Steglitz Power Plant (1911–1994)

High voltage for Berlin and Hollywood

The Teltow Canal creates the technical conditions for the power plant designed by Hans Heinrich Müller: hard coal comes in barges, cooling water from the canal. In the 1930s, electricity and district heating are produced here - for the first time in Germany - using efficient combined heat and power. During the Cold War, the site had to remain innovative in order to supply the power island of West Berlin, which was cut off from all grids. The city's first gas turbine was followed in 1986 by what was then the world's largest battery storage facility. Nobody suspected that energy production here would end with reunification in 1994. Today, Stromnetz Berlin still operates a substation on the site. The empty halls are often used as film sets, including for parts of the Matrix saga. The Energy Museum has been telling the story of Berlin's energy supply in the former battery storage facility since 2001.