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Schöneburg Information<br />
Schöneberg is now one of the more<br />
gentrifi ed areas of <strong>Berlin</strong>, but it has<br />
a surprisingly radical past. Around<br />
Motzstraβe and Fuggerstraβe is<br />
the city’s oldest gay quarter, and<br />
Schöneberg is still home to the<br />
largest gay community in <strong>Berlin</strong>.<br />
Nollendorfplatz is the scene of<br />
much of the nightlife, and inside the<br />
U-Bahn station there is a memorial<br />
to homosexuals murdered by the<br />
Nazi regime. Gay life and the rise of<br />
fascism in pre-war <strong>Berlin</strong> are vividly<br />
described in Christopher Isherwood’s<br />
<strong>Berlin</strong> Stories, which are based on<br />
his experiences living at Nollendorf<br />
Straβe 17.<br />
Other famous former residents of the<br />
borough include David Bowie and Iggy<br />
Pop, who rented a fl at at Hauptstraβe<br />
155 in the late seventies. Sixties<br />
chanteuse Nico grew up here, as did<br />
Marlene Dietrich who is now buried<br />
in Friedhof Schöneberg III cemetery.<br />
Fans of famous gravestones can also<br />
visit the fi nal resting place of the<br />
Brothers Grimm at St. Matthäus-<br />
Kirchhof.<br />
The area’s best known sight is<br />
Rathaus Schöneberg where John F<br />
Kennedy made his famous ‘Ich bin<br />
ein <strong>Berlin</strong>er’ speech in 1963. The<br />
well-known story that the president<br />
actually said ‘I am a jelly doughnut’<br />
is false. In fact, <strong>Berlin</strong>ers had such<br />
high regard for him after the speech<br />
that, the day after his assassination,<br />
the square outside the Rathaus was<br />
renamed John F Kennedy Platz. For<br />
cafes and bars try the area around<br />
Winterfeldtplatz, where there’s also<br />
a busy Saturday market.<br />
143 Schöneberg Schöneberg 144
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