Wassertorplatz
| Wassertorplatz | |
|---|---|
 |
|
 Wassertorplatz 1901 with the Luisenstadt Canal |
|
| Basic data | |
| place | Berlin |
| District | Kreuzberg |
| Created | 1849 |
| Confluent streets |
Wassertorstrasse, Segitzdamm, Erkelenzdamm, Kohlfurter Strasse |
| use | |
| User groups | Pedestrians , cyclists , road traffic , public transport |
| Technical specifications | |
| Square area | 200 × 140 meters |
The Wassertorplatz in the Berlin district of Kreuzberg is named after the historic water gate and is located around 100 meters west of the Kottbusser Tor . The square is currently divided by the heavily frequented Skalitzer Straße and the underground line U1 , which runs as an elevated railway over the median of Skalitzer Straße.
history
The square is named after the historic, no longer existing water gate , which was created when the Luisenstadt Canal was built (1848–1852). The gate was in the south-eastern area of the Berlin customs and excise wall built in the 18th century between the Hallesches Tor and the Kottbusser Tor. At the lockable gate in the form of an iron grille, the ships entering the city on the canal had to check their goods and have customs cleared. Within the customs and excise wall, the canal expanded directly at the water gate to form the gate basin or water gate basin .
The customs and excise wall lost its meaning with the rapid growth of the city and was already removed between 1867 and 1870. The Luisenstadt Canal never achieved its intended importance for water traffic and was filled in in 1926.
Today's shape and structure
Between 1926 and 1928, the garden architect Erwin Barth redesigned the filled-in canal into a public green area, which in the area of the Wassertorplatz (the former water gate basin) is bordered to the west by Segitzdamm and to the east by Erkelenzdamm. A youth traffic school was set up on the north side of the square, which has been cut by the elevated railway since 1900 . In 1981 and 1986, the architects Hinrich Baller and Inken Baller furnished the square with a pond, sculptures and a filigree “garden bridge” that leads over a lower cut in the park and recalls the former watercourse and the “real” bridge at this point. With the entire green corridor of the former Luisenstadt Canal, the square is included in Berlin's state monument list as a garden monument worthy of protection .
Some of the older houses right on the square are reminiscent of the original bourgeois milieu with their historic facades. Today its surroundings in the southern part are almost completely covered with multi-storey new buildings, most of which were built as part of social housing and shape the social structure with a high proportion of unemployed residents. Like the neighboring Kottbusser Tor (Kotti) , the Wassertorplatz is a social hotspot . The Berlin Senate identified the area around the Kottbusser Tor as one of 17 areas with special development needs. The artificially created prevention area Kreuzberg Zentrum / Wassertorplatz has had a neighborhood management program since 1999 .
See also
Web links
- Wassertorplatz. In: Street name lexicon of the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein (near Kaupert )
- District management at Wassertorplatz, accessed on March 15, 2016.
- Local portal KottiGuide
Coordinates: 52 ° 29 ′ 55.5 " N , 13 ° 24 ′ 47.8" E