Zehlendorf: Lakes, Forest and Culture

A trip to Zehlendorf can be shaped around a wide range of interests: Krumme Lanke is known for its bathing lake and lakeside path, while museums cover everything from local history to the history of the Allies. Forest and art also add their own distinctive touches. You can choose the focus of your stay based on what you would like to discover.

Krumme Lanke, Beeches and Trails

Krumme Lanke is a bathing lake in Zehlendorf, in the middle of Grunewald Forest, and is part of the Grunewald lake chain. Walkers, anglers and swimmers use it as a recreational area. A path more than two kilometres long runs along its shore, where you can walk, jog or cycle.

The Gemeindewäldchen Zehlendorf offers a different kind of forest landscape: this park-like woodland is home to old European beech trees (Fagus sylvatica). The 48-kilometre Teltower Dörferweg trail connects, among other places, Krumme Lanke, the Gemeindewäldchen Zehlendorf nature conservation area and Paul-Mebes-Park. This gives you a lakeside path of more than two kilometres and, for a longer route, a 48-kilometre trail to follow.

Local History and Crafts

On 26 July 2026, the Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf was listed as the seventh component of the World Heritage Site “Berlin Modernism Housing Estates.” The permanent exhibition “From Farming Village to Suburban Community” at the Heimatmuseum Zehlendorf traces the area’s history from its rural beginnings to the early post-war period of the 20th century. A detailed model of the village around 1800 is also on display.

As of 31 August 2026, admission to the Heimatmuseum Zehlendorf is free. Check the latest information before your visit; exhibition details may change. The events calendar includes talks, historical guided tours, walks and readings. Individual dates may change, so it is worth checking the calendar if you would like to plan an event into your visit.

Opened in 1975, the Düppel Village Museum aims to reconstruct a village from around 1200, in the High Middle Ages, across an area of about 16 hectares. Visitors can learn about medieval crafts there, including blacksmithing, tablet weaving and tar making. Activities for families with children aged five and over include climbing, playing and making flame bread over an open fire on every day the museum is open.

Art, Architecture and Contemporary History

The English country-style villa is known as Haus am Waldsee and has been used as a cultural venue for almost 77 years. The sculpture park at Haus am Waldsee covers around 10,000 square metres, extending to the lakeshore. Changing sculptures invite visitors to stroll through the grounds.

Kunsthaus Dahlem is based in the former state studio of sculptor Arno Breker. The building was constructed between 1939 and 1942 to designs by architect Hans Freese. The Allied Museum offers another perspective on Berlin’s history: its permanent exhibition uses numerous original objects to tell the story of the Soviet blockade, the Cold War in Berlin and German reunification from the Allies’ perspective. While the local history museum focuses on the area’s development, the Allied Museum centres on other historical subjects.

This priority can help you decide what to focus on during a trip to Zehlendorf.

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