Living in Berlin : West Berlin

Living in Berlin Mitte :

Home to the wonderful museum island, Unten den Linden and Alexanderplatz, Mitte is surely one the busiest and most touristic districts in Berlin. Conveniently connected to all parts of the city, Mitte is litteraly at the center of the city. The area around Tiergarten offers a wide choices of residential areas close to major shopping avenues like Kudamm. It also hosts countless start-ups along the Rosenthalerstr. (Silicon Alley) that made the city a prime location for entrepreneurship. The clubs and bars around Oranienburger. and Friedrichstr. offer a slightly more poshy experience than in the rest of the city. Cost of living is also higher.

Move there if : You are going to work with the hot-shots of the start-up scene in Berlin and you don’t feel too comfortable with the alternative atmosphere of some other districts.

Living in Berlin Charlottenburg :

Surely THE upper-end district in Berlin, Charlottenburg is also welcoming students of the nearby Technical University. The area was well preserved of WW2 bombings and many buildings are still showing proud 19th century style. Charlottenburg is also known to be the district where stars come to live in. It’s not rare to bump into celebrities at Savigny-Platz during a hot summer evening. The  Charlottenburg castle and its gardens are not to be missed , same for the memorial church of Kaiser-Wilhelm. It was for a long time the most expensive district for accommodation but is now caught up by Prenzlauer Berg and some parts of Kreuzberg.

Move there if: You are looking for a state of the art upper-end way of life in a quiet residential area.

Living in Berlin Schöneberg

Schöneberg is an interesting district for it’s roughly cut in half with a very active and party-like north and more quiet south part. The northern part is famous for the biggest department store in Europe (KaDeWe) but also for it’s gay-lesbian friendly scene around Fuggerstr., although it’s the case also in the rest of the city. Numerous restaurants, bars and clubs in the area make Schöneberg a popular destination for a night out.

Move there if: You are unsure of the kind of lifestyle you wish for yourself (quiet vs party non stop) or if you are studying in the university around Dahlem.

Living in Berlin Wedding

From all the different waves of gentrification happening in the city, Wedding is probably one of the districts which still got a true working-class feeling. Many of the people who were pushed out of Kreuzberg or Neukölln moved there to find cheaper rents with an equal quality of life. It may not be a hip as other districts but a little crowd of artists or creative heads have moved there. Some are whispering that it might become the new Kreuzberg. A lot of turkish signs however reminds that the area still belongs to the local community. Wedding is also famous through-out the city for the club Stattbad-Wedding, which is a former swimming pool converted in a dance floor. The Humboldthain park and the Pltzensee lake should also not be missed.

Move there if: you are part of the early adopters, eager to discover and change a new district for yourself, or if you want to have a taste of original Berlin.

Living in Berlin Wilmersdorf

Located on between Mitte and Grünewald, Wilmersdorf is offering a lot of prestigious residential areas with good connections to shopping avenues.  The west part brings you to Grunewald, where you will be surprised by the size of the villas there and the quiet forest and lakes.

Move there if: Don’t even think about it, you don’t have the money 😉

All in all, living in Berlin , in its western part is calling out to a slightly less alternative life style than in the eastern districts.