Viktoria-Luise-Platz

Berlin's most refined culinary square where Kaisers once lived Step off the U4 at Viktoria-Luise-Platz and you'll find yourself in what feels like Berlin's best-kept secret—a hexagonal oasis of Gründerzeit elegance where the fountain serves as an outdoor bathtub for both children and dogs, where Billy Wilder lived in the 1920s, and where some of the city's most authentic Austrian schnitzel is served steps from a legendary design school that's been empowering creative minds for over 150 years. Unlike the tourist-packed squares of Mitte, Viktoria-Luise-Platz operates on Berlin neighborhood time. Here, young teens from the neighbouring Lette-Verein, the design-school, have their coffee-break at sidewalk cafes, while elderly Berliners claim the same fountain-side benches they've occupied for decades. The square feels like a film set for "how cultured Europeans live"—except it's completely real, and the coffee is excellent. Where Austrian emperors ...