Steglitz

Steglitz is a commercial district built to cater to the wealthy residents who live in nearby Dahlem and Lichterfelde. The residential district is in Suedende (South End), a decent area with villas built during the late 19th century. Steglitz is the location of the municipal hall for the borough of Steglitz; it contains a village church from before Steglitz was integrated into Berlin.

This commercial district speaks to better economic times when Berlin wasn't devastated by war and isolation. The unfinished skeleton of the Steglitzer Kriesel towers over this area—all 400 feet of bare concrete, steel, exposed ducts and wiring. For reasons unknown, construction was abandoned and the tower was just left to the elements. The structure is now slowly being reclaimed by urban decay, trash and graffiti. It makes the residents uneasy; they can't say why—they just know they don't feel safe walking down the streets anymore.

Steglitz is serviced by the U-bahn and numerous bus lines. The businesses here get by with the few customers they still have. Things are falling into disrepair or just not well-looked after. Information about Steglitz is easy to get, available in the form of local advertisements and records from the municipal hall.

## Locations

### Forum Steglitz

The Schlossstrasse is a long road in Steglitz with retail stores and shopping centres. The Forum Steglitz, touted as Berlin's first shopping mall, was built relatively recently and has the blocky, somewhat crude appearance of 70's architecture. Concrete alternates with glass and two rectangular blocks jut out from the rooftop. The facade of the building is covered in advertisements. Inside, the stores offer fashion, accessories, toys, electronics, and other manufactured goods. Stretches of the building are left empty, due to unrented spaces or stores closing down.

### Titania-Palast

* Expression 3

This cinema is situated next to Forum Steglitz, on Schlossstrasse. It is more or less abandoned and narrowly escaped demolition in 1965. Built in 1928, in the New Objectivity style typical of the era, the building is quite large and has two perpendicular wings. It has a central tower and another taller, slim lighting tower with 27 strips of lighting rings. There are also lighting strips at the base—which light up purple, though they haven't for several years. Old movie posters are plastered all along the walls. The floor space is dusty and occupied by retail stores that never seem to be open.

#### Auditorium

Titania-Palast contains this vast auditorium, a remnant from its glory days during the age of silent film. The theatre is designed with clean, curving lines that are continuous from the stage to the balconies to the ceiling above. A semi-circular proscenium arch holds the curtains for the stage, which itself is funnel-shaped, cavernous and deep. Nearly 2000 seats are arranged on the sloping floor. The ceiling light is electric, shaped like one large perfect circle. The air is cold and still, and a fine layer of dust had settled on every exposed surface. The backstage area spans multiple storeys and has not been touched for over a decade.

### Steglitzer Kreisel

The unfinished skeleton of the Steglitzer Kriesel towers over this area—all 400 feet of bare concrete, steel, exposed ducts and wiring. For reasons unknown, construction was abandoned and the tower was just left to the elements. This tower is quite hazardous to traverse—you can walk up the unfinished stairs and scaffolding takes you up the rest of the way. Some floors are missing and the bottom storey is a half-finished parking lot. Streaks of black mold have coated the outside walls. There are signs of squatter activity—sparse graffiti appears on the lower storeys and sometimes one might encounter a blanket or a cardboard box.

### U-Bahnhof Schlossstrasse

Visible concrete walls partially covered by dark blue, orange and yellow plastic panels make this station an example of 1970s pop-art design. Segments of the panels curve overhead and are continuous with the light instalments on the ceiling.