Berlin widens safety zone around crumbling Bierpinsel tower, bridge shut
Berlin officials have imposed a 12-meter safety zone around the Bierpinsel tower in Steglitz over fears more facade parts could fall, closing a bridge and parts of a major shopping street.
Archive image · Photo: A.Savin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Drivers, cyclists and pedestrians in Berlin's Steglitz neighborhood face major disruption around the Bierpinsel, a landmark tower. The Steglitz-Zehlendorf district office has ordered the owner to fence off the area beneath the listed building within a 12-meter radius. The move follows an assessment commissioned by the owner that found the facade elements are not safe and further parts could fall. On Sept. 20, several pieces of the facade fell about 30 meters onto Schlossstrasse, and firefighters removed other loose parts at the time.
The Joachim-Tiburtius bridge is closed in both directions, mainly affecting traffic heading to the A103 highway and the Lankwitz and Mariendorf districts. On Schlossstrasse, one of Berlin's most popular shopping streets, the lane toward Steglitz town hall is closed between Schildhornstrasse and Ahornstrasse, along with the bike lane and sidewalk on the tower side. Schildhornstrasse is closed to cars and bikes heading toward Schlossstrasse. An entrance to the Schlossstrasse subway station remains shut and bus line 282 is diverted. It is unclear how long the closures will last.
District urban development official Patrick Steinhoff, a Christian Democrat, demanded immediate safety work from the owner, saying delays would not be tolerated. If the owning company fails to act, the district will order the work itself and bill the company. "The owner is obliged to renovate the building and put it to use," Steinhoff said, according to the Tagesspiegel newspaper. The roughly 50-meter tower, built in 1976, has stood empty since 2012 and has been a protected monument since 2017. Plans to convert it into offices and restaurants have not materialized.