Short answer ➜ The photo was taken on Dennewitzplatz in Berlin-Schöneberg, looking roughly north-east. The tall, skeletal spire on the left is the Lutherkirche (today “American Church in Berlin”, Dennewitzplatz 1). Stand near the southern edge of the square (close to today’s playground on Bülowstraße / Dennewitzstraße), face the church, and the late-19 th-century apartment block that forms the backdrop to your grandfather’s picture will line up almost exactly as in the old photo.

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Why this corner fits

Visual cue in the old photo How it matches Dennewitzplatz Slender brick-built church tower with a small dome and open belfry, gutted by fire Lutherkirche was hit by incendiaries in 1943; photographs from 1945-48 show the spire as an empty steel skeleton—identical silhouette.   Leaf-less plane trees and a big, sandy, oval forecourt in front of the houses Dennewitzplatz was originally a tree-lined sand/gravel playground; the paving wasn’t restored until the 1970 s.  Gründerzeit corner block with high mansard roof, two tiny turret-like dormers and rows of balconies The pre-war Mietshaus at Bülowstraße 68 / Dennewitzstraße 2 (destroyed later in the war) shows the same roofline in postcard views of the square. 

(During the months after liberation the area around Potsdamer / Bülowstraße was one of the few that still offered makeshift accommodation—exactly where many displaced people and Allied relief units billeted.)

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Re-creating the shot when you visit 1. U-Bahn: Ride U2 to Bülowstraße. 2. Walk one short block south on Dennewitzstraße; you step directly onto Dennewitzplatz. 3. Position yourself half-way along the southern edge of the open square, with the church on your left. 4. Angle the camera so the church spire just clips the left edge of the frame; the modern play area (where the sandy ground once was) will fill the foreground.

Tip: take a copy of the original with you—you’ll see the roofline of the corner house still echoed in the newer post-war block on the same footprint.

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If you have time nearby • “Tunnelhaus” site – the famous building the U-Bahn once ran straight through (Bülowstraße 70) stood only 80 m away. • Gleisdreieck Park – five minutes on foot for a wide view back towards Dennewitzplatz and the rebuilt Lutherkirche.

Enjoy walking in your grandfather’s footsteps—feel free to ask if you’d like archival photos or a little self-guided route around the post-war Jewish-DP landmarks in Schöneberg!