Halensee

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  Sunbathers lie on a meadow at Halensee with the Berlin radio tower in the background.

• A woman swims with a duck in Halensee lake.

• 30 June 2018, Berlin: A family of swans swims on Halensee lake.

• An empty S-Bahn stands at the Halensee S-Bahn station in Berlin on Thursday (Dec. 15, 2011).

• South ring bend of the S-Bahn with view of radio tower and ICC

Halensee is located at the western end of the Ku'damm and is a district of old buildings with some magnificent architecture. It takes its name from the body of water of the same name.

After Hansaviertel, Halensee is the smallest neighborhood of Berlin. It was established between the end of the 19th century and 1914. During that time, mainly villas and tenement houses were built, many of which are still preserved today. The gaps between buildings, which were torn in the hail of bombs during the Second World War, were filled mainly with social housing.

Halensee Lake

The district of Berlin-Halensee is named after the body of water of the same name. Today, however, the lake is located in the neighboring district of Grunewald. Halensee lake is the most central bathing lake of Berlin and belongs to the Grunewald lake chain. It is lined by private properties almost everywhere. Public access is only available at the southern tip and on the northern shore. For a long time, bathing in Halensee lake was prohibited because rainwater was piped directly from the street into the lake. Thanks to a new filtering system, swimming in Halensee lake is allowed again, but only in the outdoor pool. However, the area is always good for extensive sunbathing.

Kurfürstendamm and Westfälische Straße

Halensee residents do their shopping on Kurfürstendamm and on Westfälische Straße. The so-called Ku'damm, which is only partly located in Halensee, probably needs no further introduction. Westfälische Straß perhaps does. This busy street is home to many small retail stores, cafés and restaurants. It is the main shopping street of the Halensee area.

Traffic in Halensee

Ku'damm and Westfälische Straße already offer an indication of the high traffic density in Halensee. Several bus lines serve the neighborhood. The high amount of through traffic towards the city highway, with access to the Funkturm interchange and to the Grunewald forest, does the rest. The Ringbahn and the Stadtbahn also pass through the district. The advantage of all this: Halensee has excellent traffic connections.