Westend | |
|---|---|
 Steubenplatz with equestrian statue byLouis Tuaillon | |
Location of Westend in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Berlin
| |
 Location of Westend | |
  Westend  Westend | |
| Coordinates:52°31′00″N13°17′00″E / 52.51667°N 13.28333°E /52.51667; 13.28333 | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Berlin |
| City | Berlin |
| Borough | Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf |
| Founded | 1866 |
| Area | |
• Total | 13.5 km2 (5.2 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 52 m (171 ft) |
| Population (2023-12-31)[1] | |
• Total | 40,951 |
| • Density | 3,030/km2 (7,860/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 14050, 14052, 14053, 14055, 14057, 14059 |
| Vehicle registration | B |
Westend (German:[ˈvɛstʔˈɛnt]ⓘ) is alocality of theBerlin boroughCharlottenburg-Wilmersdorf inGermany. It emerged in the course of Berlin's 2001 administrative reform on the grounds of the formerCharlottenburg borough. Originally a mansion colony, it is today a quite densely settled, still affluent territory adjacent to Berlin'sinner city in the east.
Westend is situated west of Berlin'sinner city on Spandauer Berg, the northern peak of the sandyTeltow plateau between the river valleys ofSpree andHavel. It is centered onTheodor-Heuss-Platz, a large square, from where theHeerstraße arterial road, part of theBundesstraße 2 andBundesstraße 5 highways, runs west towards the Berlin city limits. In the west and north, Westend borders on the BerlinSpandau borough.
The locality also includes the neighbourhoods of Neu-Westend and Ruhleben, asuburban housing area of the 1920s. The site of the formerRuhleben internment camp, aWorld War I detention camp for civilians, today is part of the adjacentSpandau district. Furthermore, the areas of Pichelsberg, Heerstraße and Eichkamp at the northern rim of theGrunewald forest belong to Westend. It is also home of theMesse Berlin exhibition grounds (where theInternational Green Week and theInternationale Funkausstellung are held) and of theOlympiastadion built for the1936 Summer Olympics.
When upon the 1806Battle of Jena–Auerstedt victoriousNapoleon moved into Berlin, he had amilitary camp set up on Spandauer Berg, though he himself chose nearbyCharlottenburg Palace for accommodation. In May 1808 GeneralClaude Victor-Perrin, French governor of Berlin, pitched the largeCamp Napoleonbourg here, however, he folded up his tents already in November and wasteland was left behind. On the road from Charlottenburg to Spandau, theSpandauerBock brewery was established in 1840, together with a popular pub catering though of doubtful reputation.
TheVillenkolonie Westend was developed from 1866 on as a residential area for the wealthy bourgeoisie of Berlin and named after theWest End of London. The beginnings, overshadowed by theAustro-Prussian War, were quite modest and the first land settlement company around the Stettin merchantJohannes Quistorp and architectMartin Gropius collapsed in thePanic of 1873. Nevertheless, the development was boosted by Berlin'spopulation pressure after theunification of Germany and similar to other mansion colonies such asLichterfelde West orGrunewald, most of the premises were overbuilt by the end of the century.
The area was connected to theBerlin Ringbahn with the inauguration ofWestend station in 1877.In 1889 aharness racing track opened, which was relocated to Ruhleben in 1908. Westend again became a garrison town, when in the 1890s the 3rd Brigade regiment No. 3 (Königin Elisabeth) barracks of the German2nd Guards Infantry Division were erected on the eastern Spandauer Berg slope. On 8 June 1913, theDeutsches Stadion was inaugurated in the northern Grunewald forest, designated as venue of the1916 Summer Olympics that were never held due to World War I and later rebuilt as Olympiastation.
|
|
Westend is served by theBerlin S-BahnRingbahn linesS41,S42 andS46 at the stationsWestend,Messe Nord/ICC andWestkreuz as well as theWestbahn linesS75 andS5 at the stationsMesse Süd,Heerstraße,Olympiastadion (Süd) andPichelsberg. TheSiemensstadt-Fürstenbrunn station is abandoned since 1980.
U-Bahn connection to the inner city is provided by theU2 line with the stationsKaiserdamm,Theodor-Heuss-Platz,Neu-Westend,Olympia-Stadion (Ost) andRuhleben.
TheA100 (Berliner Stadtring)motorway marks Westend's eastern border. The federal highwaysBundesstraße 2 andBundesstraße 5 together run through the locality along the streetsKaiserdamm andHeerstraße. Near the S-Bahn stationMesse Nord/ICC is Berlin's CentralBus stationZentraler Omnibusbahnhof (ZOB).
Media related toWestend at Wikimedia Commons
 Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf (4) | |
|---|---|
 Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg (2) | |
 Lichtenberg (11) | |
 Marzahn-Hellersdorf (10) | |
 Mitte (1) | |
 Neukölln (8) | |
 Pankow (3) | |
 Reinickendorf (12) | |
 Spandau (5) | |
 Steglitz-Zehlendorf (6) | |
 Tempelhof-Schöneberg (7) | |
 Treptow-Köpenick (9) | |
