area of 3,000 ha, the largest green area in the city of Berlin.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Localities of Berlin * 1880 establishments in Germany