Lock freedom

This article deals with a place in Berlin. For the legal form of a residential area close to the castle, see Schloss Freiheit .

View of the Freedom of the Castle, around 1900

The Schloss Freiheit in Berlin 's Mitte district was a place on Museum Island . It was bounded by the Lustgarten in the northwest, the Berlin Palace in the northeast, the street An der Stechbahn and the Schloßplatz in the southeast, and the Kaiser Wilhelm National Monument and the Spree Canal in the southwest. In 1951 it was incorporated into the Marx-Engels-Platz , which was created by the demolition of the castle, and was renamed Schloßplatz again in 1994 . In connection with the reconstruction of the castle as a Humboldt Forum , it will in future be called Schloß Freiheit again .

history

View of the rear of the houses on Schloß Freiheit , painting by Eduard Gaertner , 1855

Freedom of the Castle (left) and surroundings on the Straubeplan, 1910

Since Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg ( popularly : the Great Elector) wanted more life at the palace, he issued a decree in 1671 to build buildings on the banks of the Spree Canal next to the Berlin City Palace. In 1672 a row of ten houses was built as Schloss Freiheit. Due to the swampy subsoil, the construction of the houses was very expensive, which is why the elector granted some freedoms: exemption from the land rent, from guard duty and from military billeting as well as freedom of trade. In return, he expected people from the entourage to be accommodated by guests of the court.

Courtiers and nobles lived in the houses under the legal form of castle freedom until the formation of the Royal Residence Berlin in 1709. In addition, the Café Josty and the opulent Café Helms , located in the direction of the Marstall , also moved here later , and a wallpaper factory is based on old representations see. The business settlements benefited from the freedom of trade, as did a verifiable pub that had opened in 1676. The houses were expanded and rebuilt several times, but in principle existed until the end of the 19th century. In 1844, the house owners agreed to pay a total of 1000  thalers a year to free themselves from the obligation to accommodate guests on the farm. The location of the castle freedom was meanwhile u. a. became a privilege due to the baroque expansion of the castle.

Kaiser Wilhelm II was extremely displeased with these relatively small houses, which blocked the view of the Berlin City Palace. They were demolished in June 1894 for the construction of the national monument for his grandfather, Kaiser Wilhelm I.

The planned Freedom and Unity Monument (popularly: unity seesaw ) is to be here from 2021 .

spelling, orthography

The official name change back to Schloßplatz happened in 1994, before the ß- spelling reform . After this reform it would have to be called Schlossplatz , but so far there has been no change to the street name or, in this case, the place name. The same applies to other castle phrases such as castle fountain , freedom , bridge in connection with the Berlin City Palace . These proper names are used here as they were used according to the current spelling of the time.

Web links

• The Berlin Freedom of the Castle on the Berlin traffic pages
• Lock freedom

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Printed matter - 1751 / IV - lock freedom
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Maritta Tkalec: City History - Why so many streets in Berlin have “freedom” in their names . In: Berliner Zeitung . February 20, 2017, p. 10 ( online ).
3. ↑ Construction of the unified monument begins. In: The time of May 18, 2020.

Coordinates: 52 ° 31 '0.4 "  N , 13 ° 23' 58.9"  E