Berlin, November 6th, 2026 (The Berlin Spectator) – When you write Schlossstrasse without using the special German letter “ß”, you will notice that this name has a total of six “s”. But that’s not the only weird aspect about this shopping street in Berlin’s Steglitz borough.
Being here, at Walther-Schreiber-Platz, one of the ugliest intersections in the southern part of the German capital, feels like time travel. These gray buildings, the gray asphalt and the gray sky should make me feel depressed, but they don’t. I like the 1980s atmosphere down here. It’s like time travel without the Flux Capacitor.
This rather cool afternoon in the fall of 2026, one of the last motorbike heroes of the season races down the street with an ear-shattering noise. Since he loves his noise so much, everyone else loves it too and obviously admires him. He is “la última Coca Cola del desierto”, as the Mexicans would say, “the last Coke in the Desert”. Everyone turns around to look at this idiot who is ruining the peace and quiet on Schlossstrasse.
Reversed Trend
“Edo”, a nice and quiet Vietnamese place in Rheinstrasse, the northern extension of Schlossstrasse, house number 32, is one of the many little restaurants in this area. Here, the salmon sushi tastes just as fresh as the Pad Thai, and the couple that runs this eatery is so much kinder than the average Berlin waiter or waitress.
Banks, supermarkets, a cinema, a McDonald’s and as many as three malls are just minutes away. In summer, all three malls were half-empty because everyone supposedly purchases everything online. Now, the trend seems to be reversing itself. This might be the only area in Berlin where it does.
Located at Schlossstrasse 10, Boulevard Berlin is one of the largest malls in Berlin. Many retail spaces are empty. As it turns out, there is a solution: This place’s management intends to set up as many as 227 little apartments in the building, as the “Tagesspiegel” daily reports. Berlin may not need stores anymore, but its inhabitants sure as hell need places to live.
Last Square Inch
At Schlossstrasse number 1, in the Forum mall, many shops used to be empty as well, thanks to Amazon and other online stores. Not anymore. By January, even the last inch of this rather big shopping temple will be rented out. How did they do it? No clue.
Next door, the Schloss-Strassen-Center mall looks pretty bad. Recently, half the shops and stalls were empty. In spring, the Asian restaurant owner downstairs complained there were hardly any customers left. Soon, she will likely be confronted with the opposite problem: too many hungry customers.
Hammering noise can be heard in the building. “They’re already filling shelves”, a lady who works at a pizza place on the street level tells The Berlin Spectator. “This will definitely be good for all vendors in here”, she says with a glimmer in her eyes. She is talking about Kaufland, a hypermarket chain. They will be opening their 1,595th branch in this mall towards the end of this month, according to the pizza lady. According to other sources, it will take until next year.
Two Problems
There are hundreds of huge Kaufland stores all over Germany and Eastern Europe. Their arrival on the street with six “s” is good news, since they will contribute to the revival of analog shopping on this 1980s-style street. People from the neighborhood will populate this mall and shop as if there were no tomorrow. By doing so, they will probably cause an economic boom for Steglitz.
Once all of those stores are rented out, only two problems will be left down here: Those morons on their loud motorbikes and the “Bierpinsel” tower at the intersection of Schlossstrasse and Schildhornstrasse. This weird construction is falling apart. Parts of the siding are falling down on the street. For this reason, some shops located around it may have to close.
