Unter den Linden
Encyclopedia
Boulevard
A Boulevard is type of road, usually a wide, multi-lane arterial thoroughfare, divided with a median down the centre, and roadways along each side designed as slow travel and parking lanes and for bicycle and pedestrian usage, often with an above-average quality of landscaping and scenery...
in the Mitte
Mitte (locality)
Mitte is a central locality of Berlin in the homonymous district of Mitte. Until 2001 it was itself an autonomous district....
district of Berlin
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...
, the capital of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is named for its linden
Tilia
Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The greatest species diversity is found in Asia, and the genus also occurs in Europe and eastern North America, but not western North America...
(lime in British English) trees that line the grassed pedestrian mall between two carriageway
Carriageway
A carriageway consists of a width of road on which a vehicle is not restricted by any physical barriers or separation to move laterally...
s.
Unter den Linden runs east–west from the site of the former Stadtschloss royal palace at the Lustgarten
Lustgarten
The 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...
park, where the demolished Palast der Republik used to be, to Pariser Platz
Pariser Platz
Pariser 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...
and Brandenburg Gate
Brandenburg Gate
The 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...
. Eastward the boulevard crosses the Spree
Spree
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...
river at Berlin Cathedral and continues as Karl-Liebknecht-Straße. The western continuation behind Brandenburg Gate is Straße des 17. Juni
Straße des 17. Juni
The Straße des 17. Juni is a street in central Berlin, the capital of Germany. It is the western continuation of the Unter den Linden. It runs east-west through the Tiergarten, a large forest park to the west of the city centre. At the eastern end is the Brandenburg Gate and at the western end is...
. Major north–south streets crossing Unter den Linden are Friedrichstraße
Friedrichstraße
The 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...
and Wilhelmstrasse.
Unter den Linden at the heart of the historic section of Berlin developed from a bridle path laid out by Elector John George of Brandenburg
John George, Elector of Brandenburg
John George of Brandenburg was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and a Duke of Prussia...
in the 16th century to reach his hunting grounds in the 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...
. It was replaced by a boulevard of linden trees planted in 1647, extending from the city palace to the gates of the city, by order of the “Great Elector” Frederick William. While the western part of the boulevard retained its character, the area around present-day Bebelplatz
Bebelplatz
The Bebelplatz is a public square in the central Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany.The square is located on the south side of the Unter den Linden boulevard, a major east-west thoroughfare in the city centre...
was integrated into the fortification of Berlin in the aftermath of the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, visible until today as there are no trees.
By the 19th century, as Berlin grew and expanded to the west, Unter den Linden became the best-known and grandest street in Berlin. In 1851 the famous equestrian statue of King Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
was erected on the centre strip, designed by Christian Daniel Rauch
Christian Daniel Rauch
Christian Daniel Rauch was a German sculptor. He founded the Berlin school of sculpture, and was the foremost German sculptor of the 19th century.-Biography:Rauch was born at Arolsen in the Principality of Waldeck...
. In the course of the building of the Nord-Süd-Tunnel for the Berlin S-Bahn
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...
in 1934/35 most of the linden trees were cut down and during the last days of 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...
the remaining trees were destroyed or cut down for firewood. The present-day linden were replanted in the 1950s, they are affected by air pollution as well as by soil contamination
Soil contamination
Soil contamination or soil pollution is caused by the presence of xenobiotic chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment....
.
Since 1937, the numbering has started at the Schlossbrücke (Palace Bridge), connecting Unter den Linden with the Lustgarten and Museum Island
Museum Island
Museum 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...
. The disputed replica of the Alte Kommandantur
Alte Kommandantur
The Alte Kommandantur is a building in the historic center of Berlin, which had been heavily damaged during World War II and destroyed in order to make room for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of East Germany....
is No. 1, vis-à-vis the Zeughaus
Zeughaus
The Zeughaus of Berlin is the oldest structure on the Unter den Linden. It was built by the Brandenburg Elector Frederick III between 1695 and 1730 in the baroque style, to be used as an artillery arsenal...
arsenal, the oldest building on Unter den Linden, built between 1695 and 1706, today the seat of the Deutsches Historisches Museum
Deutsches Historisches Museum
The German Historical Museum , DHM for short, is a museum in Berlin devoted to German history and defines itself as a place of enlightenment and understanding of the shared history of Germans and Europeans....
(No. 2). Buildings along the street include (from east to west) the Kronprinzenpalais (former palace of the Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
crown princes, No. 3), the Neue Wache
Neue Wache
The Neue Wache is a building in central Berlin, the capital of Germany. It is located on the north side of the Unter den Linden, a major east-west thoroughfare in the centre of the city. Dating from 1816, the Neue Wache was designed by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel and is a leading example...
war memorial built in 1817 (No. 4), considered by many to be Karl Friedrich Schinkel
Karl Friedrich Schinkel
Karl Friedrich Schinkel was a Prussian architect, city planner, and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed both neoclassical and neogothic buildings.-Biography:Schinkel was born in Neuruppin, Margraviate of...
’s masterpiece. Furthermore on Bebelplatz
Bebelplatz
The Bebelplatz is a public square in the central Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany.The square is located on the south side of the Unter den Linden boulevard, a major east-west thoroughfare in the city centre...
the Berlin State Opera
Berlin State Opera
The 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:...
(No. 7), coloquially called Lindenoper, St. Hedwig's Cathedral
St. Hedwig's Cathedral
St. 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...
and the Altes Palais (No. 9), favoured residence of Emperor Wilhelm I; in the north the main building of the Humboldt University
Humboldt University of Berlin
The 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...
(No. 6) and House I of the Berlin State Library
Berlin State Library
The Berlin State Library is a library in Berlin, Germany and a property of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.-Buildings:The State Library runs several premises, three of which are open for users, namely House 1 in Unter den Linden 8, House 2 in Potsdamer Straße 33 and the newspaper archive...
(No. 8). On the western end are the Russian Embassy (former Soviet Embassy, No. 63-65) the Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
Embassy (No. 76) at the corner of Wilhelmstrasse and finally the Hotel Adlon
Hotel Adlon
Hotel Adlon is a hotel on Unter den Linden, the main boulevard in the Berlin city centre, directly opposite the Brandenburg Gate.-First Hotel Adlon 1907-1945:...
(No. 77) at the corner of Pariser Platz, which has been completely rebuilt on the site of the prewar hotel. Well-known statues of Alexander
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
and Wilhelm von Humboldt
Wilhelm von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand Freiherr von Humboldt was a German philosopher, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of Humboldt Universität. He is especially remembered as a linguist who made important contributions to the philosophy of language and to the theory and practice...
in front of the university as well as of the Prussian
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
generals Scharnhorst
Gerhard von Scharnhorst
Gerhard Johann David Waitz von Scharnhorst was a general in Prussian service, Chief of the Prussian General Staff, noted for both his writings, his reforms of the Prussian army, and his leadership during the Napoleonic Wars....
and Bülow
Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow
Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow, Graf von Dennewitz was a Prussian general of the Napoleonic Wars.-Early life:...
also adorn the street.
The street sign that dates from pre-1930's can be found at the Imperial War Museum, London.
External links
- Unter den Linden - Interactive 360° Panorama
- Webcam: Live-View of the street Unter den Linden with Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany