Steglitzer Kreisel

The Steglitzer Kreisel is a striking building complex in Berlin's Steglitz district, located diagonally across from the town hall on Schloßstraße. Built in the 1970s, the structure consists of a 120-meter-tall tower with 30 floors and a base building. The tower was once one of the tallest high-rises in the city and housed the Steglitz-Zehlendorf district office until the end of 2007. Today the base area is home to a BVG bus station with a direct connection to the U-Bahn, a hotel, and a variety of shops, among other things. The site itself has a long history that goes back to the 19th century, when the Albrechtshof, with a restaurant, a theater, and later a movie theater, stood here. The Friedenseiche (Peace Oak), planted in 1871 and now a protected natural monument next to the complex, is a reminder of that era.

The building history of the Kreisel was a turbulent one. After construction began in 1968, the project ran into a financial crisis that led to a halt in the work in 1974. Only in 1980, after an insolvency and further disputes, was the building completed. In the 1990s, asbestos was discovered, requiring a costly renovation. After the district office moved out in 2007, the tower stood empty for a long time, which cost the State of Berlin a great deal of money. Since 2015, the high-rise has been undergoing conversion into a residential building. The plans call for condominiums in the tower, while the base area is to be demolished and replaced with new buildings for retail, offices, and a hotel.

For visitors, the site now offers mainly cultural and urban stimulation. Since early 2024, the base area has been used by the ZiK project as a cultural and family center. Exhibitions, concerts, workshops, and sports activities take place there on roughly 4,500 square meters (about 48,400 square feet), bringing life to a space that previously stood empty. The building also serves at times as a cold-weather shelter. The Steglitzer Kreisel is thus not only an architectural landmark with a checkered past, but also a place of current urban use and cultural activity.