Understand
The Ku'damm short for Kurfürstendamm is the center of the area, it consists of the main shopping streets and the TauentzienstraÃe and FasanenstraÃe, which are adjacent to the Ku'Damm. City West is composed of four boroughs: Charlottenburg, Wilmersdorf, Schöneberg and Tiergarten.
Charlottenburg used to be the heart of West Berlin and stretches between the Ku'Damm, jointly shared with Wilmersdorf, and the Charlottenburg Palace in the north. The southern part of the district is one of the wealthier areas of Berlin with posh villas and apartments. The northern part is a nice living area. Charlottenburg was the center of the former West Berlin and was well built-up after the war. Today it's mostly an upmarket shopping and living area for city slickers. After the WW I Charlottenburg had a large, wealthy Russian scene, due to the refugees from St Petersburg after the Russian revolution which had given rise to the area's nickname - "Charlottograd".
Wilmersdorf has always been a middle and upper class inner city villa and apartment house area. It is quieter but has nice restaurants and cafes. About 80% of Berlin's Jewish population estimated 25,000 people â now mostly of Russian descent â live in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf.
Schöneberg is the traditional centre of the gay scene in Berlin. Today the borough is gentrified and very popular with young families and middle-aged singles. Renovated old apartments with stucco are pretty common. You can start to walk from U-Nollendorfplatz and head directly to the Winterfeldmarkt lovely market, open Saturday from morning until early afternoon, all year, on Wednesday there is a smaller market. It is not the main center but the district townhall was the main townhall for West Berlin during the Cold War. The freedom bell a present from the American people and several memorials from that time, can be found here. On 9th November 1989, Helmut Kohl Bundeskanzler from 1983-1998 and Willy Brandt former Bundeskanzler cheered from the main balcony as they saw the end of the Berlin Wall. The townhall is an emotional place for most people in Berlin especially West Berlin.
Tiergarten is, beside a borough, a large park separating the district from Mitte. In the south is the Kulturforum with collection of cultural buildings Philharmonie, Chamber Music Hall and many Museums.
