Breitscheidplatz
| Breitscheidplatz formerly: Auguste-Viktoria-Platz |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
 Skyline at Breitscheidplatz in City West with the Memorial Church , Upper West , Zoofenster and Bikini-Haus |
|
| Basic data | |
| place | Berlin |
| District | Charlottenburg |
| Confluent streets |
Kurfürstendamm , Hardenbergstrasse , Budapester Strasse , Tauentzienstrasse , Kantstrasse , Rankestrasse |
| Buildings |
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church , Europa Center , Bikini House , Zoofenster , Upper West |
| use | |
| User groups | Pedestrians , cyclists , road traffic , public transport |
The Breitscheidplatz is located in the Berlin district of Charlottenburg ( Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf ) between Kurfürstendamm , Budapesterstrasse and Tauentzienstraße . It is a central square in City West . Not least because of the war ruins of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, preserved as a memorial , it is one of the most famous places in Berlin.
Until 1892 the square was called Gutenbergplatz , then it was called Auguste-Viktoria-Platz until 1947 .
location
To the east is the Europa Center , roughly in the middle is the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church and between the two is the globe fountain . To the west, the square was limited from 1960 to 2009 by the wing of what was then the Schimmelpfeng-Haus over the Kantstrasse below . Under the square, the U2 line of the Berlin subway , built in 1902, swings from Tauentzienstrasse in a north-westerly direction into Hardenbergstrasse towards Bahnhof Zoo .
history
.jpg)
From the plaza to the end of the 20th century
The Auguste-Viktoria Square was the western beginning of a series of boulevards and jewelery courses, the Generalszugs .
From 1889 the previously unnamed square was called Gutenbergplatz after the inventor of the printing press with cast letters and was renamed Auguste-Viktoria-Platz in 1892 after the German Empress . It formed the circular center of the streets that flow into it (clockwise) Budapester Strasse, Tauentzienstrasse, Rankestrasse , Kurfürstendamm, Kantstrasse and Hardenbergstrasse .
In the same style as the shortly before built Memorial Church, two opposite buildings were built, both of which were called Romanesque House. In 1896 the older one on the west side of the square (between Kurfürstendamm and Kantstrasse) was completed, in 1899 the competitor was able to move into a very similar house on the east side (since 1965 the Europa Center) . The second became world famous because the Romanisches Café opened here in 1916 . The ensemble of buildings from both cafés was therefore also called the Romanesque Forum . In structural contrast, the Capitol am Zoo was built in 1925 in the New Objectivity style .
During the Second World War , not only the church but also the surrounding buildings were badly damaged. The square was renamed on July 31, 1947 after the Social Democrat Rudolf Breitscheid , who was persecuted by the National Socialists . During the reconstruction, the appearance was changed significantly according to the ideas of the 1950s. The layout of the streets was changed so that the square no longer serves as a traffic junction. The concept envisaged a dominant role for car traffic, with the former roundabout around the Memorial Church being repealed during the renovation in 1956–1960. Instead, between the Gedächtniskirche and the Europa-Center (built 1963–1965) an important main traffic connection - called the “Buckle” - was run. This led - together with a traffic tunnel running in an easterly direction - the vehicles without crossing into Budapester Straße.
In 1978, an improvement in the use of space and the quality of stay began: the separating road link in front of the Europa-Center was closed and replaced by a pedestrian area, so that the square along Tauentzienstrasse has been continuously accessible since then.
New development since the 2000s
The Budapester Strasse road tunnel separating the square from the Bikini House to the north was filled in from 2005. The Berlin plan provided for a further redesign of the square and the surrounding area, which was completed in spring 2006. The square received new paving , lighting and plants. The Schimmelpfenghaus , which seals off the square from Kantstrasse , was completely demolished by February 2013.
Since the 2010s, City West, with Breitscheidplatz as the center, has again increasingly come into the focus of urban developers and investors. Examples of this are the 119-meter-high zoo window completed in 2012 on the western edge of the square in which the luxury hotel Waldorf Astoria Berlin is housed, as well as the neighboring - equally high - Upper West , which was completed in 2017. Both towers in the ensemble form a gate to Kantstrasse and frame the Memorial Church in an urban way . On the north side of the square, the Bikini-Haus and the neighboring Zoo Palast cinema were extensively renovated between 2010 and 2014 . Further extensive investments are planned in the vicinity.
Memorial Church in the evening: View from the Europa Center to the Schimmelpfeng House, which was demolished in 2009
Renewed Zoo Palast for the 2014 Berlinale
Bikini house as an alternative shopping center, 2014
Bikini House, 2014
Upper West skyscrapers and Zoofenster, September 2016
Breitscheidplatz at night, view from the Europacenter
Attack on the 2016 Christmas market
On the evening of December 19, 2016, an assassin drove a tractor-trailer into a crowd at the Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz. 12 people died and 55 were injured.
Web links
-
Breitscheidplatz. In: Street name lexicon of the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein (near Kaupert )
- Gutenbergplatz . In: Luise.
- Auguste-Viktoria-Platz . In: Luise.
- Europa-Center, Breitscheidplatz at berlin.de
- Planning at Breitscheidplatz at the Senate Department for Urban Development
Individual evidence
- ↑ More space for the space without space! . In: Vossische Zeitung , January 1, 1927, 4th supplement, p. 17.
- ↑ a b Breitscheidplatz . District Office Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf (from Berlin). Retrieved on August 8, 2020: “In 1956-60 the roundabout was abandoned as part of a fundamental renovation. / The western boundary is the Schimmelpfenghaus built in 1957-60, to the east the Europa-Center built in 1963-65 "
- ↑ Ulrich Paul: Kudamm in Berlin: Karstadt owner René Benko wants to build high-rise buildings in City West. In: Berliner Zeitung . November 26, 2018, accessed June 30, 2020 .
- ↑ Lars Klaßen: Berlin is building. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . May 10, 2019, accessed June 30, 2020 .
- ↑ IS claims the stop for itself. In: Spiegel Online . Retrieved December 22, 2016 .
- ↑ Truck races into Christmas market - police assume premeditation. In: Spiegel Online . December 20, 2016, accessed December 20, 2016 .
Coordinates: 52 ° 30 ′ 17 ″ N , 13 ° 20 ′ 8 ″ E