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Mitte (locality)
Encyclopedia
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in the homonymous district (Bezirk) of Mitte
Mitte
Mitte is the first and most central borough of Berlin. It was created in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by the merger of the former districts of Mitte proper, Tiergarten and Wedding; the resulting borough retained the name Mitte. It is one of the two boroughs which comprises former West and...
. Until 2001 it was itself an autonomous district.
It comprises the historic centre of Alt-Berlin
Alt-Berlin
Alt-Berlin , also named Altberlin, is a neighbourhood , situated in the Berliner locality of Mitte, part of the homonymous borough. In the 13th century it was the sister town of the old Cölln, located on the northern Spree Island in the Margraviate of Brandenburg...
around the churches of St. Nicholas and St. Mary
St. Mary's Church, Berlin
St. Mary's Church, known in German as the Marienkirche, is a church in Berlin, Germany. The church is located on Karl-Liebknecht-Straße in central Berlin, near Alexanderplatz. Its exact age is not known, but it was first mentioned in German chronicles in 1292. It is presumed to date from earlier...
, the City Hall
Rotes Rathaus
The Red City Hall is the town hall of Berlin, located in the Mitte district on Rathausstraße near Alexanderplatz. It is the home to the governing mayor and the government of the Federal state of Berlin...
and numerous main tourist attractions of the city. For these reasons Mitte is considered the "heart" of Berlin.
History
The history of Mitte corresponds to the history of the entire city until the early 20th century, and with the Greater Berlin Act
Greater Berlin Act
The Greater Berlin Act , in full the Law Regarding the Reconstruction of the New Local Authority of Berlin , was a law passed by the Prussian government in 1920 that greatly expanded the size of the German capital of Berlin.-History:...
in 1920 it became the first district of the city. It was among the areas of the city most heavily damaged in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Following a territorial redeployment by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
that reshaped the borders of West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
's British Sector in August 1945, the western part of Staaken became in effect as of 1 February 1951 an exclave of Mitte, then still a borough of East Berlin
East Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
. This ended on January 1, 1961, when western Staaken was incorporated into then East German Falkensee
Falkensee
Falkensee is a town in the Havelland district, Brandenburg, Germany. It is the most populated municipality of its district and it is situated at the western border of Berlin.-History:...
, which had already been under its de facto administration since June 1, 1952.
Between 1961 and 1990 Mitte, one of the most important boroughs of East Berlin but close to all three western sectors
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
of the city, was almost surrounded by the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
. One of the most important border crossings was Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War....
, near Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg, a part of the combined Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte since 2001, is one of the best-known areas of Berlin...
.
Position
Situated in central Berlin and mostly in its old town, it is traversed by the river SpreeSpree
The Spree is a river that flows through the Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin states of Germany, and in the Ústí nad Labem region of the Czech Republic...
. It borders the localities of Tiergarten
Tiergarten
Tiergarten is a locality within the borough of Mitte, in central Berlin . Notable for the great and homonymous urban park, before German reunification, it was a part of West Berlin...
, Moabit
Moabit
Moabit is an inner city locality of Berlin. Since Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it belongs to the newly regrouped governmental borough of Mitte. Previously, from 1920 to 2001, it belonged to the borough of Tiergarten. Moabit's borders are defined by three watercourses, the Spree, the...
, Wedding
Wedding (Berlin)
Wedding is a locality in the borough of Mitte, Berlin, Germany and was a separate borough in the north-western inner city until it was fused with Tiergarten and Mitte in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform...
, Gesundbrunnen
Gesundbrunnen
Gesundbrunnen is a locality of Berlin in the borough of Mitte. It was created as a separate entity by the 2001 administrative reform, formerly the eastern half of the former Wedding district and locality...
, Prenzlauer Berg
Prenzlauer Berg
Prenzlauer Berg is a locality of Berlin, in the borough of Pankow.Until 2001, Prenzlauer Berg was a borough of Berlin; in that year it was included in the borough of Pankow....
(in Pankow
Pankow
Pankow is the third borough of Berlin. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was merged with the former boroughs of Prenzlauer Berg and Weißensee; the resulting borough retained the name Pankow.- Overview :...
district), Friedrichshain
Friedrichshain
Friedrichshain is a part of Berlin's borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, and like Kreuzberg across the river it has its own distinct character, with the result that the new double name is hardly ever used outside government administration. From its creation in 1920 until Berlin's 2001...
, and Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg, a part of the combined Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte since 2001, is one of the best-known areas of Berlin...
(both in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg is the second borough of Berlin, formed in 2001 by merging the former East Berlin borough of Friedrichshain and the former West Berlin borough of Kreuzberg...
district).
Subdivision
Mitte is subdivided into 13 zones or neighborhoods (Stadtviertel) (the numbers refer to the map above right):- CöllnCöllnIn the 13th century Cölln was the sister town of Old Berlin , located on the southern Spree Island in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Today the island is located in the historic core of the central Mitte locality of modern Berlin...
(1)- Museum IslandMuseum IslandMuseum Island is the name of the northern half of an island in the Spree river in the central Mitte district of Berlin, Germany, the site of the old city of Cölln...
(1a) - Fischer Island (1b)
- Museum Island
- Alt-BerlinAlt-BerlinAlt-Berlin , also named Altberlin, is a neighbourhood , situated in the Berliner locality of Mitte, part of the homonymous borough. In the 13th century it was the sister town of the old Cölln, located on the northern Spree Island in the Margraviate of Brandenburg...
(2)- NikolaiviertelNikolaiviertelFounded about 1200, the Nikolaiviertel of Alt-Berlin, together with the neighbouring settlement of Cölln, is the reconstructed historical heart of the German capital Berlin...
(2a)
- Nikolaiviertel
- Friedrichswerder (3)
- Neukölln am Wasser (4)
- Dorotheenstadt (5)
- FriedrichstadtFriedrichstadt (Berlin)Friedrichstadt was an independent suburb of Berlin, and is now a historical neighborhood of the city itself. The neighborhood is named after the Prussian king Frederick I.-Geography:...
(6) - LuisenstadtLuisenstadtLuisenstadt is a former quarter of central Berlin, now divided into the present localities of Mitte and Kreuzberg. It gave its name to the Luisenstadt Canal and the Luisenstädtische Kirche.-History:...
(7) - Stralauer Vorstadt (8)
- AlexanderplatzAlexanderplatzAlexanderplatz is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin, near the Fernsehturm. Berliners often call it simply Alex, referring to a larger neighborhood stretching from Mollstraße in the northeast to Spandauer Straße and the City Hall in the southwest.-Early...
(9) - Spandauer Vorstadt (10)
- ScheunenviertelScheunenviertelScheunenviertel refers to a neighborhood of Mitte in the centre of Berlin. It is situated to the north of the medieval Altberlin area, east of the Rosenthaler Straße and Hackescher Markt...
(10a)
- Scheunenviertel
- Friedrich-Wilhelm-Stadt (11)
- Oranienburger VorstadtOranienburger VorstadtThe Oranienburger Vorstadt is a historic district of Berlin and contained parts of what is now Mitte and Gesundbrunnen, in the modern district of Mitte.-Overview:...
(12) - Rosenthaler Vorstadt (13)
Buildings and structures
- Alte Bibliothek
- Alte NationalgalerieAlte NationalgalerieThe Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin is a gallery showing a collection of Classical, Romantic, Biedermeier, Impressionist and early Modernist artwork, all of which belong to the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. The museum is situated on Museum Island, a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site.- Founding...
- Altes MuseumAltes MuseumThe Altes Museum , is one of several internationally renowned museums on Museum Island in Berlin, Germany. Since restoration work in 1966, it houses the Antikensammlung of the Berlin State Museums...
- Berlin Cathedral
- Berlin State OperaBerlin State OperaThe Staatsoper Unter den Linden is a German opera company. Its permanent home is the opera house on the Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, which also hosts the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra.-Early years:...
- Berliner EnsembleBerliner EnsembleThe Berliner Ensemble is a German theatre company established by playwright Bertolt Brecht and his wife, Helene Weigel in January 1949 in East Berlin...
- Brandenburg GateBrandenburg GateThe Brandenburg Gate is a former city gate and one of the most well-known landmarks of Berlin and Germany. It is located west of the city centre at the junction of Unter den Linden and Ebertstraße, immediately west of the Pariser Platz. It is the only remaining gate of a series through which...
- Bode MuseumBode MuseumThe Bode Museum is one of the group of museums on the Museum Island in Berlin, Germany; it is a historically preserved building. The museum was designed by architect Ernst von Ihne and completed in 1904...
- Bundesrat of GermanyBundesrat of GermanyThe German Bundesrat is a legislative body that represents the sixteen Länder of Germany at the federal level...
- Checkpoint CharlieCheckpoint CharlieCheckpoint Charlie was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War....
- Deutscher DomDeutscher DomDeutscher Dom is the colloquial naming for the New Church located in Berlin on the Gendarmenmarkt across from Französischer Dom . Its parish comprised the northern part of the then new quarter of Friedrichstadt, which until then belonged to the parish of the congregations of Jerusalem's Church...
- Fernsehturm Berlin
- Französischer DomFranzösischer DomFranzösischer Dom is the colloquial naming for the French Church of Friedrichstadt located in Berlin on the Gendarmenmarkt across from the Deutscher Dom , formerly a church of German-speaking congregants. Louis Cayart and Abraham Quesnay built the first parts of the actual French Church from 1701...
- Friedrichswerder ChurchFriedrichswerder ChurchThe Friedrichswerder Church was the first Neo-Gothic church built in Berlin, Germany. It was designed by an architect better known for his Neoclassical architecture, Karl Friedrich Schinkel, and was built under his direction, 1824-1831....
- Humboldt UniversityHumboldt University of BerlinThe Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
- James Simon GalleryJames Simon GalleryThe James Simon Gallery will be a new, centrally-located visitor centre between the reconstructed Neues Museum and the Kupfergraben arm of the Spree river on Museum Island in Berlin...
- Konzerthaus BerlinKonzerthaus BerlinThe Konzerthaus Berlin is a concert hall situated on the Gendarmenmarkt square in the central Mitte district of Berlin housing the German orchestra Konzerthausorchester Berlin...
- Kunsthaus TachelesKunsthaus TachelesThe Kunsthaus Tacheles , is an art center in Berlin, a large building on Oranienburger Straße in the district known as Mitte. Huge, colorful graffiti-style murals are painted on the exterior walls, and modern art sculptures are featured inside...
- MarienkircheSt. Mary's Church, BerlinSt. Mary's Church, known in German as the Marienkirche, is a church in Berlin, Germany. The church is located on Karl-Liebknecht-Straße in central Berlin, near Alexanderplatz. Its exact age is not known, but it was first mentioned in German chronicles in 1292. It is presumed to date from earlier...
- Neue Synagoge
- Neues MuseumNeues MuseumThe ' is a museum in Berlin, Germany, located to the north of the Altes Museum on Museum Island.It was built between 1843 and 1855 according to plans by Friedrich August Stüler, a student of Karl Friedrich Schinkel. The museum was closed at the beginning of World War II in 1939, and was heavily...
- Nikolaikirche
- Palast der Republik
- Pergamon MuseumPergamon MuseumThe Pergamon Museum is situated on the Museum Island in Berlin. The site was designed by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann and was constructed in twenty years, from 1910 to 1930. The Pergamon houses original-sized, reconstructed monumental buildings such as the Pergamon Altar and the Market Gate...
- Reich Air MinistryReich Air Ministrythumb|300px|The Ministry of Aviation, December 1938The Ministry of Aviation was a government department during the period of Nazi Germany...
- Rotes RathausRotes RathausThe Red City Hall is the town hall of Berlin, located in the Mitte district on Rathausstraße near Alexanderplatz. It is the home to the governing mayor and the government of the Federal state of Berlin...
- St. Hedwig's CathedralSt. Hedwig's CathedralSt. Hedwig's Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral on the Bebelplatz in Berlin, Germany. It is the seat of the archbishop of Berlin.It was built in the 18th century as the first Catholic church in Prussia after the Protestant Reformation by permission of King Frederick II...
- SophienkircheSophienkirche (Berlin)The Sophienkirche is a Protestant church in the Spandauer Vorstadt part of the Berlin-Mitte region of Berlin, eastern Germany. One of its associated cemeteries is the Friedhof II der Sophiengemeinde Berlin.-History:...
- Staatsratsgebäude
- Stadtschloß
Places, squares and streets
- AlexanderplatzAlexanderplatzAlexanderplatz is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin, near the Fernsehturm. Berliners often call it simply Alex, referring to a larger neighborhood stretching from Mollstraße in the northeast to Spandauer Straße and the City Hall in the southwest.-Early...
- Bernauer StraßeBernauer StraßeBernauer Straße is a street of Berlin situated between the localities of Gesundbrunnen and Mitte, today both belonging to the Mitte borough. It runs from the Mauerpark at the corner of Prenzlauer Berg to the Nordbahnhof...
- FriedrichstraßeFriedrichstraßeThe Friedrichstraße is a major culture and shopping street in central Berlin, forming the core of the Friedrichstadt neighborhood. It runs from the northern part of the old Mitte district to the Hallesches Tor in the district of Kreuzberg...
- GendarmenmarktGendarmenmarktThe Gendarmenmarkt is a square in Berlin, and the site of the Konzerthaus and the French and German Cathedrals. The centre of the Gendarmenmarkt is crowned by a statue of Germany's poet Friedrich Schiller. The square was created by Johann Arnold Nering at the end of the seventeenth century as the...
- Karl-Marx-AlleeKarl-Marx-AlleeThe Karl-Marx-Allee is a monumental socialist boulevard built by the GDR between 1952 and 1960 in Berlin Friedrichshain and Mitte. Today the boulevard is named after Karl Marx....
- Leipziger Straße
- LustgartenLustgartenThe Lustgarten is a park on Museum Island in central Berlin, near the site of the former Berliner Stadtschloss of which it was originally a part...
- Marx-Engels-ForumMarx-Engels-ForumMarx-Engels-Forum is a public park in the central Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. It is named for Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, authors of The Communist Manifesto of 1848 and regarded as the founders of the Communist movement...
- Museum IslandMuseum IslandMuseum Island is the name of the northern half of an island in the Spree river in the central Mitte district of Berlin, Germany, the site of the old city of Cölln...
- NikolaiviertelNikolaiviertelFounded about 1200, the Nikolaiviertel of Alt-Berlin, together with the neighbouring settlement of Cölln, is the reconstructed historical heart of the German capital Berlin...
- Oranienburger Straße
- Pariser PlatzPariser PlatzPariser Platz is a square in the centre of Berlin, Germany, situated by the Brandenburg Gate at the end of the Unter den Linden. The square is named after the French capital Paris in honour of the Allied occupation of Paris in 1814, and is one of the main focal points of the city.-History :Pariser...
- Potsdamer PlatzPotsdamer PlatzPotsdamer Platz is an important public square and traffic intersection in the centre of Berlin, Germany, lying about one kilometre south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag , and close to the southeast corner of the Tiergarten park...
- SchloßplatzSchloßplatzSchloßplatz is a common name for squares in many German-speaking countries. Cities which have a Schloßplatz include Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Stuttgart and Dresden.-Overview:...
- Unter den LindenUnter den LindenUnter den Linden is a boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. It is named for its linden trees that line the grassed pedestrian mall between two carriageways....
Transportation
Berlin S-Bahn
The Berlin S-Bahn is a rapid transit system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It consists of 15 lines and is integrated with the mostly underground U-Bahn to form the backbone of Berlin's rapid transport system...
lines S5
S5 (Berlin)
S5 is a line on the Berlin S-Bahn. It operates from Strausberg Nord to Westkreuz over:*the Strausberg–Strausberg Nord line, completed in 1955 and electrified in 1956,...
, S7
S7 (Berlin)
S7 is a line on the Berlin S-Bahn. It operates from Ahrensfelde to Potsdam over:*the Wriezen Railway, completed on 1 May 1898 and electrified to Marzahn in 1976, to Mehrower Allee in 1980 and to Ahrensfelde in 1982,...
, S75
S75 (Berlin)
S75 is a line on the Berlin S-Bahn. It operates from Wartenberg to Spandau over:*a section of the Outer ring, completed in the early 1940s as part of the Outer freight ring,...
, S9
S9 (Berlin)
S9 is a line on the Berlin S-Bahn. It operates from Schönefeld Flughafen to Berlin-Blankenburg station over:*a very short section of the Outer ring, opened in 1951 and electrified in 1983,...
(both on Berlin Stadtbahn); S1
S1 (Berlin)
The S1 is a line on the Berlin S-Bahn. It operates over:*the Prussian Northern Railway, opened on 10 July 1877 and electrified in 1925,*a short section of the Berlin-Szczecin railway, opened on 1 August 1842 and electrified in 1924,...
, S2
S2 (Berlin)
S2 is a line on the Berlin S-Bahn. It operates from Bernau to Blankenfelde over:*the Berlin-Szczecin railway, opened on 1 August 1842 and electrified on 8 August 1924,...
, S25
S25 (Berlin)
S25 is a line on the Berlin S-Bahn. It operates from Teltow Stadt to Hennigsdorf over:*the Anhalt Suburban Line, opened on 1 December 1901, electrified in 1929 and extended to Lichterfelde Süd in 1943 and Teltow Stadt in February 2005,...
, and U-Bahn
Berlin U-Bahn
The Berlin is a rapid transit railway in Berlin, the capital city of Germany, and is a major part of the public transport system of that city. Opened in 1902, the serves 173 stations spread across ten lines, with a total track length of , about 80% of which is underground...
lines U2
U2 (Berlin U-Bahn)
U2 is a line on the Berlin U-Bahn. The U2 line starts at the Pankow urban rail station, runs through the eastern city centre to Potsdamer Platz, the western city centre and finally to the Ruhleben terminal station.The U2 has 29 stations and a length of...
, U5
U5 (Berlin U-Bahn)
U5 is a line on the Berlin U-Bahn. It runs from Alexanderplatz in Mitte eastwards through Friedrichshain, Lichtenberg and Friedrichsfelde, surfaces in Biesdorf to pass Kaulsdorf and Hellersdorf above ground and finally reaches city limits at Hönow....
, U6
U6 (Berlin U-Bahn)
U6 is a 19.9 km-long line on the Berlin U-Bahn with 29 stations. It belongs to the Großprofilnetz, that is larger profile rail vehicles run through its larger tunnels...
and U8
U8 (Berlin U-Bahn)
U8 is a line on the Berlin U-Bahn. It has 24 stations and is 18.1 km long. The U8 is one of two north–south Berlin U-Bahn lines, and runs from Wittenau to Neukölln via Gesundbrunnen...
, as well as numerous tram and bus lines.
See also
- Berlin Alexanderplatz railway stationBerlin Alexanderplatz railway stationBerlin Alexanderplatz is a railway station in the Mitte district of Berlin's city centre. It is one of the busiest transportation hubs in the Berlin area...
- Berlin Friedrichstrasse railway station
- Berlin Potsdamer Platz railway stationBerlin Potsdamer Platz railway stationBerlin Potsdamer Platz is a railway station in Berlin. It is completely underground and situated underneath the Potsdamer Platz in central Berlin. Regional and S-Bahn services call at the station.- History :...