Zehlendorf is a locality

Boroughs and localities of Berlin

Berlin is both a city and one of Germany’s federal states. It is made up of twelve boroughs , each with its own borough government, though all boroughs are subject to Berlin’s city and state government.-History:Each borough is made up of several officially recognized localities...

 within the borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf

Steglitz-Zehlendorf

Steglitz-Zehlendorf is the sixth borough of Berlin, formed in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by merging the former boroughs of Steglitz and Zehlendorf.-Demographics:...

 in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

. Before Berlin's 2001 administrative reform Zehlendorf was a borough in its own right, consisting of the locality of Zehlendorf as well as Wannsee

Wannsee

Wannsee is a locality in the southwestern Berlin borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Germany. It is the westernmost locality of Berlin. In the quarter there are two lakes, the larger Großer Wannsee and the Kleiner Wannsee , are located on the river Havel and are separated only by the Wannsee bridge...

, Nikolassee

Nikolassee

Nikolassee is a locality of Berlin in the borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf. Until the latter was created in 2001, Nikolassee was part of the borough of Zehlendorf.-History:...

 and Dahlem

Dahlem (Berlin)

Dahlem is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in southwestern Berlin. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a part of the former borough of Zehlendorf. Dahlem is one of the most affluent parts of the city and home to the main campus of the Free University of Berlin with the...

. Zehlendorf contains some of the most remarked upon natural settings in Berlin, including parts of the Grunewald

Grunewald

Grunewald is a locality within the Berliner borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Famous for the homonymous forest, until 2001 administrative reform it was part of the former district of Wilmersdorf.-Geography:The locality is situated in the western side of the city and is separated from...

 forest and the Schlachtensee and Krumme Lanke lakes. Additionally, it has large affluent residential neighborhoods, some with cobblestone

Cobblestone

Cobblestones are stones that were frequently used in the pavement of early streets. "Cobblestone" is derived from the very old English word "cob", which had a wide range of meanings, one of which was "rounded lump" with overtones of large size...

 streets and buildings that are over 100 years old.

History

The village of Zehlendorf was first mentioned as Cedelendorp in a 1245 contract between the Margraves John I and Otto III of Brandenburg

Margraviate of Brandenburg

The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....

 and the Lehnin Abbey

Lehnin Abbey

Lehnin Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery in Lehnin in Brandenburg, Germany. Since 1911 it has accommodated the Luise-Henrietten-Stift, a Protestant women's community.-History:...

. Probably a German foundation, the name Cedelen may refer to a former Slavic settlement from the 7th century, or be a dialect word for "settlement" (modern German Siedlung), or "noble" (Cedelendorp = Cedelen + dorp, "noble village" (see Jahresbericht über die Erscheinungen auf dem Gebiete der germanischen Philologie)

In the affluent and well-educated environment of Zehlendorf, top World War II figures mingled with opponents of the Nazi regime. Express S-Bahn trains, known as the "Banker Trains" whisked them at 120 km/h (74.6 mph) to the financial and government centers until the service was disrupted near the end of World War II.

Subdivision

Zehlendorf is subdivided into 6 zones:

• Düppel
• Schlachtensee-Ost
• Schönow/Zehlendorf-Süd
• Zehlendorf-West
• Zehlendorf-Ost
• Zehlendorf-Nord (Onkel-Tom-Siedlung)

Locale

Visitors can stop at the Dahlem Church, where the vicar, Pastor Martin Niemöller

Martin Niemöller

Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller was a German anti-Nazi theologian and Lutheran pastor. He is best known as the author of the poem "First they came…"....

, served from 1931 through 1937. Niemöller's sermons against the Nazis led to his imprisonment and the publication of them in English during the war helped shape discussion of the nature of National Socialism in Christian circles.

Many walking trips are available in and around Zehlendorf. Popular destinations include the Grunewald trails north from the Onkel Toms Hütte U-Bahn station and neighborhood shopping center, the walk from Krumme Lanke U-Bahn station to the lake of the same name, and the cross-Zehlendorf walk from the end of the U-Bahn at Krumme Lanke to the S-Bahn station in the center of old Zehlendorf. Zehlendorf shopping center has undergone major changes with plenty of new construction centering around the S-Bahn station "Zehlendorf".

When American forces

United States Army Berlin

U.S. Army Berlin was a command of the United States Army created in December 1961 at the height of the Berlin Wall crisis. USAB was a combined command with the Headquarters, U.S. Command Berlin . This combined organization was sometimes called the "Berlin Command". USCOB/USAB was a separate...

 occupied Berlin and later were stationed in Berlin during the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

, Zehlendorf with the "Steuben Barracks", Dahlem and Lichterfelde

Lichterfelde

Lichterfelde may refer to:* Berlin Lichterfelde* Lichterfelde West elegant residential area in Berlin* the municipality of Lichterfelde, Saxony-Anhalt in the Stendhal District, Germany* VfB Lichterfelde...

 were the areas where most of those forces were centered, including the Berlin Brigade

Berlin Brigade

After the end of World War II, under the conditions of the Yalta and Potsdam agreements, Allied forces occupied West Berlin. This occupation lasted throughout the Cold War...

 stationed at the McNair Barracks

Mcnair Barracks

The McNair Barracks was a US Army installation in Lichterfelde, a locality in southwest Berlin, Germany. The barracks were named after Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair, an American Army officer who served in World War I and World War II and was killed in an infamous friendly fire incident on...

. The U.S. Consulate is still located in Dahlem and one can usually see a line of German citizens waiting in line to enter the facility. Zehlendorf is also home to the John F. Kennedy School

John F. Kennedy School, Berlin

The John F. Kennedy School is a primary and secondary school in Berlin, Germany. It was established in 1960 under the name "German-American Community School" as a school offering integrated, bilingual education for both German and American pupils, to foster cultural exchange between young natives...

, an international school and one of the several campuses of the Free University of Berlin

Free University of Berlin

Freie Universität Berlin is one of the leading and most prestigious research universities in Germany and continental Europe. It distinguishes itself through its modern and international character. It is the largest of the four universities in Berlin. Research at the university is focused on the...

 (FU), Berlin's largest university. For many years, broken by WW2, there was an annual school exchange between the gymnasium in Zehlendorf and Wallasey Grammar School in the UK. Many lasting friendships were made and the visits of teenage boys to early post war Berlin left deep emotions and must have helped the rehabilitation of Germany to the rest of Europe.

Transportation

There is direct access to the middle of Berlin via road and S-Bahn

Berlin S-Bahn

The Berlin S-Bahn is a rapid transit system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It consists of 15 lines and is integrated with the mostly underground U-Bahn to form the backbone of Berlin's rapid transport system...

. The S1

S1 (Berlin)

The S1 is a line on the Berlin S-Bahn. It operates over:*the Prussian Northern Railway, opened on 10 July 1877 and electrified in 1925,*a short section of the Berlin-Szczecin railway, opened on 1 August 1842 and electrified in 1924,...

 line makes 3 stops in Zehlendorf and runs right through Unter den Linden

Unter den Linden

Unter den Linden is a boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. It is named for its linden trees that line the grassed pedestrian mall between two carriageways....

, where the Brandenburg Gate

Brandenburg Gate

The Brandenburg Gate is a former city gate and one of the most well-known landmarks of Berlin and Germany. It is located west of the city centre at the junction of Unter den Linden and Ebertstraße, immediately west of the Pariser Platz. It is the only remaining gate of a series through which...

 is located. The newer portion of the borough of Zehlendorf developed around extended U-Bahn

Berlin U-Bahn

The Berlin is a rapid transit railway in Berlin, the capital city of Germany, and is a major part of the public transport system of that city. Opened in 1902, the serves 173 stations spread across ten lines, with a total track length of , about 80% of which is underground...

 service in the first third of the 20th Century. It may be reached via the U3

U3 (Berlin U-Bahn)

U3 is a line on the Berlin U-Bahn created in its current version on 12 December 2004. The routing is the same as the previous U2 until 1993, only run from Krumme Lanke to Wittenbergplatz....

 line at the station Onkel Toms Hütte

Onkel Toms Hütte (Berlin U-Bahn)

Onkel Toms Hütte is a Berlin U-Bahn station located in the Zehlendorf district. Since December 12, 2004 it is served by the line.-History:...

 and the terminus Krumme Lanke

Krumme Lanke (Berlin U-Bahn)

Krumme Lanke is a Berlin U-Bahn station on the . It is the line's southwestern terminus, located in the Zehlendorf district of Berlin.-Overview:The station, named after a nearby lake in the Grunewald forest, opened on December 22, 1929...

.

The Bundesstraße 1

Bundesstraße 1

The Bundesstraße 1 or B1 is a German federal highway running in an east-west direction from the Dutch border near Aachen to the Polish border at Küstrin-Kietz on the Oder River.-Route description:...

 federal highway runs through the locality along the streets Berliner Straße, Potsdamer Straße and Potsdamer Chaussee. Zehlendorf has also access to the A 115 Autobahn (the former AVUS

AVUS

The Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungs-Straße, better known as AVUS, is a public road that was also used as a motor racing circuit. It is located in the south-western districts of Berlin, Germany, between Charlottenburg and Nikolassee, and is nowadays an important part of the public highway system, as...

 racing track) at the Hüttenweg junction

Junction (traffic)

A junction, when discussed in the context of transport, is a location where traffic can change between different routes, directions, or sometimes modes, of travel.-Historical significance:...

.

External links

• "VSWB" English language page from German site on rails and other transport modes of Southwest Berlin.
• "Berlin 1969" From the American era.