Tempelhof-Schöneberg

Tempelhof-Schöneberg runs in a long strip from the City West (Wittenbergplatz and Nollendorfplatz) south to the Brandenburg border. It was formed in 2001 from the former districts of Schöneberg and Tempelhof and has six localities (Ortsteile): Schöneberg, Friedenau, Tempelhof, Mariendorf, Marienfelde and Lichtenrade.

On 30 June 2026, 358,125 people were registered in the district (Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg). Schöneberg is by far the largest locality with about 125,700 residents, followed by Tempelhof (about 62,800), Mariendorf (about 54,300), Lichtenrade (about 53,000), Marienfelde (about 32,200) and Friedenau (about 30,200). The average age was 44.2 years, slightly above the Berlin average.

Two transport corridors define the district: the north–south axis of Tempelhofer Damm, Mariendorfer Damm and Lichtenrader Damm, served by the U6, and the railway lines through Südkreuz, a regional and long-distance station. Tempelhofer Feld, the former Tempelhof airport, is now one of Berlin's largest open spaces.

Schöneberg

The district portal describes Schöneberg as one of Berlin's most diverse areas, lively or quiet, bourgeois or alternative depending on the street.

• North (Wittenbergplatz, KaDeWe): a busy, metropolitan shopping area more than a residential one.
• West (Viktoria-Luise-Platz, Bayerisches Viertel): elegant, well-renovated older buildings and well-kept squares.
• East (Nollendorfplatz, Winterfeldtplatz, Akazienkiez): the area around Nollendorfplatz, Motzstraße and Fuggerstraße has been the centre of Berlin's LGBTQ+ community since the 1920s and hosts the annual Lesbian and Gay City Festival. The Winterfeldtplatz market and the cafés and small shops along Goltzstraße and Akazienstraße give the area a lively local feel.
• Rote Insel and the south: the "Red Island" is a traditional neighbourhood enclosed by railway lines, near the EUREF campus and its gasometer. Further south, beyond the motorway, the area becomes greener towards the Natur-Park Südgelände.
• Schöneberg also has large post-war social housing, such as the Pallasseum on Pallasstraße.

Friedenau

Friedenau is a quiet, middle-class residential area with Wilhelminian-era buildings, villas, front gardens and generous squares. Many of its buildings are listed, and it has a long association with writers and artists.

Tempelhof, Mariendorf, Marienfelde, Lichtenrade

Tempelhof combines restored older buildings in small streets, the garden-like Fliegersiedlung by the former airport, newer apartment buildings, single-family homes, and commercial areas along the Teltow Canal. Further south, Mariendorf, Marienfelde and Lichtenrade have a small-town feel, with preserved village centres, many single-family and two-family homes, and some 1960s and 1970s high-rise estates, such as the John-Locke-Siedlung in Lichtenrade and the area around Waldsassener Straße in Marienfelde. Marienfelde is also home to the Marienfelde Refugee Center Museum.

• U-Bahn: the north of Schöneberg is a U-Bahn hub. The U1, U2 and U3 meet at Wittenbergplatz and Nollendorfplatz, the U4 runs entirely within Schöneberg (Nollendorfplatz – Viktoria-Luise-Platz – Bayerischer Platz – Rathaus Schöneberg – Innsbrucker Platz), and the U7 serves Bayerischer Platz, Eisenacher Straße, Kleistpark and Yorckstraße. The U9 stops at Friedrich-Wilhelm-Platz and Walther-Schreiber-Platz in Friedenau. The U6 runs from Platz der Luftbrücke through Tempelhof to its southern terminus at Alt-Mariendorf.
• S-Bahn: the S1 (Yorckstraße, Julius-Leber-Brücke, Schöneberg, Friedenau) towards Wannsee and the north–south tunnel. The S2 runs via Südkreuz, Priesterweg, Attilastraße, Marienfelde, Buckower Chaussee and Schichauweg to Lichtenrade, and the S25 and S26 via Südkreuz and Priesterweg. The Ring (S41, S42) serves Schöneberg, Innsbrucker Platz, Südkreuz and Tempelhof, and the S46 and S47 also run via Südkreuz.
• Rail: Südkreuz has regional and long-distance trains. Since December 2025, the airport express (FEX) to BER has run via Südkreuz, and the S45 has been discontinued.
• Bus: the parts of Mariendorf, Marienfelde and Lichtenrade away from the U6 and S2 are reached mainly by bus. There are no trams.

• Older apartment buildings (Altbau): dominate Schöneberg and Friedenau and are common in northern Tempelhof. Many are renovated, and the most sought-after are around Viktoria-Luise-Platz, the Bayerisches Viertel and Friedenau.
• 1920s to 1950s housing: reconstruction after heavy wartime damage in the north and west of Schöneberg, and garden-like estates such as the Fliegersiedlung in Tempelhof.
• Post-war social housing and high-rise estates: for example the Pallasseum in Schöneberg and estates in Marienfelde and Lichtenrade, many of them since renovated.
• Single-family and two-family homes: typical of Mariendorf, Marienfelde and Lichtenrade, often owner-occupied.

In the 2025 IBB housing market report, the district's median asking rent was almost exactly the Berlin median. Expect higher prices in Schöneberg and Friedenau and lower ones in the south.

Friedenau, the west of Schöneberg and the southern localities are popular with families. Green spaces include Tempelhofer Feld, with its huge open runways for cycling and skating, community gardens, a playground and sports areas, the Natur-Park Südgelände, the Insulaner park with its planetarium and observatory, Park am Gleisdreieck on the border with Kreuzberg, the Alter Park in Tempelhof, and the rural edges of Marienfelde and Lichtenrade.

In the south, family life often means a house or a garden flat but longer journeys. Lichtenrade's Bahnhofstraße is the local shopping street.

Use the city's Kita-Navigator to find daycare centres around an address and the Senate's school directory to look up schools in the district by type. Our childcare and schools guides explain the process.